Tranquility Travels: Start Spreading the News

We left Avalon relatively early because we thought we'd try to make Masaquan in one day. At 97 miles, it would have been our longest day. We've done 93 and 92, but most are much shorter. It wasn't to be though, we got to Atlantic City and found a bridge that needed opening, but were told that due to a big concert on the beach (Dave Mathews) that they couldn't open until 2 pm. It was noon. We found a restaurant with a small dock with two boats on it. There would have been room for us if one of the boats (a small skiff) could be pulled up closer to the other boat. We couldn't get the restaurant on the radio and couldn't find a phone number, so pulled up close and asked a guy on the dock if he could just pull up the small boat. He said no, it wasn't his boat, then left the dock. What a guy. It is New Jersey though.

We tried to anchor in the narrow and shallow channel, but with the wind, we couldn't let out enough anchor line to hold, so decided to keep looking for a place to tie up. Another trawler came along and over the radio we decided we would both tie up to a new floating dock in front of some new condos. There was a big sign announcing the sales information of the condos and docks. We figured we'd move if someone told us to, but no one did. I might have yelled at Denise as she was attempting to get a line on a dock cleat. Sorry.

The channel through Atlantic City is very narrow with some sharp turns and very close to the houses that line it. Before this picture, we got so close to this house that Denise said she could see their refrigerator inside.

We came around one of the sharp corners and were surprised to find another bridge that needed opening. We had to wait 15 minutes because they opened on a schedule.

I'm not much of a gambler, so I've never had a desire to go to Atlantic City, I guess its the Las Vegas of the east. Denise took pictures as we cruised through.

Not all of Atlantic City is glitz though.

After talking to the other couple in the trawler we met at the bridge, we thought we'd be cruising together for awhile as they were headed to Canada via the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. Following the delayed bridge opening, I let them go first because this part of the NJICW is very shallow and I thought they could show me the way. But just a few miles from the bridge they motioned for us to come around.

Then on the radio he told us he had lost his port engine. He had just had a fuel pump put in it earlier that day after waiting for three days for the part to arrive. He was going into a marina, so we wished them luck and continued on. Southern New Jersey is almost like Georgia with a very shallow channel and lots of marsh. But even out in the marsh, some people find a spot they like.

Even though we found many spots showing barely 4 feet of water, we didn't find the bottom with our props. We did find a lot of flies though and they were biting our feet. By the end of the day they had found their way into the cabin. I don't like flies, but Denise HATES them and went on a rampage with the fly swatter.

This one was lucky. He was on the outside.

After the two bridge delays, we realized we could not make Manasquan, so decided to head for an anchorage at the Barnegat Inlet. A spot 25 miles south of Manasquan with access to the ocean. Even Denise agreed that it would be better to run in the ocean from there rather than the shorter run from Manasquan. She had read in the cruising guide how busy it was around Manasquan, especially on the weekends. There is a bridge there that only allows one boat in one direction through at a time and the guide reported times when 100 boats were waiting to get through.

Even the Barnegat inlet was going to be a stretch and when the Weather Officer checked the NOAA website, she found that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Barnegat. We made the wise decision to duck into a spot we thought would be protected.

The first spot we picked didn't work out. We were anchored for a little while and when the wind shifted we lost our hold. Again, there wasn't enough room to let out enough anchor line. Some of the neighbors though weren't very welcoming. We got a few dirty looks and no return waves when Denise waved. One couple a few houses down came out and were looking at us with binoculars. There was one nice couple though, they were in their hot tub and the guy got out and yelled to me offering a drink. We ended up moving up one more inlet, which was bigger and that's where we spent the night. The storm stayed to the north of us.

In anticipation of the longer ocean passage, Denise was up early, 4:30. She quoted the saying, "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."

Eventually, I got up at 5:30 and after some coffee we were off. It was a little foggy when we got to the Barnegat Inlet, but we headed out. The Barnegat light, at 165 feet, is the second tallest operating light house in the US.

The weather forecast sounded good, with 5 to 10 knot winds from the southwest and 2 to 3 foot seas. The cruising guide said this about the Barnegat Inlet: "If you see waves breaking outside the inlet, do not proceed. If you have to return through the inlet, you had better be wearing life jackets." Well we didn't see waves breaking, but I now know what they meant. Even in decent conditions, the inlet was quite rough. I assured Denise it wouldn't be like this once we were clear of the breakwater.

I was almost right. It sure seemed like more than 2 to 3 feet, but they were on our stern once we turned north east and it was tolerable. Eventually, it settled down some, but Denise admitted later that she had gotten quite nauseous and thought she would "lose it", but didn't. Here she is pretending to be enjoying the ride.

After about 65 miles of ocean going, we started seeing the sights through the haze.

From still a few miles away this is the Verrazano Narrows bridge. Prior to its completion in 1964, there was no way to reach Staten Island from New York City except by boat. But the bridge didn't completely replace the ferrys.