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!