We're Here! We're Here! New York, Aug 17 2012

We're Here!

An early start, the winds were to be 10 to 15 knots from SW which was good, however the waves were to build to 2 to 3 feet. We wanted to have as short a time as possible on the ocean. We made the 26 mile leg of the trip to Sandy Hook by 10:30 am. The waves did not exceed 1 foot. We couldn't believe that we had 3 days in a row on the North Atlantic Ocean in such perfect weather. How fortunate.

Good bye to the Jersey Shores.

We continued along the picturesque Jersey shores towards New York.

Now for New York Harbor. We have heard such stories. The worst part was probably the outer harbor area. There was a maze of fishing boats all over the channel. Right in the channel. All that harbor area with plenty of water, and they have to fish in the channel.

14 miles in the harbor area. New York is one of the busiest harbors in the world, and you would expect that. Much to our surprise, it was very similar to the gap on a holiday weekend. Certainly no worse. Once again, if you can boat on Georgian Bay, you can boat anywhere.

Here we are in front of Statue of Liberty

Photo time at the Statue of Liberty before we go on to our slip at Liberty Landing Marina. There she was in her magnificence. Welcoming us as she has welcomed so many others over the years.

Ellis Island, so impressive and so intimidating to immigrants.

We proceeded passed Ellis Island, and on to our marina. We were once again reminded that we were still in New Jersey, as two big power boats sped by us with huge wakes, cutting us off as we were entering the marina. Entering a marina is always one of the more challenging parts of a boaters day. It is all new to you, you are trying to get your bearings relative to the limited information you have been given for your slip assignment. What is the direction to take, what is the tide, how much current will you have, is it going out or coming in, and what does that mean relative to your slip, how to approach the slip, will anyone be there to show you which slip is yours, will they help with the lines, which side for the fenders, do I have enough lines out, are they on the right side of the boat. "Boater on the Edge" These are my moments of panic. Fortunately, my captain, as always is so calm. Always saying ..... we will see what it looks like when we get there. It will all become apparent. And it does.

If these boaters only could remember the stress of their first entry to the marina.

We got in, safely tied, electric attached, AC on. Now what to do.

New York skyline background

We decided on taking the ferry trip to Ellis Island and it includes the Statue of Liberty. The Ellis Island tour was excellent. Self guided tour with head phones. Immigrants were so brave. It must have been so intimidating and frightening coming to a new land, with a foreign language, and not knowing if they would accept you. Most people had spent all of their money just to get here. And the possibility of being turned away. How stressful. And apparently 1 in every 100 people were sent back to their homeland. Ellis Island would process up to 3,000 people per day.

She needs no introduction!

We did not get off for the Statue of Liberty as you cannot go up inside her right now as they are doing maintenance/renovations. It was getting late and we had dinner reservations at the Liberty House Restaurant, right on the Marina property.

A wonderful dinner with Bob and Linda. Dinner while we watched the lights of New York come on across the Hudson River. The perfect end to the perfect day.

Back to the boat for some restful time sitting on the back deck to watch the thunderstorm come in before retiring for the day. As we were sitting out; a gentleman was going along the dock netting for crabs and he caught a 2 foot long eel. It must have had about 2 inch girth.  They are an ugly thing even at our distance away.

New York City Skyline. You can see two buildings that are under construction. They have cranes on top. One of them may be the replacement for the twin towers.

Tomorrow is another day. We will stay over another day in New York, and be tourists. What to do? What to do?

Day 2, North Atlantic Ocean, Aug 16, 2012

Early departure to travel the 52 ++ miles to Manasquan inlet. It has been the perfect day to be on the ocean. Winds n/w 10 to 15, seas 1 - 2 feet. We left at 6:30 am and were greeted with a beautiful sunrise. I guess I should say, yet another beautiful sunrise.

Doug on Slow Roll in the early morning sun.

It is always so nice to travel early in the day. The waves have not started to build. The winds are still gentle. It is the coolest part of the day. And you can get a lot of miles under your boat and get tied up between 1 - 2 pm, and still have some day left to either work on the boat or visit the town.

We have had a number of firsts. This is the first time we have travelled on the Atlantic Ocean. Last night I had to put socks on because my feet were cold. Then we shut the air conditioner off overnight because it was cool. And then this morning, we both put sweaters on because it was cool. Now that is the first time in many, many months since I have had socks and a sweater on. Today the humidity was greatly reduced. Temperature in the mid 80's. Another perfect day.

Not many out here but us and the Coast Guard.

There is not much to see when you travel on the ocean side of everything. We did see a Coast Guard boat. Peter saw a fish jump completely out of the water, dance in the air, and then a big splash as it entered the water. We later heard that they catch marlin around here, so maybe it was a marlin. There were a number of areas up the shoreline where there would be a great congregation of fishing boats out from an inlet. There would be 20 to 30 boats of all makes and sizes in these groups. Makes you wonder if any of these people work.

We made good time and arrived at Manasquan Inlet about 1:30 pm. We would be arriving very close to slack tide, and that is good because there is a strong, 4 knot current that rips through here. We are staying at Hoffman's Marina East, and they are a great group of people. They helped us get docked and lines tied. When we paid for the dockage, they gave us a telephone number to call to have someone help us get off the dock in the morning. Apparently we will have close to the 4 knots again. You get to really appreciate this attention to detail, and you don't get it with all of the marinas. And the washrooms are all fresh and new and very clean. Probably the best on the eastern ICW at least.

There was only room for 2 boats at Hoffman's East, so Doug on Slow Roll is at Hoffman's West Marina. Because Doug is travelling all alone, they had him come to the gas dock, and then Larry the marina owner and one of his deckhands drove Doug in his boat over to the West Marina. Just like the big cruise boats, they pilot your boat to your slip if necessary. Mostly due to the current and wind activity in this narrow manoeuvering area. And then you add into the mix that this is the New Jersey ICW, with a lot of boat traffic, and very rude boaters.

Look at all these boats coming in the inlet.

Peter had slowed down on our approach so I could bring in the dinghy. Just as he was powering up, a large sports fisherman boat cut directly in front of him. He had to power down and reverse quickly to avoid hitting him. The guy could have waited up to 30 seconds for us to clear his travel area; but no ...... not in New Jersey. We are so glad that the weather allowed us to travel outside so we did not have to tolerate 3 days or more of these idiots.

I was so amazed at the amount of salt on the hand rails. Just wiping a 1 foot section would collect about a quarter teaspoon of salt crystals. We needed to wash all of the handrails and decks to free them of the salt.

After washing down the boat, it was time for cocktails on the flybridge, followed by dinner at the Sandy Bar with Bob and Linda. The marina gave us a coupon for a buy one, get one half price dinner.

Tonight if we can stay awake long enough, there will be a fireworks display on the other side of the channel. Fireworks are so much better by the water.

Tomorrow will be another early day - 6:30 am for the 40 + mile trip to Liberty Landing Marina. Very close to the Statue of Liberty. We are all very excited about this. One more thing off the bucket list.



Only one more sleep!

Cape May to Atlantic City, Aug 15, 2012

A day of firsts!!!

Sunrise, Utchs Marina, Cape May

Our first day on the outside on the ocean! Winds s/w at 10 knots, 1 to 2 foot seas. Almost perfect. A gentle roll. Winds coming on the back quarter. No problem. We have about 35 miles to go and transitted the distance in 5 hours.

There were about 5 boats 5 miles offshore fishing.

We would surf down the wave at 8 to 9 knots, and then slow to about 7 knots at the bottom of the wave. We were about 5 miles offshore and we came to a group of much smaller power boats out fishing. We thought we were really doing something, and these guys come all the way out to go fishing.

In this area we also saw a huge sea turtle floating on the surface. He didn't move, or dive. Made us think that he perhaps was dead.

We had a Coast Guard pass us to our starboard. Peter calls out that he just saw a whale. WOW what an experience. We watched and we saw it again. I grabbed my camera in the hopes of getting a picture. We waited. And waited. We saw it a couple of times ahead of us and then nothing.

Then all of a sudden, the whale breached and spewed not 10' off the starboard side of our boat. Scared the daylights out of the both of us. By the time I got to the side of the boat with the camera he was going down. And was gone. We later saw him behind us but too far away to get a picture.

That made the entire trip worthwhile. An experience of a lifetime.

Atlantic City Lighthouse

While we were in Cape May, we docked beside another boat "Slow Roll" Skipper Doug. He just bought this boat and is travelling back into New York with it. Told him we were going that way with "Waypoint" and he could join us if he liked. He came along with us. So we are now 3 boats travelling together.

We also met another couple who were former sailors and they too have come over to the dark side and bought a trawler. "Bel Sito", Richard and Julie. They too are travelling north. They left about half an hour ahead of us this morning. Not sure where they are now. They could be at Atlantic City also.

Finding Waldo? Can you find Deja Vu?

We have had our daily ice cream cone, and visited the Atlantic City Aquarium (complimentary tickets with dockage) A good presentation, but it sure isn't anything like the aquariums at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chattanooga has probably spoiled us for any other aquarium.

How about now? Can you find Deja Vu?

A thunderstorm has moved in. We are back at the boat for awhile. The weatherman talked about 2 storm fronts moving through. We were hoping to get to walk on the famous boardwalk.

Tomorrow morning, a really early start - 6:30am to  go outside again to make our way to Manasquan. About 50 + miles. It will be a very long day, probably 8 hours. We hope to get in before the daily rain that tends to come every afternoon.

We have made reservations for Manasquan and Liberty Landing, read Statue of Liberty. Two days in New York for sure.

Delaware Bay, Aug 13, 2012

Piece of Cake! We had a perfect transit of the bay.

Nuke silo, 8 miles out from Delaware City Marina, + .5 knots

Delaware Bay can be another nasty stretch of water. We were so fortunate to have wind and tide with us. The trick is to leave Reedy Point, a mile from Delaware City Marina, about 1 hour before high tide. Then the tide will catch up with you on the way out the bay and you can ride with it for awhile before it turns. It can add 1 to 2 knots to your speed.

Ship John Shoal Light, +1.5 knots at high tide

For awhile our speed was up as high as 10 knots; however it was mid 8 knots for a lot of the way. The 8.5 hour trip, we travelled in 6.5 hours. 56 miles. Not bad at all. We carried the current until we made our turn at Maihen (SP) Maul Shoal to make our way to the Cape May Channel.

The wind was soft at 5 to 10 knots from behind us so very little wave activity.  This is a very busy port. We met a couple of boats, ships on our way out. After we turned to make for Cape May, there was at least 5 to 6 big boats coming in. A good time to not be in the shipping channel. We arrived Cape May about 3:00 pm and got settled.

This is the ferry terminal just as you enter the Cape May channel. There  must be 25 pilings in each post area. We only need one post when we dock. One of the ferries were blowing their warning horn just as we passed.

We joined Bob and Linda on their boat for dinner. Tomato Basil Spaghetti. Very, very good.

Tomorrow we will do the tourist thing and visit Cape May. The plan is to meet about 9:00 am and get a taxi and go to town and see the sights.

We are still trying to decide how to travel the New Jersey ICW. You are recommended to use local knowledge when travelling. All the locals we have talked to say not to use the NJICW in this area, they tell us to go outside to Atlantic City, a 35 mile run on the ocean. I was reading Active Captain, and there is a spot about 8 miles into the ICW that says the section is unsailable even at high tide. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? Our intention was to travel the NJICW from half high tide to half tide, using the tidal waters to give us the clearance we needed for the shallow areas. Now, the local knowledge has us a little spooked.

Some Loopers have said to go outside and not to do the inside here, while our good Looper friends, say they have done the inside no problem. Just watch your aids to navigation, don't skip any of the numbers, and use the half tides rising.

We will have to choose our travel outside day wisely, if that is what we decide to do. As far as that goes, we have to choose our inside travel times wisely also.

We met another gentleman, "Doug"  who just bought a trawler and is moving it back to New York state. He is single handing the boat. I think he may stay over the day here and join us. His boat is a Choi Lee trawler, 34 feet, named "Slow Roll".

Georgetown Yacht Basin, Delaware City Marina, Aug 11 & 12 2012

We received confirmation for the Registration of the boat for the name Surona II. We had submitted a number of names ie, Against the Wind, Surona II and Deja Vu. They just confirmed Surona II. It will make it easier for people to remember our name.

I had to set up an alternate email address. I think Head Office decided that since I am retired that I can no longer work off of their system. My password no longer works. New email is: cherylwebb60@yahoo.com  If you have sent anything to the old address in the last week, I did not receive it. All new messages need to go to the new address. Sorry for the inconvenience.

While we were at Baltimore, our Looper friends Greg and Leslie Marsh took us to get our car from Portsmouth and bring it forward. Greg and Peter drove down. That was such a long day for them, Peter didn't get back to boat until 10:30pm. Portsmouth is such a poorly designed traffic system. Thanks for all your help Greg and Leslie.

All along the Sassafras River they anchor out.  Made us a little homesick for Georgian Bay. This plane was moving around the boats at anchor.

We set out the next morning to meet with Bob and Linda at Georgetown Yacht Basin (GYB). It was another beautiful boating day. Nothing of note, except; "HOLY CRAB POTS!!!" when you make the turn off the Bay channel to go up the Sassafras River, what a mess of pots. There is hardly anywhere to go. Worse than Tarpon Springs and that was bad. Thank goodness it only lasted for a relatively short area at the mouth of the river. GYB is a long way off the bay, between 8 and 11 miles in. A really good location, very protected.

Bob and Linda kept their boat here, and the marina owed them some money, so they paid for our slip for the evening. WOW! These Looper friends just don't quit being extraordinary. They met our boat and took our lines on arrival. Then they took us for a tour of the facilities and introduced us to a lot of the staff, the owner and his son. Then we had to go and get an ice cream cone at the store that is right on the property.

Georgetown Yacht Basin and neighbouring marina.  So many boats.

There is another Gulfstar on the same dock. A Gulfstar 36. Also a friend of Bob and Linda. We exchanged boat visits with John from the other Gulfstar.

We went out for dinner with Bob and Linda at the restaurant that is also on the premises. We got caught up over dinner.

We made plans for the next leg of the journey which takes us to Delaware City. We started early, at 7:00 am as we would travel the C&D Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware) and we were not sure what and where the current would be and how long it would take. The goal was to arrive Delaware City Marina at slack tied 2:00pm.   The canal is 14 miles long. The entire trip was about 35 miles.

We arrived Delaware City Marina by 1:00 pm. An hour early. The marina is along the original canal, so the docks are built along the canal lengthwise, and it is then a side tie.  How easy can that be? The trick is the current, but Jim the dockmaster, and Josh the dock helper are so knowledgeable and make it so easy. Jim will help us to determine when to leave to catch the tide for the trip out Delaware Bay to Cape May.

Lunch at Crabby Dick's

Did I mention the beer also.

But first, we need to go for lunch. Jim says he is going to Crabby Dick's for a couple of hours. Entertainment and beer. They gave us a golf cart to go and return. Complimentary tickets for mini crab cakes.

Delaware City is a delightful spot. Old buildings that are being well maintained to their period.

Linda had invited us for dinner on their boat, but after our late lunch everyone was pretty full. She moved her dinner off to the next night.

On to Baltimore, Aug 8 2012

Leaving Solomon Island. Reminds us of Meaford shore.

Our next destination is Baltimore. This is at least a 60 mile run from the Solomons Island so we needed to be up early and try for a a 6:00  am start. The weatherman called for 5 to 10 knots out of SW with 1' waves. The winds were so light you could hardly tell where they came from and Chesapeake Bay just had a gentle roll. The skies were slightly overcast for the most part with the air temps in the high 80's. A perfect day.

There is little to comment about as the trip was uneventful. We had called ahead to our Looper friends, Greg and Leslie Marsh aboard Amalia. They were already in the area, and this is their home stomping ground. Asked where would be a good marina? They recommended Maryland Yacht Club, as it was a lot closer to Chesapeake Bay, and it would save us the 8 + mile trip in to Baltimore. MYC was their marina before they took a sabattical for their Loop trip.

Pumping station just north of Solomons Island. Freighters offload here and then it is pumped to 6 huge holding tanks onshore. Charts show a tunnel area close by, so they probably have a tunnel also that goes between the station and tanks. We paid the most for fuel at the Solomons, anywhere on the trip, and the fuel tanks are only about 2 miles away. 

All of the major cities along the Chesapeake are at the end of a river that goes a long way inland. It means that you have to make a major committment of time to get to any of the cities. While it would be good to have the time to spend a month or so just poking around on the Chesapeake, we do not feel that we have that time. After losing that month and a half while the engine was rebuilt in Charleston, and with the summer moving along, we feel that we need to push along and get home.

Greg has offered to take Peter back to get the car in Portsmouth and bring it forward. Greg can take Peter on Friday, so we will layover till Saturday. These Looper friends are truly exceptional and so helpful. They offer to help before you can even realize you can use a hand.WOW. Greg and Leslie were the ones who got us a slip at Marathon in a marina that was already full. They found us a spot where we could be shoe horned in for a month. WOW, WOW, WOW.

Bob and Linda, on Waypoint, are going over to Georgetown tomorrow, about 30 miles on the other side of Bay on the Sassafras River. Their old stomping grounds. They want to do an oil change, visit some friends, and do some grocery shopping. We will join them Saturday.

Ballast water out, anchor up. Time for us to get out of here.

Along the way to Baltimore we went under the Chesapeake Bay bridge. There were about 5 huge freighters at anchor before the bridge. Bob said this was a staging area for them while they waited to go into Baltimore. Just as we were going behind one of them, we noticed they were pumping out their ballast, and more importantly that the anchor line was going up. We looked and the propellers were turning. Time to get out of the way. Easier said than done. We are so small, and so slow by comparison. It's a good thing that they too need time to get moving. We were well clear of him before he started to move. A little intimidating.

When we arrived at MYC, there was something of interest. The electrical system needs a little work. First there was an extension cord looped around the post, with one end hanging in the water. Then for our hook up, there was 4 plug ins haphazzardly attached to the same post we had tied our lines onto. Most surprising is that they worked.

The same post you tie the boat, is the post where they have all of the electrical outlets. What a maze. And they work. 

Electrical cord hanging in the water. Mentioned it to dock boy and he just said yes, that was from a previous boat, and that the other end not plugged in. And he left it like that.

For the last 3 or 4 days, we have been seeing Jelly fish in the water. Small ones, and larger ones. Once again, no swimming. Local advertisements are for "nettle nets" that have large rings that float behind a boat. You can safely swim within the floating nettle net without getting stung by the jelly fish tendrils.

Tangiers Island, tied for 3 days, boat finally got cool enough to need a blanket in the salon in the early morning. 

Tangiers Island to Solomons Island, Aug 4 to 7th 2012

We have been without internet for the 3 days we were on Tangiers Island. It was like taking a step back into time.

Tangiers harvest 75% of the worlds crabs. If you have ever eaten a crab cake it is most likely that the crab came from Tangiers Island. A very small island that is continually shrinking. It shrinks by 9 acres a year. And the people speak an old Elizabethan dialect. The main street runs the length of the island, with houses and businesses on each side of an 8 foot wide roadway. The mode of transportation for residents is either a golf cart or bicycles. Everyone is very friendly and says hi as they pass by.

Main mode of transportation, golf cart. On a road that is only about 8' wide.

This is too funny.

Crab shanty's along the channel. 

The channel into the only marina is lined with small white buildings where they bring their crabs in, separate them, and hold them till they shed their shell. After molting the shell, they are called a "soft crab" and are very delectable.  A lot of the crab are blue crab and they truly are a very distinctive blue to their shell.

A meal for 4 people at Hilda's.

Typical crab fishing boat

The first day we went to the renowned Hilda's Chesapeake House for a late lunch. It is an all you can eat, family style restaurant, and you eat whatever they have prepared for the day. The dishes just keep on coming. Pickled beats, coleslaw, potato salad, ham, crab cakes, oyster fritter cakes, corn pudding, green beans, and lemon pound cake for dessert. You have to arrive early as it closes by 5:00 pm. Most everything closes by 5, with the exception of the 2 ice cream shops.

We ended up staying for 3 days, as the winds and waves were stronger and higher than would be comfortable to make our trip  to the Solomons Islands. By Tuesday the winds were going down to 5 to 10, with a 1 foot wave, and the winds from the north/northwest. Perfect for the 40 mile jaunt.

The longer we stayed on Tangiers, the longer you wanted to stay. The watermen get up about 4:30 to go out with their crab boats, and they return by about 3 pm. The women tend to run the local businesses, ie restaurants, gift shops, museum, etc. The entire population of the island is under 800, with only 29 young families on the island. The majority of the people on the island are either, Parks, Pruitts, and Crockett's.

Apparently, Tangiers Island is where the War of 1812 started. The island is also renowned for "Tangiers Disease". A very rare disease, with only about 8 to 15 known cases in the world. They have hardly any good cholesterol. The tonsils are orange in color, as they are filled with bad cholesterol.

 The last night we were there, we saw a medical evacuation. Someone was sick and they needed to be taken off the island by helicopter. If the helicopter comes from Salzburg Maryland, no charge, if it comes from Virginia, then it costs about $2,000. to $2,500.

We were up early this morning to make our journey to Solomon's Island, and are staying at Calvert's Marina. $1./foot. with hydro. The marina across from us charges $2.50/foot. Just as we finished fueling the boat, around 1:00pm, the dark cloud overhead decided to let go. It only lasted a short time, but managed to drop about 1/2 inch of rain. By the time we proceeded around to our dock it was a light drizzle. We passed another Gulfstar on the way in, and Peter went back to look at it. 53'.  They seem to be everywhere down in this area. We keep bumping into them.

We had an uneventful crossing of Chesapeake Bay. The sky was overcast, with a number of storm clouds around us. It seemed that the course we were travelling was skirting a lot of the dark clouds. Part way across we ran into some drizzle. Just enough to close the front and side windows for about half an hour, and then it cleared.

We made a run to the grocery store, did some laundry, and then had dinner with Bob and Linda aboard their boat, "Waypoint". A great way to end the day.

Graveyard next to the church. Graves are very close together, and encased in concrete to prevent the  remains from floating away in the floods and hurricanes. You often will see graves in the front yards of homes. 

There were a lot of cats on the island, even in the window box of this house. I only counted 5 dogs total on the island.

Tomorrow, will be a long day, about 58 miles, so we hope to get underway about 6:00 am. Weatherman is calling for rain, and tstorms in the afternoon. We hope to be docked before that happens.