The forecast predicted too little wind for sailing, but we were anxious to leave the New York City area before 9/11, and arrive in the Chesapeake before the effects of Maria appeared (she ended up staying well to the east).
We had a beautiful day running with the tide through NYC. The East River was quite busy. Before leaving, Lisa had checked Local Notice to Mariners to make sure the authorities didn't shut down the river because of the fast approaching 9/11. It would be a bummer if they made us turn around into a current that is nearly as fast as our maximum speed.
It wasn't long before we saw some of the effect of the flooding in the Northeast. As soon as we passed the Harlem River, which runs between the Hudson River and the East River, the water turned cafe latte brown.
Although the East River was quite congested, the Lower Bay of New York Harbor was nearly vacant. That, along with the brown water gave us an eerie feeling. As Lisa said, it felt like we were in one of those 1970s movies depicting life after a nuke war. We started to wonder if we had missed something on the news. The nearly empty harbor is still a mystery to us.
A very muddy New York Harbor.
After anchoring in Atlantic Highlands, I had just enough time to run up to the hardware store to fill our propane tanks. We don't like leaving the boat too soon after anchoring, so Lisa stayed with her just to be safe. This is one of the easier locations for us to get propane, so we didn't want to miss that opportunity. There was a chance we would leave the following morning if Weather Underground downgraded the swell alert.
We tied up for the night at the dock near the travel lift.
The following morning we guided her around some very sharp steel corners.
The keel cooler for our Frigoboat not looking too good.
The same keel cooler after being pressure washed. The sacrificial zincs are in decent shape, but we'll change them before she is splashed.
We ended up leaving just before one pm the following day. Our goal was to pass the mouth of the Delaware Bay in daylight the following morning in case there were trees floating around. We also wanted to arrive at the mouth of the Chesapeake at the start of the flood tide.
The water along the New Jersey coast didn't look too good so we decided not to run our watermaker this time around. We saw no trees or debris anywhere near the Delaware.
Our first day and night were very pleasant. We had some pretty decent swells, but they were wide, rounded and far apart--not the washing machine variety. The following day was pleasant as well. Although it was on the nose, we had enough wind to sail slowly. This meant tacking back and forth. In the process we had another bird bum a ride from us. I guess he didn't get the memo.
By this time we were getting Coastguard reports of trees, a telephone pole, and a runaway dock near the entrance to the Chesapeake. At 11 pm the winds picked up to the mid 20s and still on the nose. This made things very uncomfortable the rest of the way to the Chesapeake.
The water along the New Jersey coast didn't look too good so we decided not to run our watermaker this time around. We saw no trees or debris anywhere near the Delaware.
Our first day and night were very pleasant. We had some pretty decent swells, but they were wide, rounded and far apart--not the washing machine variety. The following day was pleasant as well. Although it was on the nose, we had enough wind to sail slowly. This meant tacking back and forth. In the process we had another bird bum a ride from us. I guess he didn't get the memo.
By this time we were getting Coastguard reports of trees, a telephone pole, and a runaway dock near the entrance to the Chesapeake. At 11 pm the winds picked up to the mid 20s and still on the nose. This made things very uncomfortable the rest of the way to the Chesapeake.
A bridge and tunnel system runs across the mouth of the Chesapeake. There are 3 places for boats larger than small fishing boats to enter/exit. On the western side a small section of the bridge rises to 75 feet. At the other two spots the bridge turns into a tunnel allowing marine traffic to go over instead of under.
We were originally going to drop anchor in the Poquoson River, but decided to carry on to Fishing Bay in Delatville, Va. We dropped anchor, rested up for a day and then headed to Chesapeake Boat Works--a whopping 100 yards from the spot of our anchor. Nicki May was in much need of some out of the water TLC.
We were originally going to drop anchor in the Poquoson River, but decided to carry on to Fishing Bay in Delatville, Va. We dropped anchor, rested up for a day and then headed to Chesapeake Boat Works--a whopping 100 yards from the spot of our anchor. Nicki May was in much need of some out of the water TLC.
We tied up for the night at the dock near the travel lift.
The following morning we guided her around some very sharp steel corners.
Don't eat breakfast just yet.
The keel cooler for our Frigoboat not looking too good.
The same keel cooler after being pressure washed. The sacrificial zincs are in decent shape, but we'll change them before she is splashed.
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