A VERRRY long day -

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. 

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.

At this point we should have been able to see the NYC skyline - but this is all we could see!

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.