Manasquan, NJ to Great Kills, NY...New York City!

Day #598; Loop Miles to Date = 6,892

Wow...what a day! We're now in New York, our 12th state.

The trip to Great Kills Yacht Club was about 40 miles...once again in the Atlantic for much of this, and then the New York Harbor. The winds were mild, the seas mostly calm, but plenty of folks out fishing on the holiday weekend, so plenty of residual wakes to contend with, even out in the ocean. We added about 8 miles to this trip to make a pit stop at the last spot in NJ where we could buy fuel...the price goes up about $0.50 a gallon as soon as you hit New York. We left early (6:30 am) to use the slack current at Manasquan (a great decision) which put us into Great Kills a little after noon. After almost 50 miles on the water, our day had just begun...

Our first glimpse of the NYC skyline...a bit hazy today.

We traveled today with our friends on Act III, and they also had 2 stowaways aboard...son Chris and his wife Christine had joined them in Cape May and were cruising with them for the weekend. Once we were all settled, a plan was devised for the remainder of the day...first up was to find our way to the Staten Island Ferry to snag a ride over to the City. Two of the members here were kind enough to give all 6 of us a ride to the closest train station. From there, we rode the train to the Ferry Terminal, and voila...about 1 1/2 hours after leaving the boat, we were in Manhattan.

The Act III family and us as we get ready to head for the City.

Our train ride...

Our ferry ride...lots of people.

Staten Island Ferry. If you'll note, the ferry lists to one side substantially. That's because everyone on it is looking out the window to see...

We'll get a better view tomorrow when we get up close and personal in our own boat.

These guys now escort each ferry trip...there are 2 ferries that run continually every half hour from each side.

Once we landed in Manhattan, the first order of business was to find a street vendor and get some lunch...of course we had hot dogs and chicken on a stick...we just had to. No picture of this, but we did get a picture of dessert...

Yep...Mister Softee for everyone!

Our second  order of business was to visit the World Trade Center Memorial...it was less than a mile walk, and we all really wanted to see it. It's quite sobering, and they have done a nice job with the Memorial. Our pictures don't do it justice...if you find yourselves in the City, it's a must see.

We next decided that we should take a run up to Times Square, which was going to require public transportation of some sort. So...Uber it was. The driver pulled up right beside the Memorial to pick us up, and the only drama was after we were in the car - 2 NYC policemen approached the car to find out what was going on. It seems the driver had pulled over in a "no-no" zone and they were not very happy with him. After a brief "conversation" between the cops and our broken-English speaking driver, we were sent on our way. The driver was all nervous, afraid that he was going to be ticketed. And the police officers were entertaining us with some mildly colorful New York City dialogue. It was actually quite amusing to be in the middle of it.

 

Times Square is just plain nuts. The mass of humanity is overwhelming, particularly after we've spent so much time alone on the boat...and visiting so many small towns in our travels. It is simply mind-numbing. But, we had a mission...a very important stop...

 

The M&M Store! It was huge, and just slammed with people. The crowd did not deter us though from collectively purchasing about 5 pounds of M&M's. They had all kinds of paraphernalia for sale, and had it not been so crowded, we might have dawdled enough to purchase some. But, alas, all we left with was candy!



Just a portion of the crowds and billboards...phone pictures just can't do it justice.

By this point in the day, we decided that we needed to get back to the pups. We were stretching our luck as it was, and knew that it was going to take us some time to find our boat again. So we parted company with the Act III family...they were off to Brooklyn to find some legendary pizza. Collectively, we figured out that we were about 3 blocks from a bus stop that should find us the right bus to get us back to Staten Island, and off we went. A short walk and about a 15 minute wait, and we found ourselves on the X1 bus back across the river. It took us about an hour and a half to make the trek with all of the traffic and stops, but we found that the pups forgave us for being gone so long...all ended just fine.

 

An interesting side story...we thought we knew our way from the bus stop back to the marina (well at least Rob thought he knew...oops). After walking down one dead-end street to find an impenetrable fence, we found ourselves walking another couple of blocks down yet another dead-end street. Drat! We could see the marina right over the wrought iron fence, but a locked gate prevented our passage. We were just about ready to start knocking on doors to ask for help when a couple exited the condo unit just adjacent to the fence. They kindly opened the gate for us to let us "free" to get to the boat. The interesting part is that they just bought a boat within the past few months and plan to do the loop on it someday...small world! We have found the local folks in this area, and at the marina to be absolutely wonderful. Very giving, and offering to help us in any way they can. (Sandy and Susan just got back from the grocery store...thanks to a free lift from John the Harbor Host here.)

 

This was one of the longest, busiest days of our trip. In one day, we traveled 48 miles in our own boat, got a lift from some locals, rode the train, the ferry, an Uber, and a bus! This in addition to about 3 miles of walking in New York City...a memorable day for sure!



Cape May to Atlantic City to Manasquan (Hoffman's Marina)

Day # 596; Loop Miles to Date = 6,846

This is going to be just the cliff notes - to fill in the gaps for our journey up the New Jersey Coast...

We left Cape May on Friday, traveling 44 miles to Atlantic City, and then on Saturday we drove 60 miles to get to the Manasquan Inlet. All of this transit was outside in the Atlantic Ocean, as the NJICW is quite shallow, and is prone to constant shoaling. Plus, there is heavy boat traffic and many bridges to get past. Our trip on Friday took us a little less than 5 hours...had we taken the NJICW, it would have taken us 8!

Friday was an OK day to be on the ocean...we had some pretty good sized swells (5'-6' most of the day, with some larger ones every so often) but they were spread out with a period of about 10 seconds. There was a steady breeze from the west, but staying just about a mile offshore protected us from most of the winds effect. Saturday was a much better day...only a light breeze, and the swells were much smaller and still spread out. It was a great travel day for the ocean. Tomorrow, we will head back out there again (very early) and plan to make Staten Island by about noon. Between the Delaware Bay, and this NJ coast travel, it will be nice to get to some more protected waters in about a weeks time.

Wildwood

Ocean City

Atlantic City

Surf City

The only real "drama" that we had was entering the inlet at Manasquan. This inlet is large and accommodates a tremendous amount of recreational boat traffic...an awful lot of sport fishing boats come in and out of here. But, it is known for its fierce currents, and it lived up to it's reputation. We had to power up to 2400 rpm against this stiff current just to make headway at 7mph. Usually at this rpm level we would be doing 13 mph or so...that's a LOT of current. And, in that it was Memorial Day weekend, there was substantial traffic. Add to this that there was a very narrow bridge that all of this traffic had to go through, and...well let's just say that we got our share of adrenaline rush for the day in this last 10 minutes! Tomorrow, we will be able to time our departure so that we are leaving in more slack conditions...it should be much less exciting.

All for now...tomorrow we say good bye to Jersey, and hello to New York!

Rock Hall to Bohemia River to Delaware City to Cape May

Day #590; Loop Miles to Date = 6,741

We've now added States #10 and #11 to our bucket in the last week, having cruised through Delaware, and now sitting in Cape May, NJ. And boy is the wind blowing! We really, really wanted to be able to stop briefly here and move on up the coast, but the winds are in charge at present. But...we digress...first a bit of catching up on our progress.

Rock Hall to Bohemia Bay Marina was a nice easy day...we had beautiful weather, and the waters were protected enough that we didn't have any issues with wind. We found Bohemia Bay to be a nice peaceful stop...we are a bit early in the season here, and the local boaters are just starting to enter their prime season. Of course we were here mid-week, so it was nice and quiet.
 

Just like the local gas stations, the marinas with fuel docks advertise the going rate. This was at Bohemia Bay...fortunately, we filled up at Rock Hall at $1.95...good for us.

A small replica on the point at the entrance to Bohemia Bay...you can see what a gorgeous day it was!

From Bohemia Bay, we had another easy day up to Delaware City Marina. The bulk of this travel day was in the C&D Canal, which connects the upper Chesapeake to the Delaware River. This is often a busy commercial section, but on this day we had a very quiet transit. The dock master/owner of Delaware City runs a very efficient operation...he is very precise with your entry instructions, and it counts. The currents in the area can be substantial, and the marina is on a side channel that is small, and therefor magnifies the current. Add to this some shallow areas on the approach, and it can be tricky to the unaware.

The highlight though on this stop was that we received a visit from Rob's Mom and Sister. Gigi, Linda and Carl drove down for the afternoon and early dinner. We had a wonderful visit and were so glad that they could adjust to our schedule to make this visit happen!

Rob and his Mom...thanks for making me look tall, Mom!

The transit from Delaware City to Cape May is one that commands a boaters full attention. The first 1/3 of this 64 mile leg is on the Delaware River, with the remaining portion on the Delaware Bay. Although this segment doesn't receive the press that many other notorious sections of the loop do, this can be one of the toughest crossings of them all. The winds and current are both significant factors, and when they team up it can be treacherous. Fortunately, Tim the dock master at Delaware City provides a nightly briefing that is detailed and extremely informative. For any Loopers out there approaching this section of travel, a stop in Delaware City is fully worthwhile (for the briefing alone) to make this crossing comfortable.

As it was, we stayed here an extra night in order to time our crossing appropriately...and it paid off with a very manageable day of travel. And we were glad to get across when we did, because as predicted, substantial winds picked up after our arrival in Cape May. We are now on our 3rd night here, and not sure when the winds will next let us make the jump to Atlantic City. This next few days of travel will be on the outside in the Atlantic, so we want to be sure that we pick our weather windows wisely.

The best part about Cape May is that we are now rejoined with both Act III and Corkscrew. We split up a ways back down the Chesapeake, and we're glad to have the gang back together for as long as it lasts this time. We expect to split back up again shortly, but reunite for most or all of the summer as we make our way through the Erie Canal and up through Canada. Good times to be had by all!

A good sized commercial tug that we passed on our way to Delaware City...this one gave us a pretty sizable wake to ride!

The Cape May Lighthouse.

The crews of Sandrobber, Corkscrew, and Act III.

Solomons to Tilghman Island to Rock Hall

Day #581; Loop Miles to Date = 6,607

We continued our trek northward this past week, and in spite of the weather, we were able to make 6 stops in 6 days...good progress! On Thursday, we departed Solomons once again finding gray, breezy and rainy conditions. The winds were out of the east, so we detoured slightly to get from the west side of the bay to the east side of the bay, making most of the rest of our travel day more comfortable in the lee of the eastern shore. At this juncture, we are mainly just trying to make progress against the stubborn weather, and choosing our stops mostly due to their location along our intended route. We stopped at Tilghman Island, a stop we loved last summer. It was convenient, but not nearly as interesting in the cold and wet. Somehow, a stroll into town, or a dip in their wonderful salt water pool just didn't sound like much fun! So, we just camped out and waited for Friday to come so that we could move on.

A Tall Ship that we encountered on the way to Rock Hall.

With yet another weather system approaching, we wanted to move on so that when the weather hit, we were "stuck" somewhere that had a bit more to offer than the isolation of Tilghman Island. We decided on Rock Hall...and were able to transit both Knapp's Narrows and Kent Narrows with no issues. These are both rather notorious shallow areas that some boaters avoid, but having been through both of them last summer, and having just enough positive tide to work with, we safely navigated both. This allowed us to travel up the "back way" to Rock Hall, travelling most of the way in protected waters, and not really ever having to go out into the bay, which still had some easterly winds kicking up.

So, as of Friday, we have been camped out in Rock Hall...at least we have a few restaurants, a small grocery store, and a town to walk to here. We had lots of rain on Friday night and Saturday accompanied by some wind. And for Sunday and Monday, the winds flop around a bit, but they are still a nuisance from a travel perspective. We anticipate that we will be able to move onward on Tuesday if the forecast holds...Monday if there are any positive changes. And it is also supposed to warm up, which is very welcome news!

Time for a side note on a small project that required all 4 human hands on board. Nothing very exciting, but one of those maintenance projects that are always part of our cruising life. We had both been noticing that the steering was getting a bit "sloppy". We found ourselves having to turn the wheel further than what we knew to be normal to steer in almost all conditions. After some simple diagnostics, and discussions with "experts" we figured that we had some air trapped in our hydraulic steering system. This was likely due to a very slow loss of hydraulic steering fluid over a long period of time (no apparent abnormal leaks were to be found after inspecting all fittings and components). So, while one of us held a container of steering fluid above the helm station, the other one had to turn the wheel back and forth...causing the hydraulic fluid to pump through the system. Over the course of about 20 minutes, we released numerous air bubbles and replaced them with fluid...that is what this dramatic picture is showing...the air going up, and the fluid filling the system. Isn't this exciting??

Bye for now...northward we trek...

Deltaville to Ingram Bay to Solomons, MD

Day #579; Loop Miles to Date = 6,536

We continue our march northward…in spite of the blustery weather. We had a short run on Tuesday to Ingram Bay. It was windy and about as rough on the water as we expected, but not quite as bad as Monday. We only had about 25 miles to go, so we decided to gut it out and go for it. It wasn’t perfect, but again it was manageable.

We found Ingram Bay to be a wonderful, rustic, and friendly marina. Nothing fancy – it’s out in the middle of nowhere, but exceedingly peaceful. We’re glad we made the stop and checked it out. We also ran into Hour Plan (Jim and A.C) who we met at Coinjock, and again in Hampton. We had a nice visit with them in the sunshine, sitting at a picnic table right on the dock…very pleasant!

 

That gap in the trees is the entrance to Ingram Bay Marina...this the view from our cockpit. You can see how calm and peaceful it is in here. A welcome respite from the rough conditions of the past 2 days.

And now as this entry is being penned, we are on our way to Solomons, MD. It will be another stop at Calvert Marina, a place we used 3 or 4 times last summer as we wandered around the Chesapeake. We expect to be there just one night, and then continue on. Today is a MUCH nicer travel day. We had some rollers and sloppy conditions early this morning, but we just passed the Potomac, and are now in very comfortable conditions with a light breeze on our stern.
 

Thanks for reading…stay tuned…

Coinjock, NC to Hampton, VA to Deltaville, VA

Day #577; Loop Miles to Date = 6,465

When we last left you, we were stuck in Coinjock due to high water closing a couple of bridges ahead of us. Well, fortunately, the delay was only a day. There were scads of boats leaving on the same morning, but we chose to let many of them leave before us, and it worked out just fine. We had a long transit day (9 hours/63 miles) and had to time 3 bridge openings and a lock. In order to make this all work, we stopped at a free dock between 2 of the bridges to walk the pups. The worst part of the day was the last hour or so going into Hampton. Once we cleared downtown Norfolk, we were more exposed to the gusty winds, and the section through Hampton Roads was rough. Fortunately, the wind was on our nose as anticipated, so it was bearable, but it would not have been fun for long. We saved the long AND rough transit for our next leg...more on this in a bit.

Coming into Hampton after 7pm, we ran smack into the middle of a weekly regatta. Fortunately, where we needed to go was in the channel after they finished their race. Still, it was a bit of a traffic jam getting in after a long day.

We knew that the winds were going to be up for a number of days, and Hampton was the place we wanted to be to ride this weather out. We had reserved the same spot that we had last fall when we camped out in Hampton for a month...so it seemed almost like we were at "home". Sure enough the winds did indeed blow (along with some rain) which kept us at the dock for 5 days. We had been hoping for just 3 or 4, but it just didn't make sense to venture out any sooner than we did.

So, this morning (Monday) after days of deliberation, we and Corkscrew decided that the weather had settled enough to take a stab at our next bit of travel. We had 51 miles of the Chesapeake to transit (Corkscrew chose to tackle 65 miles or so) and we knew that it had a chance to be rough. This time we got what we expected and then some! It was a rough couple of hours. The total travel time for us was about 5 hours, and at least 3 of it was in 3' to 4' seas, with plenty of 5' and 6' rollers mixed in. We buried our anchor pulpit in a wave on many occasions. Again, we knew that we were going to be going into the wind, so it was a manageable passage...had it been on our beam, we would have turned around and hightailed it back to the dock. Even though it was rougher than our Gulf crossing last year, it wasn't as uncomfortable because of the wave direction and period. In any event, we are glad to have today done!

So, for tonight we are settled at a familiar marina in Deltaville, and it is a beautiful evening now that we are out of the wind. The winds are supposed to settle a bit more tonight, so we anticipate heading out again in the morning, with the expectation that the seas will be kinder!

A shot that our friends on Act III took of us on the Neuse River...much calmer conditions this day!

OK...here's a fun shot. The boat on the left is not doing the loop (66' Hampton). But the boat on the right (25' Sea Dory) has done the loop twice already and is on their third time around!

Stuck in Coinjock

Day #571; Loop Miles to Date = 6,351

So...here we sit. The good news is that we have a spot to sit.

Yesterday, we traversed the Albemarle Sound in less than ideal conditions, but it was manageable. We had about 20 miles of open water to cross, and the wind was stronger than we would have preferred, but it was out of the south, and thus on our stern. It was scheduled to clock around to the WSW later in the day, so we left at 6:30am to get across before the wind switched. This all worked as planned, and we safely docked at Coinjock well before a big front was scheduled to blow through. All this is the good news...

The bad news is that all of the rain that the area north of here received over the last week finally drained into our future path, and there are 2 swing bridges north of here (30 and 35 miles from where we sit) that are now closed due to high water. These are bridges for car traffic that sit very close to the water, and all boats need to have them open in order to proceed north.The mechanisms for the bridges are currently under water. So, they need to let the water recede before they can fix whatever needs to be fixed before the bridges can be open for vessel traffic. And, there is absolutely nothing in the way of facilities between there and where we are now. So, we will simply have to wait it out here in Coinjock....along with a whole slew of other boats in the same predicament.

Coinjock Marina is a 1200' long face dock along the waterway, where everyone basically parallel parks their boat. As of this writing (Tuesday at about noon) the dock is full, and unfortunately there are many boats south of here that are in transit who have not yet figured out that there is a traffic jam here that is impassable. So, for those that make it this far, they have begun to raft up...meaning that they will start double parking the boats, and folks on the outside will have to walk across boats on the inside to get to the dock. It is about to get really interesting. It'll be even more interesting once the bridges are open, because everyone will be hightailing it out of here all at once!

Thankfully, there is a restaurant here and a very spartan convenience store in the marina office. There is absolutely nothing else around, so we will be entertaining ourselves. Time to sit back, relax, and do nothing. We can only hope that this snag resolves itself quickly, as there is another weather front looming that we are keeping an eye on. We would rather move on from here as soon as the bridges are fixed, but weather will dictate in any case.

Stay tuned...more fun to follow...