What a difference a day makes! Cape May, NJ - Chesapeake City, MD

Enjoying Ice Cream and Conversation along the C & D
Canal with Denise, Al, Lulu, Paul & Anthony

According to Skipper Bob (the boater's bible to cruising) leaving 2 hours after low tide is the best time to depart the Cape May Canal and head up the Delaware Bay. This meant a departure shortly after 6 am,, YIKES!! Whats with this 6am stuff??? Needless to say we took advantage of the knowledge of the 'bible' and headed out. We were not alone in this crusade, several boats were not long ahead or behind. There was a mass exodus heading up the Delaware Bay. To say that the seas were calm is a little misspoken. The seas had not quite settled and the first few hours were rocky, we can imagine with clarity what other captains faced the day before. The tide was with us and we were cruising at almost 10 knots most of the way. The 70 plus mile trip was complete shortly around 1pm. To say we were flying is an understatement. As we entered the Chesapeake City basin we noticed the free dock becoming available. A small day boat left the dock and the 55' Flemming was making room for another boater , US!!! It's incredible luck to get a coveted spot on the free dock because this stop is extremely popular with not only long distance cruisers but also with the locals. Chesapeake City basin is lined with a picturesque park, cute boutiques, a great ice cream shop and a jumping tikki bar.  It was a beautiful, hot, and sunny afternoon , so we decided to indulge in the delicious ice-cream. This is where we met a group of five friends and began to chat. It's always wonderful meeting new people and we had a lovely conversation with it ending that they will hopefully see us on our trek back north in the spring. What a delight!! You never know!!

Just one of those days!! Atlantic City to Cape May, NJ

Both of us were well rested, and up and dressed by 6:30 in the morning. Most of you know that we love to sleep in and this early rising just isn't our routine. The morning sky was brightening so  we took a peak out to see if anyone else was crazy and awake. Lo' and behold we noticed a boat just at the entrance to the Absecon Inlet. It looked like Horizon IV being assisted by another boat. Well, our ominous warning about the channel came to haunt our friends. They had left before sunlight in anticipation to beat the weather and get a 'head start' and unfortunately missed the last marker, YIKES! Fortunately they had a good samaritan boater that helped them off their grounding and then rescue their dinghy. By the time we raised our anchor and headed out to the entrance of the Inlet, our friends were already underway. So, we headed out into an ocean with waves and the promise of deteriorating weather. As a consensus both boats turned back into the Inlet and decided to try the inside route.  This is where we should have just all gone back to bed... like our friends on another boat called Irish Rover. They saw us turn back in from the ocean and decided to just go back to their slip.
The day deteriorated from then on, our friends on Horizon IV,in a narrow canal discovered they had lost their starboard steerage. They had to quickly find a marina that would short haul their boat, with the way the ICW winds there was no way they could have continued. We said good bye to them and headed onward. The winds piped up and with all the bridge delays and no wake zones, we lost the advantage of the tide. It was a new moon and low tide was 22 inches lower than normal. On the intracoastal that is more then substantial because the intracoastal is notorious for being shallow in normal conditions. We heard several boats ahead and behind warning other boats of treacherous spots and then there was the nonstop Towboat US calls for grounded vessels. The Summer Wind soon joined calling towboat US, one minute we were in 20 feet ,, then all of a sudden we were aground, the wind gave us an extra push for extra measure.  It took Towboat over 40 minutes to get us ungrounded. As we were stuck we received a call from our friends. Their boat was fixed and they were back on the water. Our boat had gone aground 2 more times but we were able to get her off ourselves. Another day we found ourselves racing the sunset at a very stressful snails pace, we finally made it to the marina shortly around 6:30 pm. Our friends on Horizon IV didn't fair much better, they too went aground and they were verbally guided into Utsch's marina by towboat US after 8:30,, what a very long day!! When Tim and Joanne came to their slip, we hugged and greeted them ,, then all four of us went to dinner at the "Lucky Bones".The NJICW (New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway) is not our favorite and I hope to never have to do the NJICW ever again!!!

Dinner at the "Lucky Bones" with Tim and Joanne

Joanne & Tim on Horizon IV

Our plan was to spend 2 nights in Cape May. Tim and Joanne changed their plans and decided to head out because the weather prediction didn't fair well for the next few days. They were unfortunately on a timing schedule so we sadly said our good byes. Well 2 nights turned into 4 nights. The winds were coming out of the north with gusts over 25 knots creating 4-5 foot seas. Oh well, so we did quite a bit of walking around Cape May. Its one of our favorite spots with great beaches, cute boutiques, wonderful ice cream and great restaurants. On Friday there were a few souls that tried to leave but shortly after an hour we saw their return with very unhappy captains and tales of high seas.

Cape May, B & B

Atlantic Highlands to Atlantic City??



Cool Shades for the Captain

 Shortly before 7 am we woke to an incredible rocking. It was Labor Day Monday and the ferrys were operating at full capacity. We woke just in time to see our friends heading out of the harbor, boy are they early risers. Not to look like lazy people we quckly dressed and raised the anchor.  Upon leaving Sandy Hook, we  heard our friends hailing us on the radio, verifying calm seas and telling us to get out there.Next we came upon dozens of small fishing boats very 'busy' with their lines. NOAA had predicted calm seas and winds 5-10 knots. This would be a beautiful day for cruising. Our planned destination came rather quickly so consensus between the two boats was to travel further. The weather forecast said two more potential fronts were coming through, so best to get as far as possible down the New Jersey coast. Its an 80 mile trip, and it was a race to get to Atlantic City before sunset at 7:15 pm. Well with 30 minutes to spare we managed to pull into the anchorage and get our hook set before the sun went down, WHEW! We made dinner aboard that night , and settled down to watch some television. Neither one of us remember what we watched,,, perhaps we fell asleep?? 

Atlantic City

Entrance to Brigatine Anchorage,,, a little tricky??

City Island to Atlantic Highlands

Bon Voyage Breakfast with the Leeds

Friday September 3rd, Our "plan" had been to join the Harlem for the Labor Day Weekend Rendezvous in Oyster bay and then take off from there for our journey south. For the past two months the weather had been incredibly hot, humid, dry and uneventful and we expected more of the same. However, mother nature decided it was time to stir things up a bit and indeed she gave it a good effort. Hurricane Danielle had just past by up the coast, although she did fizzle out to sea, the surf in the ocean had been stirred. Not far behind her heels was Hurricane Earl. The Rendezvous had been cancelled and plans had quickly changed. We secured extra lines on the Summer Wind because it looked like Earl could possibly be hitting the Carolinas and then coming directly north. Earl thank goodness, downsized then steered away and  brought only wind and wave. The Summer Wind had been fine and the window of opportunity for travelling was Sunday morning.
After lots of planning we shoved off from City Island on Sunday, September. 5, 2010 and had a enjoyable first day to Atlantic Highlands, NJ. It was breezy but sunny and beautiful in the morning, so we decided to drop the lines and head down the East River.



Going down the East River



 Our timing was perfect because we were always cruising about 9 knots and when we came upon Hellsgate our speed hit 11knots, wow we were zooming! Upon entering the Upper New York harbor from the north, the winds could really be felt and the waves gave us a rocky ride over to the Atlantic Highlands. We filled up the fuel tanks ($2.74/gal) and dropped the anchor for the night.Our friends Tim and Joanne aboard Horizon IV pulled into the anchorage soon after and we crashed for the night.

Celebrations!

Preparing the Name Boards

 Well, It has been a very busy three months since we've last posted on our blog, so we'll quickly catch you up to-date. We did have a few weekends aboard the Summer Wind but mostly spent our time on land.

Our last official weekend aboard the Summer Wind was in May at the Rear Commodore's Rendezvous,where we surprised all our Harlem Yacht Club friends in Manhasset Bay on Long Island Sound and joined a great weekend party before becoming land lubbers.

Mid June and early July, Captain Dick underwent eye surgery and had the cataracts removed from his eyes. To say that he was amazed at the immediate improvement in his sight is an understatement. To this day he stops to behold the colors and he absolutely loves wearing his new cool pair of sunglasses. 

Father's Day weekend our daughter Michelle and her boyfriend Barry joined us aboard the Summer Wind for some great cruising weather. We took a trip to Port Jefferson and had an excellent weekend together.

We know who the "Captain" is here



Michelle and Barry abandoning ship?

Two other events we participated with Harlem were the Full Moon Rendezvous in Spring Cove  where we partied aboard Phat Cat. Then we enjoyed the July 4th rendezvous in Oyster Bay. Our friends Mark & Marcia joined us aboard the Summer Wind and we enjoyed all the festivities including the great BBQ on the beach and fireworks to top off the celebrations.

Early August we joined our friends Mark and Marcia as crew, aboard their new 31' Hunter sailboat named Aye Aye. We helped them bring her safely from Rock Hall, MD to City Island , NY. It was a wonderful 7 day  adventure, and sailing came back to temporarily titled Navigator Dick like riding a bike. In Cape May, NJ we were lucky to catch up with the Turo's on their vacation,, what fun!!  During that time Mark & Marcia celebrated their wedding anniversary!! Happy Anniversary M & M and thanks for a great adventure.



Hey who's steering the boat???

Dinner at the Lobster House

Happy Anniversary M & M

The middle of August we flew to Pine Island Key, FL to attend Tom and Dianes wedding. Congratulatiions to the new Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert. Even though the temperatures were hovering in the mid 90's and the humidity seemed to match it was a grand weekend with grand facilities,good food and, of course, a beautiful bride and groom. Lot's of fun and very romantic.

Cooling off at the Pool

Shoes Optional !!

Congratulations Tom & Diane

The last two weeks of August, we were repairing, provisioning and planning for our adventure.