Atlantic Highlands to Sag Harbor

Our first day in Atlantic Highlands was hot and humid, so we decided to spend it hiking and getting dehydrated. The following day, with an eye to an overcast and threatening sky, we threw a backpack full of dirty laundry in the dinghy and headed to the Laundromat. We should have stayed aboard.

Before the wash cycle was complete extremely strong winds (which shifted direction 180 degrees) and heavy rain swept through the town and anchorage. A power boat and a sailboat capsized out on the bay, so emergency crews were racing to the scene. No one was injured.

We take great care to set our anchor well, but storms like that still make us nervous. I made my way about 3/4 mile through town where I could get a visual on our boat and make sure it had stayed put and that no other boats had dragged into us. Everything was fine. As I made my way back to the dinghy dock through horizontal rain I got cold for the first time since the Bahamas--how great is that. Life is good. The front brought with it much appreciated cool temperatures.


The anchorage and mooring field at Atlantic Highlands.

The cool night gave way to a splendid morning with perfect temperatures. Our plan was to make our way to the East River, which would take us through NYC and spit us out in Long Island Sound. Because of extremely strong currents through most of the East River, especially Hell Gate, we needed to arrive at the Battery (which is in Lower Manhattan) at around 4:30 pm so that we could ride the tide all the way to the Sound.

We decided to leave early enough to exit New York Harbor and go the necessary 3 miles offshore to empty the holding tank, then pull a U-turn, head for NYC and arrive at the Battery on schedule. This would allow us to be anchored in Manhasset Bay (off LIS) before dark.

Like I said it was an incredible day weatherwise, and once we passed the 3 mile mark we just wanted to keep going--so we did. While Lisa double checked the weather forecast, I replotted our course which would take us offshore down the south side of Long Island, around Montauk Point, then into the Fish Tale and on to Sag Harbor. This would require an overnight trip with perfect weather and a full moon--poor us.

My one regret was that I wanted to sail past Lady Liberty again just to make sure The Kinder and Gentler One hadn't draped a burqa over her face yet. I suspect that might be delayed until the next stimulus package.

Speaking of stimulus money...on our return from Dallas, we took the scenic route on the Blue Ridge Parkway starting in Asheville, NC then through the Shenandoah National Park. Very pretty. Every so many miles there were signs with 2 posts on them informing us that this was our stimulus money at work. I haven't looked it up, but I'm quite certain that road was built long before The Kinder and Gentler One appeared on the scene. If the signs are referring to maintenance, I wonder how they managed to keep the road up all those years before the Kinder and Gentler One showed up. Is the stimulus money tax deductible since it's being used for the reelection campaign? Aren't you glad you were able to contribute?

Oh the bunny trails....


We passed through a large ship anchorage near the Ambrose shipping lane.


The tonnage rule. If he's big enough to squash you and send you to the bottom without him realizing he hit you, he most definitely has the right of way.

It was beautiful weather the whole way. We passed the Endeavor Shoals off of Montauk at 6:40 the following morning. Then it took us forever to tack back and forth around the north side of Gardiners Island and then the south side of Shelter Island, before our final approach to Sag Harbor.


Rounding Cedar Point.

Around 2:30 pm we dropped anchor next to Billy Joel's boat (one of many) again. Almost the same spot as last year.

Sag Harbor is a town with $14 hamburgers, so if we want to eat out it's pizza by the slice.

As of this year the city started charging a daily rate to land the dinghy. But they do have a grocery store and a Laundromat.

Annapolis to Atlantic Highlands

On Tuesday morning we left our mooring on Spa Creek and motored the 4 miles to Bert Jabins boat yard on Back Creek. We needed a quick haul to clean and inspect the bottom, and to change the zincs on our prop shaft and the keel cooler for our refrigerator/freezer.

Our intent was to use the Haven Harbor yard in Rock Hall, but we were having trouble contacting the guy we needed to schedule with. We were desperate to get out of a very hot and windless Spa Creek so we decided to use the Bert Jabin yard. They did a good job with the pressure wash, but were a little pushy to splash the boat back in the water. We had less than a half hour to clean the barnacles off and to change the zincs--and they were not busy. The guy that received us on the dock, was not one that made you feel like you would want to come back--I'll just leave it at that. But the yard looks first rate as far as facilities go.

At 5:30 am we left our mooring on Back Creek and headed up the Chesapeake for the C and D (Chesapeake Delaware) Canal and then to Reedy Island on the Delaware River. The plan was to anchor behind Reedy Island that night and then leave with a fair tide at 10:00 am the following morning to shoot down the Delaware River and Bay, round Cape May and sail overnight to Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.


Sunrise at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.


The Chesapeake Bay Bridge a bit later. The bird thinks it's all about him.

After passing under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, we fought a slight foul current until we reached the C and D Canal, where the tide finally turned in our favor. For a non planing displacement boat, it is essential to time your arrival at the C and D Canal and the Delaware River when the tide is pushing the water the same direction you want to go. Once we neared the end of the canal, we were going 4 knots over our hull speed.

It was an uneventful day and shortly before 4:00 pm we entered the narrow cut that took us from the Delaware River to the other side of Reedy Island.


Obligated to take a picture of the nuclear plant when it's right in front of you. For the full story check our July 2009 entry about half way down the page.

As mentioned earlier, the tidal currents are quite strong on the Delaware River. The further north the stronger the current--presumably because it is narrower. We are not fast enough to ride a fair current all the way to the Atlantic before the tide reverses, so we plan it to take advantage of the stronger current on the north end.

This had us weigh anchor at 10:00 am, and we picked up an extra 3 to 3 1/2 knots all the way down the Delaware River and half way through the Delaware Bay before the tide turned on us.


Ship John Shoal Light on the Delaware.

Rumor has it, this lighthouse was named by a Chinese English student while eating shrimps on fried rice.


This marker shows the current that you don't want to run against.

As we rounded the shoals of Cape May, passed Wildwood, and Atlantic City I could almost feel the sting on my back from the many sunburns of yesteryear at those beaches.

Shortly before 11:00 Friday morning, we entered Sandy Hook Channel which led us into New York Harbor. We knew we were in the channel because we had to dodge a plethora of anchored fishing boats.

We hung a left and headed to the harbor in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. The anchor was down at 12:20 pm.

While at the dinghy dock, we met an Austrian crew who sailed their Amel across the Atlantic, went to Venezuela, came back up the Caribbean and are now sailing the East Coast of the US.

Richard

Minutes after getting settled on Spa Creek we got word that my brother in law, Richard, had succumbed to cancer. He fought with courage through surgeries, rounds of chemo, radiation, a strict diet where he didn't eat anything that tasted good, and eventually paralysis from the waist down.

Richard was a good friend and the kind of man you want your sister to marry. He had a huge impact on my life. We miss him.


Richard and Ruth.


At John G's in Florida a day or so after Dad's memorial in late February of 2010.


Richard's wonderful family posing with a ceiling fan. Robert, Ruth, Amy, Ryan


Ryan instructing the help to turn the fans on high so he can achieve the Farrah Fawcett look. Their friend, Paul, is in the middle--he doesn't care if the fan is on or off.


My sisters, Mom, Lisa and I joined the crowd.

Solomons to Annapolis

We left St. Leonards Creek under sail and jibed back and forth all the way to Solomons Island. Not a long trip at all but it was slow, peaceful and refreshing in the cool, light breeze. We basked in the tail end of the brief cold front with the knowledge that the next heat wave was about to make things uncomfortable again.

We took care of business in Solomons then crossed to the east side of the the Chesapeake and up the Choptank River, then the Tred Avon River to the small town of Oxford. After buzzing the inner harbor, we decided to anchor in Plaindealing Creek on the other side of the Tred Avon River.

Recreational crabbing is big in this area but they use a different system. Most places use cages with a buoy attached similar to what lobster men use. Here they use a long line of 1000 feet or so with a buoy attached to either end. The line has bait tied to it every x number of feet and is laid on the bottom of the river. The crabber returns with a pipe sticking out the side of the boat, they drape the line over the pipe and motor at idle speed from one end of the rope to the other. The idea is when the bait comes up to the boat a crab is attached to it, unwilling to let go.

We stayed 3 nights while we walked the town of Oxford. We got buzzed by quite a few local boats who feel no one else is supposed to be in "their" waters. One guy draped his crab line across our anchor chain. It was tempting to raise anchor and... but in the end we acted like adults. There were also many cordial local boaters. Oxford is a beautiful, quaint town and the people are very friendly.


'Nuff said.

Our next destination was St. Michaels, which has a very high volume of boat traffic--especially on summer weekends. Our timing was not good, because we would arrive on a Friday afternoon. On our arrival at Miles River, we were treated to the most incredible pleasure boat traffic we have seen yet. It was truly amazing. Lots of sailboats and lots of power boats. Fortunately, as many were going against us as with us. We were able to sail almost the entire way and were pleased to find adequate anchoring space when we arrived at St. Mikes.

It also happened to be the Wooden Boat Show weekend. So we had a great view of beautiful wooden boats passing by---knowing someone else did the varnishing for us.


Sunset at St. Mikes.


This bridge tender must have been trained in New Orleans. The tide was obviously too low for boats to pass but there was a schedule to keep. Oh wait, that schedule thing wouldn't make sense in New Orleans either. I'm so confused.

Our next stop was Rock Hall. We needed to make a pit stop at Haven Harbor Marina to have some general warranty maintenance done on our engine.

Haven Harbor Marina.

This area is a bit different than we are used to. We only had 6 to 12 inches of water under our keel in the channel. When we were assigned the first slip near the bulkhead, we were assured that there was plenty of water for our draft. We ended up turning into the second slip before we realized it was the wrong one. We went aground 1/2 way in but managed to get tied off. When we found out the slip belonged to a charter boat, we figured we better move over one slot to our assigned slip. I figured it would have less water since it was up against the bulkhead, but was assured once again that it had plenty of water. It was a hard slip to get in and out of but we managed it with no problems other than going aground again.

The engine work went well and we ended up getting 2 nights in the slip for free--with our blessed air conditioning. A lot of yards (including Zanhisers) charge you for dockage while having work done. We highly recommend Haven Harbor.


It was unmercifully hot, and a great relief to be plugged in so that we could use our air conditioning.

We made an early morning departure because that's when high tide was and we were floating. Once we made it to the deeper part of the channel near Gratitude Yachting Center, I noticed the engine was hot, so we shut it down and dropped anchor.

It ended up being an air lock in the closed part of the cooling system. While working on the engine, we had also flushed the cooling system and put new antifreeze in. We ran the engine in the slip at operating temperature, but probably should have run it in gear. Anyway, I love it when it's an easy fix. We had already purchased extra antifreeze (at $25 a gallon) so it didn't take long to get under way again. Anybody have $25 dollars I can borrow?

We then went to Weems Creek where we spent several very hot days. The heat index was 103 degrees with no breeze. We are used to being cold, not hot. After that we made our way to Annapolis and Spa Creek where we could leave our boat while we made a trip to Dallas.