Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 23)

Chesapeake City,  Maryland: C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) Canal Harbor:  September 26, 2020

Marc-  We were up at 06:00 for an early departure to get a favorable tide in the Delaware Bay and the C&D Canal.  No trouble getting started and the anchor came up clean and off we went into the greyness.  Today we had the added pleasure of viewing the Salem Nuclear Power Plant up close as the channel passes nearby.  Only one ship passed us this morning and no commercial traffic in the C&D canal.  The Canal looks a lot like the Cape Cod Canal only twice as long with more bridges.  It is run by the same US Army Corps of Engineers that operates the Cape Cod Canal.  Michael had this great idea to power up the Tugboat and get to the free docks before the rest of the fleet.  He found the last spot and then talked someone into leaving early for us to get in.  The free docks are next to the quaint 19th century village with bandstand and several shops.  Sue and I went for a walk around town and found the Ice Cream shop first (great Adirondack chocolate-chocolate chip-fudge ice cream.  Many of the residents were sitting out on their front porches and several said hello.  Some of the homes are decorated for Halloween.  Maryland was very welcoming.

A special shout out to Sandy on her birthday!

The Nuke

Park at our free dock

 

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 22)

Cohansey River, Greenwich, New Jersey: September 25, 2020 

Marc-  We left our favorite New Jersey Port of Call at 11:30 to take advantage of the tidal current of 2 knots in the Cape May Canal and the ensuing Delaware Bay.  Our stay at Cape May was superb.  We liked Utsch's Marina, we really liked the Victorian architecture and the pedestrian friendly streets with many small shops and the awesome beaches.  Thanks to Doreen, we also got to tour Wildwood, which was beautiful.  So we saw alot of the NJ Shore that we would not otherwise have seen, all thanks to Doreen.  Leaving the Marina provided some excitement when a small sailboat decided to back out of his slip when I was coming down the fairway channel.  Heavy duty reversing of the engine stopped a disaster.  When we finally rounded the bend two larger powerboats were coming in on the wrong side of the channel.  I refused to get over into the shallows and they moved over.  The Canal was fine until some shallows in the channel by the Ferry Terminal.  The problems were clearly marked and all boats slowed in this area.  Delaware Bay was a 4 1/2 hour exercise in greyness.  The sky was grey, the water was grey, and the wind was flat.  We arrived at the Cohansey River without incident and found an anchoring spot at the River mouth next to another Tartan sailboat (a recently retired couple from Boston sailing to Key West for the winter).  Michael anchored nearby on Fidler's Green.  He came over for a cook out on the back of Lucy III in the evening.  All was well until the tidal current change after dark.  When Lucy III began her swing to the new current correction she overlapped with Fidler's Green and her shorter anchoring radius.  Michael jumped into action and pulled up his anchor and reset further out.  I only wanted him to extend his scope.

Michael on the roof fixing his anchor light

Light fixed

Entrance to Cohansey River anchoring area

Another Tartan in the anchorage.  Notice the Nuclear Reactor Cooling Tower in the background (Salem)

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Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 21)

Utsch's Marina, Cape May, New Jersey: September 24, 2020 

Marc-  Departed  Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey at 06:30 to take advantage of favorable currents on both ends of the trip as well as light and favorable winds.  We successfully traveled to Cape May, New Jersey and put into Utsch;s Marina at 13:30.  We rocketed through the Cape May Inlet on an incoming tide at 8.2 knots boat speed over ground.  The Marina staff was very helpful and provided a goody bag including a bottle of wine and cookies.  And this marina is the lowest cost in Town.  Unfortunately the gremlins took control of my starter after we filled up on fuel such that our departure from the gas dock was delayed a bit.  After trying several times the engine started as if there had never been a problem.  I called my friend Brian Gilmartin for consultation.  His solution was to verify the ground and replace the ground wire.  A 48 inch battery cable was provided by the marina at discount.  It seems to have solved the problem.

Today we enjoyed red sky at daybreak (a bad omen?) and dolphins jumping near our boat (a good omen) so perhaps we did well because things balanced out.  We traveled in the Atlantic and were able to look back to see some of the amusement parks we had visited recently.  Dinner was at the Lobster House.

Sunrise at Farley Marina at the Golden Nugget

Leaving Atlantic City

Cape May Victorian architecture

My new dog friend and his parents:  Michael and Doreen

A dog beach playground.

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Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 20)

 Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey: September 23, 2020 

Marc-  Departure at 08:00 without a hitch. The Helfrichs came out on their bikes to see us off.  There were large swells in the inlet and immediately outside but it flattened out soon thereafter.  We saw a large group of surfers doing their thing just South of the South jetty,   Lucy III had all of her sails on before exiting the inlet.  We had 10-15 knots  from the Northwest for almost the entire day,  Our boat speed was close to 7 knots for 2/3 of the 8 hour trip.  This helped because the final 1/3 of the trip had headwinds from the Southwest.  Michael aboard Fidler's Green beat us to the marina by an hour.

 Off of Point Pleasant we dropped the Main due to high winds.

An Atlantic City Irish Pub.

We went to the Board walk and found an Italian restaurant with good social distancing.

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 19)

Hoffman's Marina, Manasquan, New Jersey: September 22, 2020 

Marc-  This is our last day in Manasquan!  We never expected to be here for 5 days, but if we had to be "stuck" somewhere, this was a great place.  The sun, moon and the stars are aligned to give us favorable weather for the next few days.  In fact the raging surf has diminished and the prevailing winds are Northwest at 10 - 15 knots.  We have set our departure for 08:00.  Michael Gilmartin will decide on whether he takes the inside ICW route after we venture through the Inlet and report back.  The Helfrichs treated us to a departure dinner at the marina.  It was great to see Stephen and Amanda once again.  Brendan came down with Michael and brought needed groceries for both boats.  Thanks Brendan.

We spent most of the day on various walks around town and positioning the boat in a part of the marina that had enough depth for us to leave at low tide tomorrow morning.  

Special thanks to Mindy Donnelly for being our technical advisor and weather router.

You cannot beat the front lawns.

Both Fidler's Green and Lucy III pre-positioned for early departure.

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 18)

Hoffman's Marina, Manasquan, New Jersey: September 21, 2020

Marc-  We are still here and our departure date keeps getting pushed back.  We thought we'd be able to get out tomorrow, now we're hoping for Wednesday.  The gale force Northeast winds have finally subsided.  Unfortunately the 8 to 12 foot seas created by days of strong winds continue making any exit tomorrow problematic.  Sage advice is to wait another day for the seas to drop to 5-8 feet before existing this Inlet.  We are very safe here and treated well.  Our friends and travel buddy boaters, Michael and Doreen Gilmartin went home today and will return on our departure date.  Their boat is shallow draft and would allow them to take the New Jersey Intracoastal waterway route to Atlantic City. We need the Atlantic route.

Our walks today were dry because we have learned to adjust our route to the tides here.  These are very beautiful neighborhoods but their streets are under water twice a day.  Sue and I still had to take off our shoes and roll up our pants to get to our boat on the flooded docks. I did a boat project replacing a solenoid for the electric winch that operates the centerboard.  I also did a little polishing on my friend's aft bronze porthole.  

Coast Guard Radio tower (highest structure on this part of the NJ Coast) and the restored Lifesaving Station.

Manasquan Beach lifeguard

Nicely polished Tugboat porthole.

Late entry: Michael and Doreen's dinner last night - crab cake on mac and cheese!

 

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 17)

 Hoffman's Marina, Manasquan, New Jersey: September 20, 2020

Marc-  I am beginning to wonder how long our stay will be here.  Tomorrow will be day 5.  The wind is still howling from the Northeast at 20 knots gusting to 30 knots and building 6 to 8 foot waves.  Today we we went walking after breakfast and then met up with Michael and Doreen at the local Sugar bakery and coffee shop.  Michael suggested we explore more of the Jersey shore by car and we did.  Our stay here at Hoffman's Marina is fine.  We did laundry today in pristine machines at no cost. 

Our land based adventure brought us first to the seaside resort town Seaside Heights where we visited a larger boardwalk(than yesterday's at Point Pleasant) and amusement park. Although it had more of everything, I preferred Point Pleasant.  Afterward we ventured to our next possible port at Barnegat Inlet.  What we found was a very dangerous Inlet with treacherous waters that were poorly marked.  We watched two Coast Guard rescue boats traverse the inlet and their route was not intuitive. They also came through on an outgoing tide with a heavy NE surf colliding with it inside the Inlet.  The Village of Barnegat Inlet and the harbor itself is very nice and protected. 

Bench at our Sugar Coffee Shop

Surf is still high, so we are still here on the Jersey Shore

Still in Manasquan!

So we went sightseeing...

The Boardwalk is so long here that they have a chairlift to help you get along.

 

Michael & Doreen Gilmartin

Barnegat Light

Barnegat Inlet.......