The sandy Jersey shore

Seaside Park - a friend's favorite childhood beach 

The view from our anchorage in Absecon Inlet (Atlantic City)

Absecon Light dwarfed by the big buildings

It has been a lovely couple of days with extremely calm seas and not much wind.  We sort of feel like we are piloting a trawler instead of sailboat.  The anchorage in Atlantic City was quieter than you might imagine.  It was interesting seeing the oldest lighthouse on the coast dwarfed by the tall buildings.  Leaving Atlantic City, the ocean was so calm that the big buildings were reflected in the water.  Passing Ocean City, NJ, we wondered which of you may have one day enjoyed a ride on the Ferris Wheel that looks gigantic from the water.  A pod of dolphins swam nearby as we entered Cape May inlet along with about a dozen or so fishing boats on their Sunday afternoon return.

We spent a day on the hook at Cape May, just off the Coast Guard Training Center - listening to night-time training ops, Reveille at 8am and the National Anthem which followed.  It was very cool.  The town of Cape May is very sweet and we enjoyed a good long walk and a little shopping.

Leaving at dawn on Tuesday, we headed out of the inlet, took a right around Cape May and up into the Delaware Bay.  There we skirted the 3/10ths mile wide Canal to avoid the ship traffic (of which there is always much!) and entered the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal mid-afternoon.

After passing under the six bridges along the canal, one of our local friends stood waving at us from the dock at Schaeffer's Marina as we tied up for the day.  We enjoyed a great meal at the marina restaurant with our new friends from "Sanderling," an Island Packet 45.  The menu offered 14 items in which Blue Crab was involved - from Sharon's point of view, that is the best!

We are looking forward to a couple weeks in the Chesapeake Bay.  This is where we bought Dream Catcher and spent the first several years enjoying sailing the waters.  It feels like coming home.

September 27, 2014 

What a thrill we are feeling to have finally left the dock in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.  We have been tethered there for a few months due to all types of responsibilities.  As we made our way to Newport on Monday afternoon, we high-fived one another in celebration of having actually started our adventure.   Our chores in Newport were to have a diver clean the bottom (the faster to getaway), fill the fuel tanks, and get a good night’s rest.  Tuesday morning, heading out of Newport Harbor (one of our favorite haunts) we looked toward the ocean and set our sails.  First day was to Fishers Island, NY, a lovely quiet anchorage.  Wednesday up early to catch the currents at The Race (fast currents between the north tip of Long Island and the CT shore).  Dropped the hook in Oyster Bay, Long Island (who can name the Billy Joel song that mentions this location?). We took a lay day here due to heavy rainfall.  We were snug in our new full cockpit enclosure, even as the rain fell.  The most exciting day yet was transiting through New York City.  Just after City Island, NY, we took a left and headed up under the Throgs Neck Bridge.  As we made our way, we passed Riker’s Island with all its miles of curly razor wire, around a couple islands, under five bridges, all with spectacular views of the great city and all its wonderful buildings.  We even went by Courtney’s old neighborhood: 78^th Street. It was Sharon’s favorite experience yet!  After dropping out into NY Harbor by the Battery, passing the Staten Island Ferries going back and forth, we motored right up to the base of the Statue of Liberty – so awe-inspiring and so exciting to see from the water.   Passing under the last bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows, we continued on to Sandy Hook, NJ, about 15 miles away and anchored in a nice little cove for the evening.  This morning, up before dawn, we headed around the bend and into open ocean with our running lights glowing, sailing down the beautiful Jersey Shore, only about a mile and a half offshore.  Miles and miles of sand dunes all the way to Atlantic City, NJ.  Our longest day yet, 85 miles and nearly 12 hours, we finally dropped the hook just inside the inlet at 5:30pm. 

Tomorrow we head for Cape May and plan to stay for a couple of days, then on to the Chesapeake.

We've been taking lots of pictures, and even some short videos as we enter and leave anchorages.  We look forward to sharing these once we download and upload.  Great fun so far! 

We are finally sailing away! 

Stay tuned for more posts to let you know where we are and what's goign on.

Wow, finally!