We hauled up our anchor and were out of the harbor at 5:15pm. That was a little earlier than planned but I was itching to go. While motoring up behind Sandy Hook, we made final preparations for off-shore sailing including configuring the cockpit cushions and stowing the last of our "anchoring" gear.
Several boats had come and anchored around us while we were waiting and we navigated through them on the way out. As we were passing a small sloop, I yelled over, "Come out and play!". They answered, "Tomorrow!". I didn't want to wait for tomorrow as the predicted winds were supposed to go south in the afternoon and we'd have to find a place to get off the ocean. Leaving now should give us good winds down the coast, around Cape May and up Delaware Bay.
Here are all the boats anchored near Atlantic Highlands as we were leaving.
We rounded the tip of Sandy Hook and the seas gradually built as we became open to the ocean. We had the mainsail up - sheeted in tight - to keep the roll down. It was pretty close to the predictions with 4-5 foot, long-period seas and light SW winds. As the evening progressed and we turned more southwest, the swells became behind us and sort of pushed us along. Here was our first ocean sunset of the trip just south of Atlantic Highlands.
Laura tried to sack out for a bit in the late evening but didn't fare well because the boat was moving around on the swells. By 10pm, the winds had picked up from the west enough for me to roll out the jib. 1/2 hour later, I turned off the engine for the next 10 hours of nice sailing. Both of our big sails pulling with the wind really calmed down the boat and Laura was able to get a couple hours sleep.
Around midnight, I woke her up and gave instructions for navigating the next few hours. I slept a couple hours (out of 4) but woke up as Laura started the engine. I figured she was in a little trouble or confused so I went up to the cockpit to see what was going on. We were closer to shore than I suggested and she had mistaken one of the Barnegat Inlet buoys for the off-shore buoy which our course would have left to seaward. I figured out where we were and she corrected our course more out to sea. I was glad she woke me up when she wasn't sure. Much better safe than sorry when sailing off-shore.
I relieved her watch about 2 hours later and we reefed (roll in some) the main and jib. The winds had picked up to high-teens and the combination of swell plus wind was making the boat a little crazy. She was able to sleep a few hours after that. We were just coming up on Atlantic City which is visible for 20-30 miles at night.
I enjoyed the night sailing for the rest of the night and just had to let out the sheets every once in awhile as the winds clocked to the NW then N.
Sunday, October 13th (Day 17)
The sunrise was beautiful and I had a little visitor just after the Sun poked over the eastern horizon. This little chickadee (?) flew into the cockpit and he seemed to be having problems finding his way out thinking our clear canvas was open windows. I eventually was able to move him out the back opening and he immediately sat on the main-sheet and stared at me the next 1/2 hour or so from only 3 feet away.
He was probably just keeping his head pointed into the wind but it seemed to me that he wanted something. A little while later he flew up to the bow and I lost sight of him.
Most of the morning and afternoon I was trying to slow down because we were sailing faster than my plan for arriving at Cape May for the flood tide. I plan for 5 knots which is typical if we motor. Now we were steady in the mid-6s. I eventually rolled in almost all of the main and about 1/2 of the jib. Even with this reduced sail plan we were between 5 and 6 knots.
Arrival at the start of my "around Cape May" course was about 2 1/2 hours earlier than needed for helping tidal current up Delaware Bay. Oh well... So we'd be going slow for awhile. I just wanted to get away from that swell!
Laura got this great picture of the Cape May lighthouse on our way by.
Notice how close we are to the beach. I have a course set inside of the Prissywick Shoal so we don't need to sail all the way out to the ship channel which saves us about 8 miles. Only problem is it takes us close to the shore which is a little nerve-racking in unsettled weather. Today everything was pretty calm except for the 2 knot current trying to push us back to the Atlantic.
Just 5 miles later we were motoring up a calm Delaware Bay. After navigating the shallow areas near The Cape, I directed Laura which course to follow and retired to the salon sofa for a much needed nap. I don't think I even rolled over the next 2 hours. Notice how nice the water was -
We motored up Delaware Bay with a little help from our sails as the winds clocked east. Good thing as we had the current against us for the next 4 hours but the sails helped keep our speed in the 5-6 knot range.
Sailing Delaware Bay at night is a little unnerving. This is one of the most busy ship channels in the world and there is a constant stream of Tugs with barges, Freighters and huge Car Carriers heading in both directions. The best course is to STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY! I try to stay completely out of the ship channel unless there are shoals that force me inside briefly.
At 8pm, Dean called me on the VHF radio and asked if I had heard about the work going on about 5 miles in front of me. I wasn't sure what was happening, so I called the work barge on the radio a few minutes later. Turns out the whole ship channel was temporarily closed because they were working on running (or repairing?) a cable from the 3 Mile Point Nuclear Plant to the western shore. The channel would be closed for the next 45 minutes. We were about 1/2 hour away so we pulled in all our sails and just idled up the bay until we had the all-clear. It was a little ironic that we fought the current all the way up and, just as it was starting to help us, I had to stop and wait.
They called on the radio 9pm telling everyone that the channel was open. I let a tug and barge go ahead of us then followed them through. Laura and I were both exhausted from only a couple hours sleep so decided to anchor behind Reedy Island for the night. This was only about 2 miles from where we were stopped for the cable work.
We had been in this anchorage before and I remembered the entrance through the breakwater was a little narrow. The red marker on the north side was flashing but the green marker on the south side of the opening was not. Laura and I put on our wireless headsets and she went to the bow with our high-powered light. She was able to light up the green marker so I could see that side of the breakwater but the strong currents were pushing us toward the red side. FULL THROTTLE to keep us off the rocks and we were into the open bay on the other side of the breakwater. In hindsight, after seeing how bad the currents were moving our boat around through the narrow opening, I should have not come in here at night but kept going for a few more hours to a more open anchorage.
But, all was well except that Dean decided not to try the Reedy breakwater run (which I agreed with) and kept going through the Canal. 1/2 hour later we were anchored, had pulled our gear down from the cockpit and were both fast asleep.
Monday, October 14th (Day 18)
I woke up at 6:30am and felt great after just 7 hours sleep. Thinking that if we left now, we could catch the current through the C&D, I preformed my engine checks, Laura arose and and we were underway by 7am.
Now, here's why you have to be careful and double-check everything when you are sleep-deprived. I had looked up the C&D currents last night and saw that it would be against us if we decided to keep going. That was one of the reasons we anchored here. In most previous trips, we keep going (with the current) through the C&D Canal and down Chesapeake Bay to the Sassafrass River which has great anchorages. Because we had came up Delaware Bay earlier then usual, the currents would not be helping.
Oops. I had mis-read the GPS and the currents would have been helping us last night and were now against us this morning. The delay from the cable work across the channel had given the tidal currents time to catch up from our early crossing around Cape May. Now, we SLOWLY motored through the C&D Canal at 4 knots for most of the morning. Laura was able to get this great picture of a Bald Eagle by the Canal. You can tell she is an Eagle nut -
I guess the 7 hours sleep was good for me because, while motoring down the C&D, I cranked up Billy Joel on the stereo and was motivated to do some aerobics on the back deck. Many of his songs were excellent "work out" beats and I was out of breath about 20 minutes later. Gotta stay in shape when running a sailboat! I texted Dean and mentioned the aerobics. He said, "Who was driving the boat?" I answered, "Otto. Otto-pilot..."
4 hours later we were motoring pass Chesapeake City and notice there might be room at the free dock for us but it looked a little tight. We pulled in and tied up with about 1/2 our boat hanging off the end of the dock. The two powerboats that had docked there before us had left about 15 feet on each side of themselves. After we tied up, I "adjusted" the other boats so we fit a lot better. Hey. I would have asked them first if they were on the boats....
A short while later, our friends Annette and Noel motored by on Amazing Grace and took this picture of us at the Chesapeake City dock. I'll post more pics after we take a walk around town.
We spent a quiet afternoon catching up on a few boat projects and, of course, this blog. Laura and I then went for a walk through the little town of Chesapeake City and eventually found a Tiki Hut for refreshments. After we sat down, I realized it was only 2pm. I decided to head back back to the boat for a nap and Laura wanted to checkout a few shops we had seen.
Here are a couple pictures of the town -
After my nap and Laura's shopping / browsing, we did go back to the Tiki Bar for cocktails and dinner. It was quite good and they even had a quality tequila - Don Julio - which they served in generous portions. The Tiki Hut / Restaurant at the Chesapeake City Marina was very nice and is The Place To Be on weekends with live bands and lots of fun. Here is Laura enjoying the crab dip appetizer.
Tomorrow we will probably head to Annapolis if there is room for us somewhere. Today was the last day of the boat show and we're not sure when everybody clears out. Our friends Dean and Sue (Autumn Borne) and D and Don (Southern Cross) will be in Weems Creak so we might check our anchoring there or picking up a mooring.
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