Cruising Dates July 20-26

Cape May, NJ - Guardian of the Shore

Picturesque Cape May is the oldest seashore resort in the United States.
Located about halfway between New York and Annapolis it is a very popular stop for boaters. We were captivated by this town as soon as we arrived.

Exploring Cape May is best done by bike since several must see attractions are at the shore making for a rather long walk from the marina especially in the summer heat. Our first morning there, we set out on our boat bikes. While riding through the neighborhoods I stopped frequently to take pictures as there are about 600 "painted ladies", Victorian-style homes, concentrated in Cape May. It is the second largest collection of such homes in the nation after San Francisco. Needless to say, I was lagging behind Pete as I got pictures of these grand dames!
As we neared the shore we saw many elegant mansions built in the early 1900's by the wealthy families from Philadelphia and New York who summered in Cape May.

Several local naval facilities played important roles in the protection of the East Coast during WWII especially from submarine threats. We rode our bikes out to the last free standing fully restored WWII Lookout Tower. Today it is a museum and memorial and is one of the must-see attractions while in Cape May. It was interesting to learn about the "war at the shore" and the defense of the Delaware River and Bay from enemy invasion. After months of losing ships from submarine attacks, the military ordered light control regulations in the community to prevent light from escaping from windows. It was also illegal to take photographs of the ocean and fishing around bridges and causeways was not allowed. Meanwhile, shop keepers and other resort-related businesses continued to promote Cape May as a vacation destination and were opposed to the dim outs and blackouts. Tourism came into conflict with military necessity and national security prevailed!

At the end of our long sightseeing day on the bikes, we found a cozy little Italian place for dinner- "That's Amore Cafe". We tend to gravitate to smaller family-run restaurants and frequently get into conversations with the owners of such establishments. I am not sure why this happens but I believe once you get north of the Carolinas Texans are uncommon! In this case, the owner Alfredo Fishioni told us he planned to retire to San Antonio! It seems many people have a relative or a friend in Texas (it is a huge state).


Most of our blog postings have described the places we have visited or people we come across. However, while sailing to Cape May we picked up a unique "hitchhiker". About 10 miles offshore, a small brown land bird landed on our deck. Oscar seemed like a good name for him. We could tell he was exhausted because for several minutes he just rested. Once he started moving about we offered him water (which he finally drank) and small pieces of bread (which judging by his avoidance probably intimidated him). He was a curious little bird though and seemed to feel right at home as he walked around the boat- hopping up the starboard deck and making his way around the bow and then along the deck on the portside . He saw the open companionway and flew inside the cabin. Once he checked it out he returned to the deck where he settled at Captain Pete's feet. He was fearless. Once we were close enough to shore he flew away. He was great entertainment for the last couple of hours of the sail. We can only speculate how he got so far away from home but were glad we were there to help him back to shore. On the water you do feel closer to nature so perhaps that allowed him to trust us. See Photos of Oscar in the New Jersey Coastline Album Gallery along with this blog entry. If you are on Face book, a short video is on my page.


Atlantic City, New Jersey- A Marina with a Casino

We stayed at the Golden Nugget Marina which was part of the Golden Nugget Casino. We arrived Saturday so there were live bands playing in the outdoor casino. Not so bad when they were playing our type of music but just noisy when the hard rock started .We planned to stay at this marina for two nights to recover from the hectic pace of staying at 13 different locations in the previous six weeks.

Sunday was a nice day and we took the shuttle to the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. We found many establishments - casinos, restaurants, shops- shut down. It is a city on a decline and has been for a long time.

We did not get a weather window conducive to going offshore for several days. As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and ours was making great, new friends - Carroll and Rob- who were waiting it out on S/V Kindred Spirit. We shared many interesting conversations and added to our cruising memories bank while visiting with them over drinks and dinners over the next few days. We hope to see them when we are in the Chesapeake area. Another sailing couple- Erin and Kara anchored out on S/V Vela - who happened to be from our former marina in Houston joined us for dinner the last evening and the six of us had a wonderful time together.


Manasquan, New Jersey- Not a Good Place for Sailboats!

Hoffman's Marina East caters to large sport fishing boats as do the two previous marinas we visited -Atlantic City and Cape May. Let me explain the above sub-title as it pertains to Manasquan. When we arrived there was a fishing tournament in progress and the lone overworked dock hand was busy fueling up these large sport fishing boats which take gallons and gallons of fuel! $$$$ He directed us to a pier and said he would come to help us dock. To get to the designated pier we had to pass through a railroad bridge that lowered periodically for commuter trains to pass. It was open at the time so we got to the pier and together managed to secure the boat to the dock since he was still fueling fishing boats $$$$. We were just feet from the bridge. The next morning we knew the current would be pushing us toward the bridge and it would also be prime commuter time for the trains. We requested a dock hand to come at 7:00 a.m. to help us manage the lines with the expected current. Our concerns were not only the current but the unpredictability of the railroad bridge as some are computerized. No help showed up the next morning and calls to the dock master went to voice mail! Imagine our relief when preparing to leave on our own, I saw a man - the bridge tender- up in the railroad bridge office. Whew! At least some one would see us approaching the bridge and allow us to get through safely!

Stay tuned as we continue our travels to New York!
Take care, Barbara and Captain Pete