Mike
09/18/2007, Cape May, NJ

Friday, Sept. 14

We left our home in the marsh at around 8:45 and motored out the channel against a three knot current and past the row of casinos that make Atlantic City famous. The seas were rolly, but not bad. Our experience with the Atlantic (all two day's worth) is that it is much like traveling up Lake Michigan. We stay between 2 and 5 miles off shore in much less water than I expected. The lack of water tends to limit swell formation although every once in a while a set o waves will roll through. Yesterday we had more wind...from the SE and my arms are tired today after steering for the better part of seven hours. It is hard to estimate wave height...my best guess is that they were 2-4 feet on top of the occasional swell of probably 4 feet.

During the day I purchased ,via phone, an alternator which is going to be picked up by Kris Dilts tomorrow morning. Our plan is for me to take the Cape May to Lewes Ferry (across the mouth of the Delaware Bay) tomorrow afternoon and meet Kris. We can't thank Kris enough for his help and I fear will never be able to adequately repay him for his assistance. .

We arrived at Cape May around 4:00 pm and had no trouble with the inlet. I had worried all day about what reasonably large waves going directly against an out-going tide were going do to us and it ended up being fine. We surfed for about 100 yards and then drove into a steady two knot current.

Although the harbor is large here, anchorage is limited. There are about 10 boats anchored in a cluster just south of the main channel in front of the Coast Guard Docks. Commercial traffic tends to roll us around some but it hasn't been too bad. A front is moving through tonight and tomorrow a.m. , so it's best to stay off the water tomorrow and get some work done.

Saturday, Sept. 15

The front came through as forecast on Saturday morning and the wind filled in behind, 20 knots gusting to about 30. We thought we had a good anchor set but it took some watching to make sure. Kris called to say that he had our alternator, but at the time I was not at all sure about leaving Kathy alone on a boat that could drag. After a few hours, I decided that I needed to make the trip to Delaware and that if Kathy really needed help we were within shouting distance of the Coast Guard. I set a second anchor, hopped in the dingy and headed for the only marina that would allow me to tie up the dingy for the afternoon. I called a cab for the five mile trip to the ferry dock and then waited an hour for the next boat. The wind was wild on the bay and the stabilizers on the Ferry were working overtime. They were still not enough for the motion sensors on some the cars on the lower deck.

I walked off the boat chatted with Kris for a few minutes... then back on for the 80 minute return trip. I arrived back at the boat at about 6:00.


Meanwhile, back at the boat... I assured Mike that it was all okay-I didn't think we were drifting, although he did. Of course, as soon as he left, I was sure we were moving! I finally just sat out back and read etc., and I could tell everything was fine, but I still got nervous when we were waked by the whale watching boats and fishermen. I did clean the boat some and our neighbors, Liz and Kevin stopped by to chat and then Mike came back, and finally we decided to get together on our boat and Mike went and picked up Steve and Carol. It was a fun evening-such fun to meet new people.

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Mike and Kathy
09/18/2007, Atlantic City, NJ

Sept. 13....Atlantic City

We were up at 4am for a 5:00 departure but it was so dark that it took us forever to feel our way through the mooring field and channel to deep water. It was 10 miles to Sandy Hook and then 70 to Atlantic City where we find ourselves at this point in time....13 hours of the Atlantic Ocean. The sails were up but due to distance and the fact that there are no places to bail, the engine was on to maintain 6.5 knots. We're anchored in a marsh that is well lit by the casinos across the way. Tomorrow we will run down the coast again... 2 to 5 miles off shore, to Cape May. A front is if forecast for Friday night and Saturday, so our trip up the Delaware Bay will probably be on Sunday....sliding up on the tide and a broad reach. (we're sure about the tide anyway)

We are currently facing our biggest challenge of the trip. ... alternator problems.. The house alternator hasn't worked for a few days. We have run enough tests to realize that the cause is undoubtedly fried diodes. Anyway, we need a new one and the old one fixed to use as a spare.

We would like to get to the to the north end of the Chesapeake where we're a little closer and hopefully can rent a car for a day. The refrigerator has been off for a few days... ice works ok. We leave the instruments off unless we really need them which is rare. No autopilot is a pain, but we take turns steering. We have a little Honda generator so we have lights at night and run our anchor light. It has been an inconvenience but really not much of a problem yet...


Sorry we couldn't meet up with Bob and Karin here. . .

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Mike and Kathy-A little rain must fall
09/14/2007, Great Kills Harbor, NY

September 10 and 11, Monday and Tuesday Great Kills, New York

Monday dawned hot and cloudy with a little fog. We followed "Restless" out of Liberty Harbor a little after high tide to hit the narrows with a little push behind us. At max. the tide here runs at five knots with standing waves so attention to tides is critical. They won't be all that important to us again until Cape May where there are two bridges with 55 feet clearance... plus we want to ride the tide up the Delaware Bay, so a departure a little after low tide is important.

After dodging anchored ships in the upper harbor we ran into some very dense fog just beyond the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. We have not put the radar reflector back up since the mast stepping and although Mike had checked our radar in the morning, when we turned it on it was not working. So, we followed closely behind "Restless", listening to the ship horns and fog horns. It remained foggy and gray for the rest of the day. We arrived at Great Kills Harbor which is packed with mooring balls, and anchored on the north end in front of a park. It was a short day but the forecast for the next few days looks iffy for our first open ocean run.

We have developed alternator problems and spent the rest of the day testing and diagnosing. Voltages seem to be fine except for the out-put so the alternator need to be pulled and fixed. Bummer.

Tuesday.

So, we have turned off any non-essential electrical items and run the generator on occasion. We woke to rain on Tuesday, but when it stopped for a minute, Mike headed for town to look for a new regulator, even though we are quite sure that is not the problem. He came back with ice and a regulator and an attitude. At the first place he stopped, he explained his problem and he was told no one could tie a dinghy up unless they were a member of the club. He was told the same thing at the next place, but the guy let him tie up because it was Tuesday, and not much was going on. He says it's not much of a town anyway, but they certainly are not very friendly!

We had thunderstorms in the afternoon and lots of wind and rain. Steve and Carol from "Restless" called and invited us over for cocktails. We are trying to figure out a good time to head out for the next leg of the trip. During our conversation, Steve mentioned that he wished he had hooked up his radar before our trip yesterday! We were following him closely because we assumed he had his radar on-good thing we didn't know any better. We made it here safely, so it all worked out.

Wednesday

Too windy to travel today. We got restless and decided to go to shore for a walk. We stopped by to see if Steve and Carol wanted to go along, and we all walked into town to pick up a few things. Their dinghy is on their foredeck partially inflated, so we pick them up and visit their boat because our dinghy is easy to lower and raise. Hmm, reminds me of a certain Canadian couple who never had to get their dinghy off their foredeck on the ICW...clever ploy...

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