May 25, Friday - Day 28:  To make up for the day we lost working on mechanical issues we set our alarm for 5:00am (first time we have set the alarm in months) and pulled the anchor at 6:00am.  Our destination was Sandy Hook, New Jersey - just 15 miles from New York City - but 84 miles away - off shore.  Our time to destination - 11 hours!  The day started with great visibility and smooth seas but half way up the coast - the FOG dropped down.  The visibility was 100 feet at times.  Our eyes were glued to the radar and the AIS and whenever we knew another boat was nearby we sounded the fog horn.  It was exhausting.  Unfortunately the fog was no better when we reached the channel into Sandy Hook.  We entered the harbor by spliting the difference between the two blobs on the radar (the green and red buoys).  The fog was so thick - we never saw them!  We continued making our way down the channel - Belinda watching the radar, Jim the chartplotter and both looking over the bow into the whiteout.  Two hundred yards from the anchorange we broke thru the fog and it was clear skies and sunny!  We looked back and the fog was like a white wall behind us.  Jim said "Well, if you start shrinking we'll know why"
;-)    The anchorage is delightful - there is a big hill to the south and the houses cascade down the side overlooking the bay.  We plan to stay here until Sunday morning.  It is only a three hour trip to the marina in NYC and the family doesn't arrive until 9pm. 
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The channel out of the Atlantic City anchorage was VERY narrow and it didn't help that there was a dredge at the end of it. Thank goodness we didn't have fog first thing in the morning - no way could we navigate this in the fog.
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At this point we should have been able to see the NYC skyline - but this is all we could see!
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Its hard to believe this picture was taken just 10 minutes after the one on the left - this is the Sandy Hook anchorange in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
 
May 24, Thursday – Day 27:  We have broken one of the most important rules of cruising – NO SCHEDULES.  They say the most dangerous thing you can have on your boat is a schedule.  A schedule encourages you to take risks you normally would not take.  Our schedule is to be in New York City by Sunday.   Belinda’s son,
Jay, and family will be flying in to Newark Sunday night. Therefore, we thought we would be traveling today – knocking off another  40 – 50 miles off our trip to NY, but instead we were dealing with our alternator issue.  But we lucked out – Jim found an alternator shop only one mile from the far north end of the anchorage – about a mile – in Brigantine, New Jersey.  Our cruising adventure today was removing the alternator, dropping the dinghy, loading  Jim’s bike in the dinghy, dinghying across the small bay, landing the dinghy, hoisting the bike up on the 5’ retaining wall then biking to the alternator shop!  Belinda went too to check out any shopping opportunities. Bingo – a nail salon.   The alternator checked out OK -GREAT.  We still have a concern – but at least we can put it back on the port engine which allows us to run that engine and the stabilizers.  We only had to disconnect the electric portion of it.  Our travels will resume on Friday – but after a day and half here we never set foot in Atlantic City. 
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Belinda, still wearing the foam rubber flip flops, climbing down the retaining wall. This is the same retainging wall that Jim had to climb with his bike!
 
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May 23, Wednesday – Day 26:  The trek from Cape May to Atlantic City was marred with mechanical concerns.  The port alternator was running hot – so to make sure we didn’t damage it we turned off the port engine.  The starboard engine can provide 85% of the speed of both engines so we were only slightly delayed – but the port engine powers the stabilizers.  The stabilizers are an added feature that not all trawlers have – they  are fins that protrude on each side underwater and they greatly minimize the roll of the boat.   THANK GOODNES we encountered no waves today to need the stabilizers– so we were pretty lucky.  We arrived in a Atlantic City later than we wanted – but luckily the anchorage – north of Atlantic City was huge and there was plenty of room for us.  We had hoped to dinghy over to some of the other boats – especially the ones with Looper flags, but unfortunately we arrived too late for happy hour.  The Atlantic City skyline was very pretty at night – one large building was a lighted billboard with animation.


FOG

5/23/2012

1 Comment

 
The 3-4 foot seas were a no show but the fog was almost a show stopper! We were at our personal limit for visibility but just good enough to go. It finally cleared up about 1:30.
We had our radar and nav lights on. Also, our life raft, ditch bag and life jackets are always near by!
Our destination today is anchoring off Atlantic City.
 
May 20, Sunday, -Day 23:  Today we toured Cape May by bike.  We rode along the beach and enjoyed seeing the colorful summer rentals. 
We parked our bikes and walked along a mall lined with cute shops and ice cream parlors.
We toured Congress Hall – a big hotel and ballroom.  Downstairs was a bar called The Boiler Room and next to that was the women’s restroom.  The last stall in the restroom actually had the bricked up boiler!
Next was a quick stop at the grocery store.  Thank goodness we bought baskets for both our bikes – they were full when we returned to Rickshaw four hours later!  From Cape May we must cruise in the Atlantic Ocean along the New Jersey coast.  The intercoastal waterway is too shallow for Rickshaw.  It seems the State of New Jersey is out of money and they can’t afford to keep the channel dredged.  We checked the marine forecast for the coastal waters and the seas are expected to be 5-6 feet for the next few days – so we will be staying put in the marina.
May 21, Monday - Day 24. 
Jim ventured out alone on another bike trip today and found the hardware store and the fish market.   Grilled scallops for dinner tonight!!  We met more Loopers  today – Joy and Dave on Maia, who just started the Loop from Deltaville, Virginia. They joined us for happy hour on Rickshaw.  We talked about the weather…..

May 22, Tuesday – Day 25: We have been checking the marine forecast every day since we arrived –it looks like tomorrow we will finally be able to head north – seas will only be 3 – 4 feet.  We talked to Joy and Dave and they plan to leave tomorrow too.  The winds here have settled down so we decided to leave the marina and anchor out our last night in Cape May.  

 
May 19, Saturday, Day 22 - We finally saw dolphins - the first ones we have seen this year. We are 8 miles from the Atlantic. It has been a beautiful day cruising Delaware Bay - the weather and water could not have been better.  We had planned to raft up and have dinner with our new friends Stan & Coleen on Next Endevour , but a crowded anchorange and high winds altered our plans.  We ended up at Utsch's Marina - but it wasn't an easy entry.  In 35 knot winds and a strong current we had to make a tight 90 degree turn from a narrow channel into the narrow marina entrance.  It was scarry - but Jim did a great job of us in the slip safe. 

This post is a first from the Weebly iPhone app. Sweet!!
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A lighthouse in the Delaware Bay
 
May 16, Wednesday – Day 19: Traveled  only 15 miles to Delaware City. 
Since we had heard the tidal currents getting into this marina can be a  problem,  we planned our departure so that we would make the turn into Delaware Branch Canal at slack current.  We had no problems.  Great boaters here –
Sandy and Eddie on Tarquin, who have completed the loop and are going back to Canada for the summer,  invited us to dinner.  Barb and Skip on Moor $tuff, who will cross their wake in New York, loaned us their car to go to Wal-Mart!!  
 
May 17, Thursday – Day 20: Tim, the owner of the marina here is awesome!  He took us to West Marine, Staples and Home Depot.  And of course, after our trip to Walmart yesterday, we thought of three more things we need so I tagged along with two other ladies on another trip to Walmart!  The rest of the day was boat chores.  But the highlight of today was visiting with Stan and Coleen on Next Endeavour, a gorgeous 48’ power cat.  

May 18, Friday – Day 21: Our plan was to leave this morning for Cape May, New Jersey but after one last check of the weather we decided Saturday would be a better day for the 50 mile trip down the Delaware Bay.  The Delaware Bay is wide and shallow, so wave height and wind are a huge concern.  We checked the winds this afternoon on the lower bay and it was showing 33 knot (38 mph) winds – we made the right choice!   Right now the weather looks good for heading south tomorrow – but we’ll check the weather again right before we leave.


 
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May 14, Monday – Day 17:  Second day in Chesapeake City.  Today we went to C & D Canal Museum, walked around town and checked out The Chesapeake Inn – a huge waterfront restaurant, bar and ballroom – but no hotel.  We dinghied over to a boat with a Looper flag and talked to 2009 Loopers from Detroit on Monarch  who enjoyed the Loop so much they are doing it  again!

This map in the C&D Canal Museum shows how this 14 mile canal connects the two big bays.

May 15, Tuesday – Day 18: It rained all morning but it was a beautiful afternoon.  We hung out on Rickshaw and enjoyed this quiet little harbor.  There are ½ price pizzas tonight at the Chesapeake Inn, so we went early to see if we can meet any other Loopers for happy hour ;-)  Plan worked – we had dinner with three other Looper couples – Bruce & Karen on Ookpik; Hampton& Connie on Snark;  and Ron & Margie on Meander

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This huge ship was going up the C&D Canal while we were having our pizzas at the Chesapeake Inn.
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Today we formally named our dinghy - -
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This 19 foot sailboat, Nessie, is doing the loop for the second time. Unfortunately the dinghy isn't on the boat - it was about 5 feet long.
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We're not sure what this is....it was a pontoon boat. The railing was cut off, a truck camper was attached then the rail was installed on top of the camper.
 
May 13, Sunday – Day 16:  We headed out early and said a sad goodbye to the Chesapeake Bay.  We hope to come back and spend more  time exploring someday – it is an  awesome cruising area.  It is rich  in history, scenery, entertainment and diversity.   We only traveled 24 miles and are now anchored at Chesapeake City, just  off the C & D (Chesapeake & Delaware) Canal.   This is a cute historic town with lots  of shops and a huge waterfront restaurant with live entertainment.  The town was founded in the early 1800s when the canal was built.  We expect to be here for a couple of  days as there is an 80% chance of rain for Monday and Tuesday.

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The bay is getting narrower and so is the channel. We have to share it with some very big ships. But we knew this ship was coming before we could even see it. See next photo.......
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Our AIS (Automatic Identification System) warned us that in 1:39 minutes we would pass dangerously close (235 feet) of GEORGIOS S!
Here is our track since May 2nd.  So far we have covered 338 nm (389 miles).  Hard to believe we are only 4 travel days from NYC!
 
May 12, Saturday – Day 15:  The first wave of Triathlon swimmers hit the water at 7:00am.  We counted 7 waves – about 50 people per wave.   The last wave hit the water about 8:30 and the band started at  9:00am.  It was a shame to leave  with all the activity on the waterfront, but we need to inch closer to NYC as  we never know what the weather may do.   We pulled our anchor, departed Spa Creek and headed north to the  Sassafras River.  We went about 5  miles up the river and anchored near Georgetown – but Georgetown was too far  from the water so we just hung out on Rickshaw.  A huge change from Baltimore and  Annapolis.
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This was the yellow wave getting ready for the start horn.
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Another wave getting ready - the water was pretty cold!
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We ended our day here in this quiet anchorage on the Sassafras River near Georgetown, MD