Week 54: June 11 – June 17

We woke up on Thursday morning to high winds – 15-21kts. Definitely not a travel day. Since we spent three nights at Rock Hall Landing, we decided that we would skip the next planned stop and go directly to Delaware City Marina to stage for our trip down Delaware Bay. It is another long trip where you need a good weather day.

While waiting at Rock Hall Landing, we met another boater who is interested in our boat. He heard from the dockmaster that we were planning to sell the boat once we completed the loop. We advised that we previously met two others also interested and that we would contact all three once we completed the loop in a few weeks and after we cleaned her up and fixed a few things. After all, she has traveled for over 5,000 miles and needs some sprucing up. Although we would miss the boat after fifteen years, we are thinking of a different type of boating and would like the boat to go to someone who is really interested in a Manatee.

Friday was projected to be a good travel day and when we got up, we left almost immediately. The first ninety minutes were a bit uncomfortable but the rest of the 62 mile trip was great. We arrived at Delaware City Marina and advised the dockmaster that we were interested in the Zoom information session (Go/No Go) for traveling down Delaware Bay to Cape May. The Zoom session proved worthwhile. Although I had used the Chesapeake Bay Operational Forecast System (CBOFS) that I discovered from Marvs Weather Service, I had never looked further to see that there was one for Delaware Bay. Having the dockmaster explain some fine details about how to read the animated chart was extremely helpful. It looked that the next day would be “glorious” on Delaware Bay if we left later in the morning. He advised not to leave before 8am but said that 9am would even be better and that the day would improve even more in the afternoon.

We left on Saturday morning right before 9am and had a great trip. In addition, we had a push because of current and it only took us 6 1/2 hours to make the 62 mile trip to Cape May. Since we normally run at 8mph, this was a real bonus. We went to South Jersey Marina right in the historic district of Cape May and planned to stay for two nights after two long days. Although little was open, we walked around Cape May, a nice seaside town.

Monday we planned to go to Atlantic City. The winds were a bit higher than we normally travel but we would be in the NJ ICW and generally we have traveled in higher winds in more protected waters. We needed to plan our departure for a rising tide since the NJ ICW is shallow. Even though we did everything we were advised to do, we grounded – IN THE CHANNEL – and needed to wait over an hour for Sea Tow to come and pull us off the shoal. Sea Tow advised us not to stay in the middle of the channel but to act as a running back and head the boat directly to the markers so we would be crisscrossing the channel. He then advised that the next section towards the bridge was tricky and offered to lead the way since it was only a short distance. We took him up on his offer and noticed how low certain sections of the channel really were.

As we continued, the wind picked up significantly. In addition to the wind, we lost time with grounding and figured we would not get to Atlantic City while the marina was still open. I searched for another marina closer and it was difficult to find a slip. Eventually, I found one at Avalon Marine Center. There is really nothing there and too far away from anything but we figured it was only for the night and wouldn’t matter. The wind continued until we arrived in Avalon. When we arrived, the wind was at 24kts and there were strong currents so it wasn’t a pleasant entrance. The marina owner advised that there would be an additional two days of these strong winds so while we would be ready to leave daily, we resigned ourselves that we would probably not be able to leave until Thursday.

The wind continued as projected, along with some rain so it really would have been nice if there was something to do or someplace to go.

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