Sandy Hook to Chesapeake Bay

Sandy Hook to Chesapeake Bay - September 8 – 16, 2009

Ryan caught an early subway and made his way to La Guardia for his flight back to Toronto and Tom made a trip to West Marine to do some returns while I took advantage of the free laundry facilities and went looking for an affordable haircut. On Broadway I found the Jean Louis David Salon that took walk-ins. Less than an hour later I walked-out with a wonderful cut for $26.00 plus tip. Even with the exchange I consider that a good deal. Not everything in Manhatten is expensive. In fact, we found most things to be reasonably priced. (Note to Sandra: I bought this Boggle game from Toys ‘R’ Us at Times Square.)



It was time to leave Manhatten behind us.


The weather was turning and we needed to be in a better position to wait for a weather window for going out into the Atlantic Ocean and head for Cape May about 125 miles down the coast. From there we would make our way up Delaware Bay, through the C&D canal and into Chesapeake Bay.
We left the 79th St. Boat Basin at high tide just as the US Navy frigate at anchor across the river sounded its noon bell. Heading out of the mouth of t
he Hudson we passed the stacked driving range on our port side, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.




The traffic in New York Harbor was not as crazy as we had anticipated consisting mainly of scheduled ferries and sightseeing tour boats. Most of the large ships were anchored and easy to get around.
Like many who have gone before us, Sandy Hook was our chose waiting spot for a weather window to make our overnight passage to Cape May. The forecast was calling for at least three days of high winds from the east and waves on the Atlantic coast in the range of 11 to 17 feet. Once the wind has calmed down we would still need to wait a day or two for the waves to subside.
We anchored in Horseshoe Cove on Sandy Hook the first night and took the dingy in to shore. We walked to the old military base of Fort Hancock where some of the old buildings are being renovated.

vSandy Hook has the oldest working lighthouse in the country.

The fishing boats here are using the latest technology in sailcloth.


The next four nights were spent on a mooring ball at Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. A friendly club member invited us to their clubhouse for drinks with the commodore. The club has a launch that picks you up from your mooring and takes you to shore. From there you can explore the town of Atlantic Highlands (We made three trips to the grocery store and took in a movie), take the boardwalk to the next town (We did, then hopped a bus to get back) or take a ferry back to Manhatten (We didn’t). The wind increased each day and on day three reached storm force speeds of 48 to 55 knots with our wind indicator showing a gust of 63 knots. There was also a tornado watch that did not materialize. This was definitely a Dubarry Day for anyone who ventured out of the cockpit.Tom spent most of the day monitoring our mooring lines and those of the nearby boats in case anyone broke free. Everyone stayed in their places.



Sunday morning all was calm and we left with a parade of sail and power boats that had been waiting for the ocean to settle down. Waves were reported at 3 to 5 feet. We were good to go
As we rounded the northern tip of Sandy Hook we met several large ships going in to New York Harbor. They sure are big, bigger than what we are used to seeing on Lake Ontario.
We tried to motor sail as we made our way down the New Jersey coast but there was not enough wind to keep the sails full. Early in the afternoon we sighted a small flock of pelicans flying in a V-formation. I thought only Canada Geese did that! We were even more surprised to come across a pod of about 20 dolphins in the early afternoon. I think it is unusual for them to be that far north.

If you zoom in you might be able to see one or two.
Just as it was getting dark we could see the lights of Atlantic City on the horizon. The closer we got the bigger and brighter the lights got. It really is quite a spectacle. I can’t imagine how many megawatts of electricity that takes!
According to the forecast the winds were to be favorable to continue past Cape May and go up the Delaware with the tide. Wrong! As we rounded Cape May at 2:15 AM it was very dark and the wind shifted. It was on our nose all the way up Delaware Bay with very uncomfortable choppy waves from the wind against the current. No one got much sleep that night with the boat pounding into the waves and dodging freighters in the shipping channel. Just about the time we were ready to give up and look for a place to stop for a rest the sky started turning pink and we could see that the waves were not as big as they had seemed in the dark. At that point it made more sense to just keep going. Ship traffic got very busy in both directions but at least now we could see them coming. We could also see all the crab pots right up to the edge of the marked channel that we hadn’t seen in the dark.



After 36 hours on the water we had entered the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and stopped at the first marina we came to. It was time to catch up on our sleep, do laundry, give the boat a good cleaning and watch the turtles before we continued through the C&D Canal and into The Chesapeake.



Can you find polar Pacer in this picture?


Our first stop in the Chesapeake was Georgetown, Maryland at the head of the Sassafras River. Skipjack Cove Marina was gracious enough to provide showers and garbage drop off as well as the Signals restaurant that served the best crab cakes we’ve ever had. We ordered seconds and late lunch became early dinner.


Domestic Note:
Have I mentioned my favorite pot scrubbers? I have used them for years on everything from French white casserole dishes to barbeque grills. Every galley should have them. The only place I know of to buy them is the kitchen gadget place in Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market.