Kim
08/10/2009, Atlantic City

Sunday morning we had lots of rain until around lunch time. We decided since we were in Atlantic City to take the boys to see their first boardwalk. The only thing they really wanted to do was swim in the surf. We enjoyed walking down the steel pier, watching a motorcycle tight wire act, and the boys swam. We also went into Hard Rock Café for some nachos. Nathan couldn't believe they would put perfectly good electric guitars on the wall.

It was about 2 miles back to the dinghy from the boardwalk, so we headed back around 6pm. Not 30 minutes after we got back to the boat, we got a severe weather warning on our GPS. It looked like we were about to get hit with some severe thunderstorms. We battened down the hatches, dropped some extra anchor chain, and stayed below (clear of the mast). The storm went through pretty quickly but the lightening seemed really close. We were all glad when it finally passed...

This morning we are heading to Cape May, which is about a 35 mile sail. We most likely will do some motor sailing as the winds are light... but who knows. It seems like the winds are rarely exactly as forecasted. This will be our last offshore sail so Nathan is really hoping to catch himself a tuna.

It looks like we are still on track to be home next weekend. In some ways, we want to just keep sailing. It has been a good time. I guess all good things must come to an end at some point.

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Kim
08/07/2009, Atlantic City NJ

After waking up at 4am this morning to make our way 85 miles to Atlantic City, we are exhausted. On an early passage the kids always ask us to wake them up. I am not exactly sure why. The banging of the anchor coming up and the motor blasting next to their bunk brings them out of a dead sleep anyhow. Today's sail was probably one of my favorite yet. We averaged 7-9 knots all day. The wind direction and swell was coming in such a way that we had great speed and weren't getting thrown around all day. The end of the day we did manage to "dip the rails" a couple of times. This typically happens when sailing close hauled, which means the sails are pulled in tight as the wind is coming from ahead and to the side. At one point, Seth and I were sitting on the bow and had to hold on for our lives.

The other excitement of the day was seeing dolphins. It doesn't matter how many times we see them, when someone yells "dolphins", all hands are on deck in short order. What amazing creatures. The only other sound that gets this kind of reaction from the crew is the sound of the line zinging out on the fishing pole.

We are anchored in a nice calm anchorage with a somewhat shallow entrance. We were able to get into it with only one bump on the bottom. Aside from the party boats that have gone by a couple of times, it's a nice spot. We can see the lights from the casinos... one of the buildings is like a giant computer screen and changes pictures every few seconds. Aaron and I watched it like a "tv" for quite a while.

Ben's folks are driving here from Lancaster tonight and will spend the night and tomorrow with us on the boat. Ben just went to shore to try and find a dock to pick them up. The boys are all excited. Most likely we will head out offshore to do some sailing and fishing tomorrow... and then come back here.

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Ben
08/06/2009, Atlantic Highlands NJ

Our trip through NY was pretty uneventful. It is quite a site to sail right past the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were able to time our trip so that the currents were with us through Hell Gate and down the East River.... So we made good time, 6-7 knots almost all day.

Our trip through NY seemed rather calm compared to what happened after anchoring in Atlantic Highlands. We pulled in behind a French boat with a name I can't even pronounce and dropped anchor with plenty of space in between. The anchor chain tightened up nicely and I was preparing to put the snubber on the chain when the French boat appeared to be nearer than I remembered. I like to have a good amount of space between our boat and the other boats anchored near us so there is no danger of bumper boats in a thunderstorm. I thought maybe I was going crazy because I was sure I had more than adequate space when the anchor was dropped. So I delayed putting the snubber on and was trying to figure out what kind of optical illusion had caused this boat to seem closer, when I glanced back at the French boat and realized that the boat was dragging anchor directly for us.

I called the rest of the crew and started passing out boat fenders waiting for the imminent collision. Unfortunately, the captain of the French boat had just gone to shore and his wife was alone on the boat. She came on deck just as she started to drag and got her boat fenders out as well. We tried to communicate but it wasn't going well as her English was poor and my French was much worse. She was in a Beneteau Oceanis 390 and, of course, was headed right for us, and not for the 300 feet of open water on either side of us. The boat drifted down on us semi broadside, but we were able to shove her off. Unfortunately, her anchor chain began to drag across ours which could pull our anchor up as well.

Instead of shoving to the side and watching her merrily drifting downwind of us to who knows where, we decided to raft her alongside. Partly because she was alone and this would keep her anchor from pulling ours out. So we did our part to keep good foreign relationships with France and had a little raft up party with the French. It was a bit of a struggle to get her rafted up as it was a spur of the moment plan, but we had her secure alongside in short order thanks to the help of my fast acting crew.

At this point, we tried to remember more French words from high school and she worked on her English as we waited for her husband to return. It was a little bit awkward. Kind of like pulling a stranger off of the street and into your house and trying to talk to them only they speak a different language. She was a very sweet lady and her husband was quite surprised when he returned from town to now find his boat tied up to another boat. He came on board and was very apologetic and told us he would move as quick as he could. We told him no problem and to take his time. We talked for a few a minutes and Kim took a picture. He pulled up his anchor, we cast off his lines, and with an au revoir, they were gone and reanchored once again, only downwind of us this time. Well that is one way to meet other cruisers and make friends.

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Kim
08/04/2009, Port Washington NY

After a couple of days in Oyster Bay we headed north to Manhasset Bay (ie Port Washington). It's a great anchorage for cruising because there is a free dinghy dock, huge grocery store, West Marine, and various other shops all within walking distance.

At Port Washington, we also added 3 new crew members. The boys now have hermit crabs. They are having a great time racing them, watching them climb, and fighting each other. They can even play Yatzee. Who knew? They have been a welcome addition to our crew and are still alive after 2 days. That's longer than "Jack Sparrow" (last trips hermit crab) lived on our last trip. He apparently wasn't destined to be a crab of the sea.

We decided to stay in Port Washington and sand the rest of our teak decks. It was a hot, all day project but they turned out really nice. What a mess though. We are both glad to be done with that.

Tomorrow is the day we head back through NY City. It is always an interesting trip. J

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Kim
07/31/2009, Oyster Bay, NY

Oyster Bay


Yesterday, we sailed to Oyster Bay. It was only about a 20 mile sail, however, it took us all day. The wind direction forced us to tack back and forth and we could barely make 5 knots. It was calm, relaxing sail though.

We dropped the anchor and had a yummy fish dinner (thanks to the boys). After we got all cleaned up, we decided to head into shore and see if we could locate a library and Laundromat. The met the dockmaster who informed us that they were showing a movie at the park 200 yards away. When we went to investigate, we found they were going to show ET at 8:30pm. After doing a little exploring we decided to find a soft patch of grass and watch the movie. We really couldn't have planned this.

The boys were out rowing the dingy around this morning already. They spotted a school of fish feeding and wanted to check it out. The fish were really stirring up the water, jumping out all over the place. When the rain started, they headed back for breakfast.

Guess I should get going. The rain stopped and we need to head out to get some laundry done before the rain starts again.

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