From New Rochelle we came down the East River with a big boost from the current. After one last tour by Ellis and Liberty Island, we exited NY harbor and anchored down behind Sandy Hook.
This is where I wish that NOAA and the National Weather Service had a job opening for a "reality checker". The official forecast for Sandy Hook/Raritan Bay was for 10 knots of wind from the NW and 1 foot waves. In reality, at anchor we had a steady 20 knots, gusting near 25, and an ugly 2 - 3 foot short period chop that kept us bouncing all night. Where was the reality checker?? Needless to say, it was a night of limited sleep.
We pulled anchor at dawn and got under way down the Jersey shore. The wind dropped to 10 - 15 knots and went west, so we stayed close to shore and had a pleasant ride down the coast almost all the way to Atlantic City. Once again, however, without a "reality checker", we discovered that NOAA was fairly far off. The weather service was probably oblivious to the fact that, south of Barnegut, their "5 to 10, occasional gust of 15 from the NW" was actually 15 to 20+ on the nose as we pulled into Atlantic City. Happily, the AC anchorage is well protected, so a good nights sleep seems likely.
Tomorrow, barring an even greater miss by NOAA, we will go to Utschs at Cape May and wait for a good weather window for our trip up Delaware Bay.