We awoke early this morning and left our Statue of Liberty anchorage shortly after sunrise. It was a little early for the incoming tide but we were anxious to get started and thought the traffic through New York would be much lighter early in the morning. Two-foot waves were at our stern most of the day with a fair share of four footers thrown in just for kicks. Rick and I were both busy watching for ferries, commercial ships, and recreational vessels darting in and out of the terminals and at the same time trying to take in the sites along the Hudson. The pictures below record or trip from New York to Croton-on-Hudson, NY.
Monday, June 26: With a positive weather forecast, we opted to take the Atlantic Route up the coast of New Jersey to New York. It was positively glorious to be on the blue water of the Atlantic Ocean again, where we saw many seabirds, dolphins, whales, fishermen, and vessels of all types.
Our first stop, Atlantic City famed for its boardwalk and beaches, convention center, and casinos. Our marina, Farley State Marina/Golden Nugget was about two miles from the boardwalk, by the time we walked to the boardwalk, down the boardwalk, and part way back up our poor feet were begging for a rest so we caught a Jitney back to the marina.
Atlantic City Boardwalk was the first boardwalk in the United States (1870), is sixty feet wide and just over six miles long, currently the world’s longest wooden walkway.
The Atlantic City Convention Center was home to the Miss America pageant from 1929 until 2004, and has hosted celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, among many others and contains one of the world’s largest musical instruments, a 33,000-pipe organ. During World War II the center, known as Boardwalk Hall, was used as a training facility for the U.S. Army, soldiers could be seen marching down the boardwalk and conducting mock beachfront invasions on the beautiful beaches.
Tuesday, June 27: Today we continued up the Atlantic coast, the long white sandy beaches with water towers denoting the coastal communities seem to go on forever, we saw as many as ten water towers at a time. New Jersey has roughly 130 miles of ocean coastline and 160 miles of coastline along the Delaware River, by the time we reach New York, we will have seen most of its coastal miles.
Tonight we are at Brewer Crystal Point Marina, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. We pulled up to the fuel dock, our first self-service fuel dock and pump-out station, and as Rick serviced the boat I went to find the dock master’s office. This is a family owned marina and, as it turned out, they are “closed” on Tuesday and Wednesday. We were very lucky, one of the dock hands had been out fishing with friends and was at the dock. He was off duty but told us where we could tie up and borrowed a restroom and laundry key for us to use. Perfect, we were all set for a work afternoon. I did laundry while Rick was on boat duty and, although we did not have time to explore the area we did have an outstanding sunset, it seemed like the sky was on fire.
Wednesday, June 28: Today we passed Sandy Hook, took the Ambrose Channel to New York’s upper harbor and anchored Andiamo behind the Statue of Liberty. The anchorage was a bit bumpy, but what an amazing site. We loved watching the boating activity and enjoyed watching the city turn from daylight to night.
Utsha’s Marina
Aurora IV
Leaving Cape May Harbor
Wildwood Roller Coaster
Caesars
Live Music
A dream come true. 🙂
TEN: Tallest structure in Atlantic City
Golden Nugget
The Water Club
Atlantic City Skyline
Harrahs Waterfront
Absecon Lighthouse-171 ft.
Island Hooper
Atlantic City Sunrise
Dredging
Old Barney -171 ft.
Seaside Park
New Jersey Coastline
Point Pleasant Railroad Bridge
Manasquan River Bridge
Point Pleasant Fishing Boats
Point Pleasant
Pirate Cruise: We need one of these for reunion!
Crystal Point Marina
Point Pleasant Sunset
Sky on Fire
Manasquan Inlet
Sand Cleaning Machine
New Jersey Coastline
Sandy Hook Light House – 103 ft
Romer Shoal Light-54′
West Bank Lighthouse – 55′
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, entrance to NY upper harbor
Friday, June 23: Today was definitely a work day on the boat: bills, cleaning, laundry, cooking – where did the day go?
A few interesting tidbits about the Utsch’s Marina: It was built in 1951-the year Rick was born, you can see hazards in the slips at low tide (those slip holders definitely need local knowledge), we received a lovely bottle of red wine and biscotti when we checked in, and we had to leave a $150 deposit for the bathroom keys.
Saturday, June 24: Today we walked across the Veterans Memorial Bridge to West Marine for a chart book and then walked down Washington Street, lined with gardens and Victorian homes, to the Cape May Hops Festival: Blues, Brews, & barbecue! The festival offered the usual fare of crafts, collectibles, music, food, and kids activities. We found a tree-shaded bench and spent the day eating, drinking, listening to the different bands, and people watching, one of our favorite pass times.
The festival was held at the beautiful Physick Estate. This 18-room Victorian mansion was built by Frank Furness for Dr. Emlen Physick in 1879. Emlen Physick’s grandfather, Dr. Philip Syng Physick (1768-1837) is known as the Father of American Surgery and although Emlen Physick followed family tradition by completing medical training, he never practiced medicine. Instead, he elected to live the life of a country gentleman and animal breeder. Today the estate is home to the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities, host of today’s activities.
Sunday, June 25: Tomorrow is decision day, we have to decide which of the two routes we will take from Cape May to Manasquan. The inside route travels through the marshland of the New Jersey Intracostal Waterway (NJICW) while the outside route follows along the New Jersey coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The inside is not dredged on a regular basis and you have to continuously worry about the water depth, no-one wants to get grounded, but then again, who wants to get caught in the ocean if the weather turns bad? After talking to the locals and studying several weather forecasts we are leaning towards the outside passage, the final decision will be made tomorrow morning.
In the afternoon we walked 4.9 miles to the Cape May Lighthouse, visited the World War II Lookout Tower, and ended the day at Sunset Beach to honor a veteran.
Since 1975, every summer night from Memorial Day through September 30, the Hume family of Cape May Point has honored a departed U.S. veteran in a flag ceremony at Sunset Beach. The veteran’s casket flag is flown during the day and 30 minutes before sunset the ceremony begins. Information about the honoree is read, “God Bless America” and the national anthem are played, and taps are sounded as the veteran’s relatives lower the flag. Very moving with a very special sunset!
Cape May Canal
Red Wine and Biscotti
Bathroom Keys
Harzard
Original Customer
Cape May Bay
Crab Mud Bath
Cape May Harbor
Washington Street Garden
Washington Street Daisys
Feeling Small
People Watching
Mr. Skelton
Bacon on a Stick
He just couldn’t resist!
Spiderman
Emlen Physick Estate
BS Blues Band
Bluebone
Art Vendor
The Schooner America
Lovely Hibiscus
Big Fishing in Cape May
Cape May Rotary Park
Cape May Lighthouse
Lighthouse Fresnel Lens
World War II Bunker
Cape May Swan
Cape May Geese
World War II Lookout Tower: Fire Control Tower No. 23
Wednesday, June 21: Arriving at Mile Zero of the ICW we turned east to transit the 14-mile long C&D Canal. A canal across the narrowest section of the Delmarva Peninsula was first suggested by Augustine Herrman in the late 1600’s, it took till 1826 for his dream to become a reality. The canal, 10 feet deep and 66 feet wide, cut 300 miles off the trip between Philadelphia and Baltimore. With improvements over time, the C&D Canal now has a depth of 35-feet and a width of 400-feet and is the busiest canal in the US and the third busiest in the world.
As observers, we love watching all types of vessels, but as boaters, it can be pretty tense when boating through a congested area and, although the guide books said it was pretty straight forward, we never look forward to transiting a busy canal or harbor. As luck would have it, we had only one tug that overtook us, Sea Robin, and a couple of small fishing boats, an easy run.
They say that a favorite pass time at Chesapeake City, MD is ship watching. Although I saw a few binoculars turned our way I’m sure that seeing us was not nearly as entertaining as when tall ships, Navy ships, and foreign ships transit.
When we arrived at Delaware City Marina the dock hand that helped us gave a quick rundown of the city, “ we have a population of 1,756, an ice-cream store, and thirteen churches,” what else could we possibly want to know.
Thursday, June 22: We were planning on exploring Fort Delaware, Fort Mott, and Fort DuPont today, all part of the historical defense system of the Delaware River, but the weather prediction for tomorrow is not good and the dock master told us that today’s weather prediction was the best one he had seen in over a month, so off we went.
Delaware City is two miles north of the C&D Canal, which meant that when we left the marina we had to pass the east entrance of the canal. We counted seven sailboats (including a tall ship), one tanker, and five motor vessel going in the canal. Looks like a busy day for the C&D.
We cruised down the Delaware River and at the Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse we set a heading for Cape May, via the Cape May Canal, and arrived at Utsch’s Marina in time to have docktails with fellow loopers.
Note: The Cape May Canal is just under three miles long and was dug from a natural shallow creek in 1942 after several ships were sunk by German U-boats. The building of the canal was the final link in a protected waterway intended to allow coastal shipping to travel along the coast without the fear of being sunk by German submarines.
Entering the C&D
‘Sea Robin’
Chesapeake City North Bank
Chesapeake City South Bank
Along the Canal
Leaving the Canal: Reedy Point Bridge
Fort DuPont
Entering Delaware City
White Pekin Duck
Refections
Delaware City Marina
Delaware City Sunrise
Delaware City Sunrise
Fish Baskets
Delaware City
Well Protected
East Entrance of the C&D
Boats Entering the C&D
Salem, NJ Nuclear Power Plant
John Shoal Lighthouse
Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse
NJ Coastline
Cape May Canal Beach Party
Cap May Ferry Terminal
Nuclear Power Plant Crabbing (I wonder if the crabs glow in the dark?)
Saturday, June 17: Spent a fun filled day in Baltimore with our nephew Nick. Nick just graduated from Johns Hopkins University and will remain there next year working on a research project with one of his professors. He gave us a tour of “his domain” for the past five years. His apartment, friends, campus, and the Baltimore Museum of Art’s and Sculpture Garden, which included lunch at Gertrude’s, excellent.
On our way back to Nick’s apartment we walked by the Civil War: Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument. I was surprised to learn that of the four Civil War monuments in Baltimore three of them honor the Confederacy, it is obvious that Baltimore had a lot of Southern sympathies. The Confederate statues; Lee-Jackson in Homewood, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and the Confederate Women’s Monument right on the other side of the Johns Hopkins campus.
Sunday, June 18: Two glorious days in a row, today was spent with our friends Sam, Damon, and family, it has been at least twelve years since they visited us in Italy. We worked with Sam in both Cuba and Panama and she became like family, joining us on Paradigm Lost for a trip to the Bahama’s and one to Jamaica. Damon might have been one of our most entertaining guests on Paradigm Lost and it was great to enjoy his unique charm today. Sam, Rick, and I spent the morning reliving old times and catching up. In the afternoon we joined Daman, Saffron (daughter), Darius (son) and Ashley (cousin) for Father’s day dinner at Damon’s favorite restaurant, Gilligan’s Pier, located on the Potomac River.
The only problem with the last two days, both were way too short. We are already looking forward to our next visit.
Tuesday, June 20: Today was pretty uneventful as we left Solomons and cruised up to Bay Bridge Marina Resort on Kent Island. On the way up the bay, we passed the Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, these hundred foot high cliffs are famous as great fossil collecting areas and constitute the most complete section of Miocene deposits in the eastern United States.
It must be Dolphin Mating Season, around the Calvert cliffs we saw lots of dolphins frolicking in the sun.
Near Annapolis, we passed the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the only screw-pile lighthouse still standing on its original site and the last manned lighthouse (1964) in the Chesapeake Bay.
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and is roughly four miles from the western shore, at this point the main waterway of the bay is at its narrowest and is spanned here by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
Tomorrow we plan to complete our journey on the Chesapeake and cross the fourteen mile C & D Canal to Delaware.
Tuesday, June 13: Coinjock is fifty miles from Norfolk which is Mile Zero of the Intracoastal Waterway and home of Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval installation in the world. While a fifty-mile day is doable, we did not want to enter such a busy port at the end of a long day, so we opted to spend the night at the Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina, Great Bridge.
The plan was to secure the boat, walk a quarter of a mile for propane, return the propane to the boat, and then walk about a half mile, in the other direction, to the Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways Park. It was so hot that we ended up stopping for a very long early dinner, the dinner was okay but it was the air conditioning that we were really seeking, the temperature was 92 degrees with a “feels like” 102.
After dinner, we got the propane and went back to the boat. It was just too hot to visit the Great Bridge Battlefield. On our way back to the boat, we discovered a monument stating it was the site of the encampment area for the American Patriots of the Battle of Great Bridge. In 1775, the Battle of Great Bridge took place in this area and the success of the Patriots helped change the course of history. As victors of the battle, American Patriots gained control of the British Naval Operations in Norfolk, thus ending the rule of the British Crown in Virginia.
Wednesday, June 14: The Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina is located at Mile 12 of the ICW, just south of the Great Bridge Bascule Bridge (8 feet) and the Great Bridge Lock at Mile 11.3. We were up early to make the seven o’clock opening of the bridge and proceeded to the lock. The lock lowered us to sea level, a mere two feet, and we are now ready for the Chesapeake Bay portion of our trip, Norfolk to the C & D Canal, about 200 miles.
Today was a long day, about 10 ½ hours, the 12-14 knots SW winds were not bad because they were on our stern. However, when the winds changed to the northeast the waves pelted us on the bow which made for a bumpy, difficult to steer ride for the rest of the day. We are at the Norview Marina, Deltaville, VA and winds are predicted to be about the same tomorrow. Sounds like a good day to stay put and do some boat chores.
Thursday, June 15: With an empty water tank, we were disappointed to learn that Deltaville does not have city water. The well-water smells of sulfur and we were not inclined to fill our tank with it, but we did need water. Fortunately, Linda, from the Deltaville Market, over three miles away, picked us up at the marina and returned us with our water and groceries, better than a Taxi.
The best part of the day was the cool weather, the skies were cloud covered and the temperature never went above 77, perfect day for boat cleaning and doing laundry.
Friday, June 16: Today we were boarded by the Coast Guard, in all our boating time this is the first time they have ever paid us a visit. It is a calm day on the water which made the boarding easy. All went well, the inspection was professional, friendly, and took about fifteen minutes. All was in order and we now have our CG-4100, which should keep us from being boarded again for a year.
Tonight we are at Calvert Marina, Solomons, MD where we plan to stay until Monday. We will visit our nephew Nicholas in Baltimore on Saturday and friends from our Cuba/Panama Days on Sunday.
Sunrise at Great Bridge
Bridge Parts
Morning Swim
Sparking Morning
Young Cypress
Keeping Watch
Busy Bridge Opening
Redneck Tug
Morning Reflection
Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina
Solitary Duck
Great Bridge Lock
Locking Through
Moving On
Standing Tall
Looking Regal
Jordan Highway Bridge and the Belt Line Railroad Bridge
Friday, June 9: Today we did a short day to Broad Creek, we wanted to be in a marina where we could watch game four of the NBA playoffs. In hindsight it might have been better to anchor out, Cleveland easily handed Golden State their first loss in sixteen games. A win for Golden State would have set a record for the number of consecutive games won in an NBA championship and the final win of the 2017 season. I guess we will be watching game five at Coinjock. None the less it was a beautiful day with lots of sailboats under sail around Oriental, Sailing Capital of North Carolina.
Saturday, June 10: For a summer Saturday, this was a very quiet day with very few boats on the water. We decided to anchor at the headwaters of the Pungo River and plan to start our day early tomorrow. Before it gets too hot, we are hoping to see the wildlife around the twenty-mile-long Alligator River-Pungo River Canal. Awesome sunset tonight, I love anchoring out.
Sunday, June 11: Leaving the anchorage early paid off, we saw bears, geese, eagles, deer, turtles, but no alligators. Tonight we are at the Alligator River Marina, other than a beautiful location with geese, a turtle pond, and a restaurant with air conditioning and the best cheeseburger we have had in years, there is not much here. A fellow Looper, Seeker, came in for fuel and left to anchor out, other than that we were alone until a Danish sailboat came in for the evening.
As it turns out, we are not so alone, as I started to publish this post I saw an American Green Tree Frog, the state amphibian of Georgia and Louisiana, on the clear portion of our canvas, Rick took a picture, caught the frog, and as he tried to show it to me, it escaped into the cabin. Not sure how we are going to find him.
We left the lights off for about ten minutes when we turned them back on, there he was in the middle of the bed, Rick caught him and gave him a ride to the grass, so hopefully, he is not too traumatized and is happily catching bugs. For those who might be freaked out that he was in the middle of the bed, I keep a tarp on the bed during the day because the boat is so small, I’m constantly moving items to and from the bed, so no problem.
We were up before sunrise this morning, we wanted to get across the twenty-mile wide Albemarle Sound before the afternoon winds came up. The prediction was for one-foot waves and we had waves of 1-2 feet most of the way with some 3-4 foot waves in the middle of the sound. Fortunately, we had following seas and it wasn’t too uncomfortable but was difficult to steer our little boat, she likes to wander. I was on crab pot duty all morning as the crabbers do not mind setting their pots in the channel and most of them use small dark buoys that can be so challenging to see in the dark water. We have talked to more than one captain that has had to go in the water to cut the line off of a propeller and some that have had to replace a propeller due to a fouled line.
We are safely tied to the thousand foot dock at Coinjock, named by the Indians after a berry that still grows in the area. We have plans to have dinner with friends and then watch game five.
I took the most interesting picture of sunrise this morning. I took several pictures that were normal color wise but the sunrise picture was surreal.
Sailing at Orential
Sailing at Orential
Sailing at Orential
Purple Martin
Pungo River
Sunset at Pungo River
Morning Swim
Boat Watching
Boat Watching
The Good Life
Basking in the Sun
Keeping Guard
Only Bloom of the Day
Fancy Duck Blind
Gift from John & Jennifer – Wow it is really growing.
After weeks of 85-90 degree weather, we awoke to light rain and 59 degrees, perfect! We had finished all of our boat projects and were awaiting a new electrical cable and connector, this gave us the opportunity to do further exploration New Bern in the cooler weather. Located where the Trent River empties into the Neuse, New Bern was founded in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine German immigrants lead by the Swiss Baron Christopher de Graffenrid.
New Bern served as the capital of the North Carolina colonial government and briefly as the state capital. In 1862 Union forces, under General Ambrose Burnside, captured and occupied the New Bern until the end of the war in 1865. Nearly 10,000 enslaved blacks escaped to the Union camps for protection and freedom. We were impressed with the North Carolina History Center and the reconstructed Tryon Palace. The NC History has rotating exhibitions, rare artifacts, and a wide variety of interactive historical activities, it seems that no matter your interest, you will find fun and interesting things to see or do. We were also impressed by the number of dedications to women that we saw on our tour.
For those of you that are Pepsi Cola fans, Caleb Bradham invented the recipe, “a blend of kola nut extract, vanilla, and rare oils,” at his New Bern pharmacy in 1893.
If you go to Hollywood you pick up a “Map of the Stars,” in New Bern you need a “Map of the Bears.” In honor of New Bern’s Bear mascot and its 300th Anniversary Celebration in 2010 a nonprofit organization, recruited local artists to implement hand-painted designs on life-size standing and walking fiberglass bears. I heard a local resident say that the city now has more than 300 bears on display. The first year there we 50 bears, we didn’t try to locate all of them but we did take a few pictures to share with you. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 1: Today we visited Oriental, the Sailing Capital of North Carolina. Oriental was named after the Civil War Sailing Steamer Oriental and it is said that the number of boats in Oriental outnumber the number of residents by a ratio of 3 to 1. The heyday for Oriental was in the early 1900’s before the lumber industry went bust. Today’s population is less than a thousand, but in 1917 it was such a bustling town that it had the first motorized school bus service in North Carolina.
Leaving Oriental, we headed to Minnesott Beach, following Minnesott Beach Road, we expected a nice beach to walk on, what we received was a sign that said there was no beach access, with no access to the beach we returned to New Bern to watch the Golden State Warriors trounce the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 1 of the NBA playoffs; Warriors 113, Cavaliers 91.
Friday, June 2: This morning Rick replaced the impeller and I did laundry. In the afternoon, we went to Beaufort, NC (BOW-furd), not to be confused with Beaufort, SC (BEW-furd), the locals are very sensitive about the pronunciation. Beaufort, the third oldest city in North Carolina, was established in 1709. Approximately 150 of the restored historic homes bear plaques noting names of the town’s earliest known owners and dates of original construction.
In 1718, at the Beaufort Inlet, the pirate Blackbeard ran his flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge aground. The ship eventually sank to the bottom of the sea and was rediscovered in 1995. At the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, you can view artifacts from the ship.
In the afternoon we connected with Nell Wallenberg, a former colleague of Rick’s from the DoDEA Virtual School, who is now teaching in Moorhead City. We enjoyed dinner at The Ruddy Duck Tavern in Moorhead City and had a delightful time catching up and sharing new adventures.
Saturday, June 3: Our destination for today was Washington, NC, the first city named in honor of General George Washington, and commonly known as The Original Washington, or Little Washington. In March 1862 the civil war came to Washington and you can still see Picket, a Union ship jutting from the Tar River where it blew up on September 6, 1862.
For lunch, we went to a local restaurant were the special of the day was an “OTW Burger with a one of a kind blend of Certified Angus ground chuck, sirloin, and bacon” for $11.95. When Rick inquired about what else was on the OTW the waitress replied “nothing, it is just a burger and a bun.” Rick, “can you add cheese and dill pickles?” The waitress, “no we only have fried pickles.” This is not Burger King and you cannot have it your way. We left…
Sunday, June 4: We were all set to hike the Croatan National Forest, 160,000 acres on North Carolina’s coast when I read a review that said the forest was having an infestation of ticks. In Missouri, while searching for wildflowers with my niece Samantha, I discovered several of those creatures on my body, yuck! While hiking at Silver Glen Springs I also managed to let a few ride back to the boat on me, I’m so over hiking if I have to encounter one more tick. So, instead of hiking we decided just to drive through and check out the lakes. The dirt roads made going slow and just before we got to the lakes the road became impassable, very sad. Even though none of our original plans worked out it was a fun day and the forest was beautiful.
Monday, June 5: Today we enjoyed North Carolina’s Outer Banks, from Kitty Hawk to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. It was the wind, sand, and lack of obstructions that brought the Wright brothers to Kitty Hawk to pursue their dream of flight. After four years of experimentation, December 17, 1903, the first flight took place at Kill Devil Hills just four miles south of Kitty Hawk. The museum was closed for renovation but walking to the top of the Wright Brother’s Memorial was well worth the trip. From Kill Devil Hills we continued south to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Bodie Island, and Pea Island Refuge Center.
On the mainland, we explored the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge hoping to spot one the famous North Carolina black bears, but no luck. We know they are there because they left lots evidence along the road, but the best we could do was a couple of bog turtles. When it is not tick season, I will be more willing to go hiking, then maybe I can spot a bear.
Pea Island Refuge Center and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge are two of the twelve refuges on the Charles Kuralt Trail. We would love to come back some fall or spring and spend quality time exploring the entire trail. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is also part of the trail and we had planned to take that route on the ICW, unfortunately, it is closed for the summer and we will have to take the North Carolina Cut route.
Tues, June 6: Finally, our engine parts arrived and Rick was able to continue servicing the engine. I spent the day working as the mechanic’s assistant, cook, housekeeper, and blogger.
