Wednesday, June 3rd
Air temp 84, water temp 72, winds W @ 10
Didn't move the boat today
Today was basically a down-day on Second Wind. Laura and I were recovering from our party last night so just relaxed, drank lots of water and hung out.
Laura texted Chris (who we partied with last night) and, on my recommendation, cancelled our plans for them to pick us up for swimming and a cookout at their house. None of us really felt like repeating the 7 bottles of red wine we drank last night.
We opened up all the hatches and tried to stay as cool as possible with the outside temps approaching 90. It wasn't too bad in the boat since we didn't run the main engine today which normally would really heat the boat up. I can run our air-conditioning off the Honda generator but didn't want to make so much noise in the mooring field with lots of boats close around us.
It was a very warm evening and I don't think our cabin got below 80 degrees all night.
Thursday, June 4th
Air temp 83, water temp 74, winds W @ 5
40 nautical miles today, 1,236 total miles from Marathon
I surprised Laura with my announcement that we were leaving today. We had tentative plans for visiting Bob and Chris at their house but, with the iffy weather, I wanted to start working our way north to stage for the New Jersey off-shore run.
We were off the mooring at 9am. I love the safe feeling of moorings and how easy it is to leave. I just untie two lines and let them slip through the mooring back onto the boat. That's it!
About 1/2 hour later we approached the Bay Bridge. Check out how smooth the water was -
No help from the wind today as we motored north. Plus, the tidal current was against us which slowed our speed to the low 4s. I ran the boat on the autopilot all day and read quite a bit on my iPad with Kindle app.
We entered the Sassafras River just after 4pm. Our friends Dean, Sue, Pete and Bunny were at the Georgetown Yacht Basin so I was thinking of heading there for an overnight at the marina. But, I didn't think I could make it there before closing time so decided to anchor on the river instead. South winds were predicted for tonight with a chance of thunderstorms. I thought about anchoring just a mile or two inside the river entrance but then decided to keep going for another couple miles to a more protected spot. I'm very glad I did!
This evening we did run the AC off the generator all evening and the boat was very comfortable even after running the main engine all day. Our cell service here was very spotty so we had to go up into the cockpit and hold the phone over our head to even get 1 bar. Using this technique, we watched a pretty big band of thunderstorms heading our way. The weather app estimated they would be near us around 8pm. At least while it was still light out...
For the past couple weeks, we watched storms heading our way only to see them break up or go around us. It didn't happen this time. Turns our they held back until after dark around 9:30pm. There was a wide band of "red shit" coming our way on the weather RADAR. Oh oh. We were in for it this time. I'm glad I had anchored in a spot protected almost 360 degrees and there were trees only 1/4 mile away to our south and southwest which should block some of the wind.
When it started to lightning and storm around us, I turned off all of our circuit breakers to try and isolate the boat systems from a lightning strike. I won't get into lightning protection on a sailboat other to say it is an art, not a science. We know from experience as the top of our mainmast was struck by lightning in 2012 to the tune of $22,000 worth of damaged electronics. Yes. We had insurance and they covered it.
I have to say that since then, Laura and I have gotten over most of our lightning fears and just try to protect ourselves and the boat as much as possible. I remember only a couple months after our lightning strike, we were running off-shore Cape Canaveral when thunderstorms came at us. I tried to change course and miss the bigger ones but there is not much you can do at 6 miles an hour. We eventually learned to just run our course and work through the storms.
We sat in the cockpit trying to get cell coverage to see the storms on our weather apps. It was partially successful. Good news is we had an awesome view of nature's power as the whole sky was lighting up around us. Here is a screen-shot I took right after the worst had gone by. That big line of red went directly over us. We were at the blue dot.
I estimate the bigger wind gusts at around 40 knots. Everything on the boat was turned off so I didn't have instruments for measuring them. A few times the boat heeled over about 20 degrees with a gust from the side but our anchoring system is excellent and never had a problem. Oh, but the bigger winds were from the west, not south. There was land in front of us but no trees to help block the winds. If I had anchored near the river entrance we would have had huge waves. Tucked in where we were, there was only a gentle swell coming around the corner.
Laura was able to get this picture of one lightning strike on her Nikon. Notice how bright the sky was. This is 10pm in the dark. The lightning strike is just over the tree-line in the picture.
We hit the sack after the main storms passed (and I turned the boat power back on). I had two little side windows open in our cabin and one had a fan blowing on us. It was the only way to survive in the 80 degree, humid night. Smaller storms with wind and rain came through almost all night so I didn't sleep very well.
Friday, June 5th
Air temp 84, water temp 75, winds S @ 10
4 nautical miles today, 1,240 total miles from Marathon
It was a sunny, pretty morning when I finally got up around 8:30am. The winds were light out of the south and we enjoyed our slow wake-up in the cockpit.
Around 9:15am I decided to pull the anchor and slowly motor the 4 miles to Georgetown Yacht Basin. I had called yesterday afternoon and made reservations for tonight so we could have air-conditioning with the hot, humid weather.
I had been hoping to maybe sail these few miles but the winds were only 3-4 knots most of the time. Not enough to move the boat at a reasonable speed. We motored instead.
10 minutes after getting underway, we passed Dean and Sue on Autumn Borne and Pete and Bunny on La Bella Vita coming the other way. They had been at the marina for the past 2 nights and decided to head to Reedy Island anchorage up on Delaware Bay today. Their plan for the coast of NJ is different from ours. Pete and Bunny don't like doing overnights so they are going to do the coast in day trips. We will stage the boat at Reedy Island on Sunday then leave early Monday morning down the Delaware and up the coast. We'll run overnight and be in Sandy Hook Tuesday afternoon.
Truth-be-told, I would rather not do overnight sails either. But, if it will allow us to travel in better weather and not get stuck somewhere for several days, it's not a big deal. Plus, I have been in every NJ inlet and they can be really nasty sometimes with wind against the current. Big, close seas are not fun. Running this section overnight and missing all that stuff is fine with us.
Ok. Back to the cruise.... We fueled up at the marina since it was much cheaper here than NJ or NY. Only $1.45 / gallon for off-road diesel. Plus, it would be a little more piece of mind for running the 100 miles off-shore from Cape May to Sandy Hook.
A short time later we were in our slip for the night. I walked up to the office to see if their loaner-car was available while Laura put the boat to bed and organized some laundry. A short time later we were in the marina car on our way to Walmart about 15 miles away in another state - Middleton, Delaware. That was the closest Walmart.
I was running low on my prescription and hoped I could talk them into transferring my prescription from NY to here. I could do it through the Walmart app but they typically want 3 days. Maybe they would be quicker if I was standing there in front of them.
It didn't start out well. The gal at the Pharmacy told me they couldn't transfer the prescription from NY and my doctor would have to call it in here. Oh boy. The last time I had called my doctor, it took them 3 hours to call me back. But, it turns out I was able to get a hold ot the right person in NY and, about an hour later, I had my prescription just before the pharmacy closed for lunch. Yea!
Laura picked up a few groceries and we drove back to the marina. On the way, we stopped at a little diner we liked to see if they were serving lunch. They were so we decided to put our groceries away then walk back about 1/4 mile to the diner.
It was just too hot and humid for us to walk back to the diner. After stowing the groceries, we had a small lunch on Second Wind and relaxed the rest of the day. We both took naps to make up for the lack of sleep last night.
I haven't decided if we will stay another night or anchor on the Sassafras River again tomorrow. It's supposed to be humid and near 90 again but should cool down later in the day. Tomorrow night is going into the 60s. Yea! I'll probably decide to stay after sleeping in the AC tonight...
Tomorrow is a day off waiting for weather and Sunday we will run around the top of Chesapeake Bay, through the Chesapeake - Delaware Canal and a little way down Delaware bay to Reedy Island anchorage. Then I plan on leaving around first light Monday to catch the ebb tide down Delaware Bay. If everything works out, we should be up the coast to Sandy Hook or the Hudson River Tuesday. Stay tuned!
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