Jersey Coast

 

We are half way up the coast of New Jersey, doing our travel 'outside' in the big North Atlantic, rather than inside on the windy, shoaly, NJICW. Since leaving St Michaels MD on Tuesday we've been making good time.

 

We had easy travel Tuesday heading straight north from St Michaels and passing through Kent Island Narrows, then out the mouth of the Chesterton River and up the east side of the northern Chesapeake. Our 47 nm of cruising brought us up into the Sassafras River and to Turner Creek, where we had spent a few nights on our southbound trip. We like this anchorage as it is right off a county park that provides good space for dog play.

In the evening we rowed the dinghy up into a shallow cove and were amazed by what we were told are 'mud carp' swimming under the oozy mud. We couldn't really see the fish, which can be quite large, but saw their wakes in the mud as they swam around the boat. We saw other critters there too.

Wednesday had 2 cruise goals : to fill up Spray's fuel tanks and to set ourselves up for attacking Delaware Bay. After we left Turner Creek we first went 5 miles farther up the Sassafras to Georgetown Yacht Basin, where their low $3.50/gal price made the 10 mile round trip worthwhile, and we took on 110 gallons. Plus the Sassafras is beautiful. It was a comfortable day for cruising.

Then we headed back to the Chesapeake and turned northeast. The Bay quickly narrowed to become the C & D Canal, and with nice assisting current we transited through to the Delaware River.

We tucked in behind Reedy Island and pushed south for a few miles to a handy anchorage. Well, sorta handy in that we first dropped the hook near a boat ramp, where it was quite choppy from SE winds coming up the Delaware Bay. We launched the dinghy and took the dogs to shore for draining (our first steps in Delaware), then back to Spray, hoist the dinghy, and cruise a half mile back to the lee of Reedy Island where we re-anchored for a much more comfortable night.

 

So Thursday morning we are at the top of Delaware Bay, and the tide is just starting to ebb, so we repeat the boat ramp / dog draining process and start down the Bay for the 48 mile run to Cape May. Its daunting to note that we still have a long way to travel back to Maine, and that from here on almost all of the travel will be in big waters. No more protected ICW.

Conditions in the Bay were OK, and we had nice assisting current for about 2/3 of the trip. By 3 pm we were turning into the Cape May Canal and soon pulled into South Jersey Marina, where we had reserved dockage. We had time for a quick walk downtown, past many beautiful homes. Spring was in full bloom. That night it was laundry time and supper at a good Mexican restaurant.

 

Friday's goal was Atlantic City. We awoke to thick fog, so we delayed leaving a bit, which gave us time for breakfast at the marina's adjacent restaurant. The fog lifted, at least at the marina, so we headed out the Cape May inlet into the big Atlantic and turned NE up the Jersey Coast. Unfortunately it was still very foggy out there, with maybe 500 ft visibility, so even though it was cool and damp we piloted from the flying bridge as that is where Spray's radar display is.

 

There were east winds and ocean swells on our beam, and we had decided that we would try the outside and if we didn't like it we would pull a u-turn back into the inlet and then feel our way up the NJICW, which would be a much longer route. It was Katie Bopp who made the decision by getting very comfortable in her bed as Spray rocked and rolled. We figured, if its good with her, its good with us, and so it was 6 hours of bouncy travel up the outside for Spray and crew. It was about 4 pm when we turned into the Absecom Inlet and then into the Brigantine Anchorage. It was still foggy enough that we couldn't see the casino towers in A.C.

 

The dogs like this anchorage as there is a nice beach to visit, which we did after their supper. After dog play we had a nice mini adventure using the dinghy's massive 2.5 HP motor to provide a tow to a nice boating family with outboard problems.

 

Today (Saturday) we were up early, played on the beach, and pulled anchor before 8 am to head back out into the ocean to continue up the coast, this time a 30 mile run up to Barnegat Inlet. It was still bouncy and we made the mistake of starting out driving from the salon, which Katie didn't like and made Sheila queasy too. Soon we transferred up to the flying bridge. As we neared Barnegat we had a traveling companion for 5 minutes or so and even though Sheila was driving, she was able to take some photos also.

By 12:30 we bounced into the tricky inlet here and are now in a protected anchorage.

 

So we are a little more than half way up the Jersey coast. Right now Sheila is baking corn bread in our oven to go with some chili. Smells good! Tomorrow the conditions look good to make a long 48 mile run on the outside to the top of Sandy Hook. Once there we will decide whether to cruise 4 more miles south to Atlantic Highlands, or continue 15 miles farther north into NY Harbor to anchor behind Lady Liberty. Stay tuned to find out!

 

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