Sunday 9-26-10

We've ended our seventh day of our cruise south on the C & D Canal which connects Delaware Bay with Chesapeake Bay.

We started out on Monday with a long, rough, FANTASTIC sail from Mystic to Port Jefferson. Best sail in years. Longest sail ever.

Tuesday we motored in no wind to Port Washington. The last few miles the water was a dark red. Like a gazillion gallons of blood was in the water.

Wednesday we left our comfort zone and headed through NYC. Turned out not to be too bad. Ended up at Atlantic Highlands where we had a 45 minute adventure as a really bad storm went by around 8:15. We were fine but two boats that were not as well prepared came close to hitting us. Close doesn't count. 

Thursday got us to Atlantic City after dark. A challenge but all went fine.

Friday got us to Cape May after a late start due to dense fog. We got underway after visibility improved to 1/4 mile.

Saturday was a nice day and we stayed in Cape May for sightseeing and fuel. We should have left.

Sunday was way worse than forecast. We went around Cape May in 20+ kt. winds, 6 ft seas and 10 ft depths. Then it got bad. A major bash for more than 15 miles; a decent motorsail for 15 miles; a minor bash for 10 miles; then an easy go of it for the last 5 miles and the first half of the C & D Canal. Second half of the canal starts tomorrow. So does three or four days of stormy weather.

People in Delaware are not very helpful. Or friendly.

A long week and a lot of miles. A lot of fuel burned, too.

Shorter travel days planned for the next few weeks.

Thursday, 9-23-10

As I write this were about 5nm off the coast of NJ motorsailing between Manasquan and Barnegat. Haven't decided how far we'll travel today/tonight.

Yesterday we went through NYC. About 3 hours not counting the delay at the Roosevelt Island Bridge. West side of the East River closed due to the UN being in session. All in all not bad and we were lucky not to have any major traffic conflicts in any narrow spots. First time through Hell Gate went well.

We went to Atlantic Higlands, Sandy Hook, NJ and anchored. A major T-storm just missed a direct hit and we "only" got 40kt winds. We stayed secure but two boats in front of us dragged anchors and came close to hitting us which would have been very bad. Very, very bad, but nothing happened. Our prep payed off and we went back to bed after 45 min. Almost an adventure.

Next adventure is deciding what our next harbor is and when. After dark???

Underway at last

After many years of planning, hoping and working towards this day we are finally underway. So far it's not much different than other sailing trips since we will still be in L. I. Sound until at least Wed. Today is sunny but it's pretty boisterous with winds over 20 kts. Seas are choppy but only about 1 ft. Due to the direction of the wind.

I plan to update at least weekly, on Sundays, or as often as interesting things happen.