y windy weather then headed under the Throgs Neck Bridge on Saturday morning timing our departure to arrive in Hell Gate at slack water so we wouldn't have to fight the dangerous 5 knot current. It was amazing to cruise past all the well known skyscrapers on Manhattan Island but seeing the Statue of Liberty ahead of us was a highlight of our trip so far! After cruising close to Liberty Island we headed under the Verazzano Narrows bridge to Atlantic Highlands NJ for the night... cheap diesel fuel but difficult slips to back into!
Sunday October 14
Sunday morning we left at 8am for our first "offshore" passage-- about 60 miles down the NJ coast to Atlantic City. The sea was calm but it was the first time we were really in the Atlantic Ocean with water as far as we could see around us except a small strip of the low NJ coast 5 miles off our starboard side. The NJ shore was unexpected —sandy beach and beach homes for hours and hours. Not much to do on the bridge except dodge the occasional fishing boat. We talked, read, prayed the Rosary, and listened to Jimmy & Julie's Wedding CD. About 30 miles from Atlantic City we saw the huge casinos appear on the horizon teasing us for the last 3 hours of the cruise. We pulled into Trump Marina at 4pm and Rosie was sweet enough to call us with the location of a 6:30pm Mass close by at Our Lady Star of the Sea. After Mass we had a “white table cloth” dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in the casino and only lost $20 gambling afterwards!
Monday October 15
Monday we awoke to another calm day so we decided to cruise outside in the Atlantic Ocean south to Cape May at the southern tip of NJ—only a 4 hour cruise. We relaxed at the marina until 11am then had another gentle cruise down the coast arriving in Cape May NJ about 3pm and docking at Utsches Marina for a two-night stay. Utsches has a great reputation among cruisers on the Intracoastal Waterway and we were surrounded by other friendly boaters heading south for the winter—some first-timers like us, others who live aboard and move up and down the coast every year. Boating is a common interest but Chris has also met some ham radio operators to chat with on the way south. The “world famous” Lobster House restaurant is next door to the marina so we walked over for some of the best swordfish we’ve ever tasted.
Tuesday October 16
With a “day off” from cruising we walked 2 miles to the Cape May town center—a lovely old fashioned beach community with numerous
Victorian homes painted in classic three-color combinations. As we walked down the boardwalk along the beach we discovered the Congress Hall hotel and tavern and had a delightful lunch in this the oldest beach hotel in the country and a summer retreat to many Presidents before Camp David.
Wednesday October 17
When you leave Cape May you need to make a sharp right turn and cruise 60 miles up the Delaware Bay to the canal that leads to the Chesapeake. Although the autopilot steers the boat you need to keep a watch to dodge crab pots and floating debris... and sometimes sea life-- we saw a large sea tortoise half way across the bay heading out to sea. This is open water and can be quite rough... but our “weather window” continued and we had a smooth 8 hour cruise up the bay and through the canal to a picturesque anchorage in the Bohemia River.
Sunday morning we left at 8am for our first "offshore" passage-- about 60 miles down the NJ coast to Atlantic City. The sea was calm but it was the first time we were really in the Atlantic Ocean with water as far as we could see around us except a small strip of the low NJ coast 5 miles off our starboard side. The NJ shore was unexpected —sandy beach and beach homes for hours and hours. Not much to do on the bridge except dodge the occasional fishing boat. We talked, read, prayed the Rosary, and listened to Jimmy & Julie's Wedding CD. About 30 miles from Atlantic City we saw the huge casinos appear on the horizon teasing us for the last 3 hours of the cruise. We pulled into Trump Marina at 4pm and Rosie was sweet enough to call us with the location of a 6:30pm Mass close by at Our Lady Star of the Sea. After Mass we had a “white table cloth” dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in the casino and only lost $20 gambling afterwards!
Monday October 15
Monday we awoke to another calm day so we decided to cruise outside in the Atlantic Ocean south to Cape May at the southern tip of NJ—only a 4 hour cruise. We relaxed at the marina until 11am then had another gentle cruise down the coast arriving in Cape May NJ about 3pm and docking at Utsches Marina for a two-night stay. Utsches has a great reputation among cruisers on the Intracoastal Waterway and we were surrounded by other friendly boaters heading south for the winter—some first-timers like us, others who live aboard and move up and down the coast every year. Boating is a common interest but Chris has also met some ham radio operators to chat with on the way south. The “world famous” Lobster House restaurant is next door to the marina so we walked over for some of the best swordfish we’ve ever tasted.
Tuesday October 16
With a “day off” from cruising we walked 2 miles to the Cape May town center—a lovely old fashioned beach community with numerous
Victorian homes painted in classic three-color combinations. As we walked down the boardwalk along the beach we discovered the Congress Hall hotel and tavern and had a delightful lunch in this the oldest beach hotel in the country and a summer retreat to many Presidents before Camp David.Wednesday October 17
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| Bohemia River |
1 comment:
Wait, did you ever mention Kilwin's??!?!
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