Dawn off Cape May.

September 23, 2006
Today we dropped the mooring about 9 am and motored down the Hudson to a marina on the New Jersey shore to fill up with diesel and water. We actually emptied the starboard tank, and were surprised, as I had been monitoring it. But a quick check of engine hours confirmed it. We had unknowingly motored into the 79th Street Marina on fumes! I'll have to be more careful in future. The port tank still held about 30 gallons, good for about 40 hours, but we wouldn't want to run out and have to switch tanks and get the engine going on short notice. So we took on 100 gal. and filled the water tanks, setting off for a short day to Sandy Hook from where we would begin our trip down the New Jersey shore. We hoisted the main as we passed the Statue of Liberty, and with a good fresh following wind, motor-sailed out among the tugs, tankers, barges and freighters on the outer harbor. We were accompanied by a boat from Kingston, Ontario who was filling up with fuel also. They were headed directly down to Norfolk, Va, an offshore trip of about three days. As we approached the Verrazano Narrows Bridge we opened up the jib and shut down the engine for a nice but short sail to Sandy Hook. But after about 20 minutes, we decided the breeze was too good to pass up, so altered course to begin our trip down the New Jersey shore. With our speed we would be able to reach Manasquam Inlet by late afternoon. So as the day continued, we had a beautiful day sailing. As we approached Manasquam, we listened to the weather forecast on the VHF (it is read by a computerized voice often referred to as "Perfect Paul"). The forecast was for continued winds of 15-20 knots out of the North-West for the night, then light southerlies for the next two days. Listening to it we both realized that it would be silly to go in and miss this wind, only to motor into it all day tomorrow and possibly the next and we carried on. We had a nice broiled salmon with maple syrup and dill for dinner as the sun set. Jeannie took the first watch from 9 pm to midnight while I slept. Then I took over at midnight until four am. Most of my watch was spent watching the lights of Atlantic City come and go. Visible from 20 miles away, they are a truly incredible sight! But the wind held and we averaged 7.5 knots, an excellent speed, and when I woke up at dawn (Jeannie took over at four am), we were just ghosting into Cape May on the dying breeze. It was a good call and a very enjoyable night! Instead of our 20 mile sail to Sandy Hook we had a 120 mile sail to Cape May!

September 26, 2006
Arriving here in the early morning, Jeannie had a nap and I tidied up, got out the cruising guides for Chesapeake Bay and put away the New York/New England ones. Then we launched the dinghy and headed ashore for a walk. The true town of Cape May is a couple of miles from the harbor, so we had a good walk over and back. It had its interesting sections, but the long walk was hardly worth it. We should have taken the bikes ashore. When we returned to the boat, we saw our friends from Kingston anchored next to us. We dinghied over and they said that they changed their minds and had decided to go through Chesapeake Bay after all. And another Canadian couple in a Mirage 33 anchored behind us, and invited us over for drinks in the evening. We had a nice time, but it meant that I didn't complete the SSB project as planned. Tomorrow for sure!! Tomorrow we will head out of Cape May and head up the Delaware river to the Chesapeake and Delaware canal to cross over into the Chesapeake.

September 27, 2006
We had an early start today as we wanted to catch the tide up Delaware Bay. They run up to 2.5 knots, so if we travel at six knots, that means a difference of 4.5 knots if it opposes us to 8.5 knots if it is with us. And it was with us, so we flew up the river, motoring in calm airs. We originally planned to stay somewhere up the Delaware or on the canal (there are two marinas on the canal), but again we had a great current with us, so we just carried on and dropped the anchor in Bohemia Creek (at the head of Chesapeake Bay) for a quiet night, and dinner of steak with a nice Chianti.