July 21, 2015
Length of Trip: 14 days Nautical Miles Traveled: 300 Hours of Cruising: 20 hours Longest Cruising Day: 6 hours, 90 NM, Cape May, NJ - Havre de Grace, MD Pleasant Surprise: Beach Haven, NJ Biggest Disappointment: Traffic in and around NY City Favorite Destination: Cape May, NJ Favorite Meal: Gramercy Tavern, NYC
July 20, 2015
We spent our last day doing laundry, cleaning and packing. I would have made an effort to go for a run or something, except for the fact that it was 96° and with the 72% humidity, John's weather app said "feels like 130°", so we were not keen on being outside. John said he has never felt hotter weather in his life. More than five minutes and your skin begins to sting where the sun touches it and if you move a muscle, you’re immediately drenched in sweat. Yikes! California is so fabulous. We...
July 18, 2015
In the morning I went for a run to a lovely lighthouse, then to a Farmer’s Market while John completed the last of his projects and organization of the new boat. After laundry and other boat chores, John and I walked the town and had a wonderful lunch of locally farmed vegetables and humanely raised dairy/meat at Laurappin. If we had this restaurant nearby, I’d be a regular for sure! If you’re ever in Havre de Grace, we highly recommend this restaurant for great food and nice pub...
July 17, 2015
At 9:00 am we pulled out of the harbor at and set off for a 6 hour cruise down the Atlantic, Delaware a River and C&D Canal which connects the Delaware River to the back of the Cheasapake Bay taking us all the way from Cape May to Havre de Grace, MD. Luckily the weather was lovely and we had a beautiful cruise sitting on the fly bridge with a nice breeze and calm seas. We had dinner on the boat in Havre de Grace and enjoyed a good nights sleep.
July 16, 2015
We awoke to a Coast Guard Small Craft Advisory so decided to stay in the harbor for another day. We began with a lazy morning on the boat catching up on all John’s boat projects, but by early afternoon, the winds in the marina subsided and we decided to get a jump start on our long remaining voyage and leave for Cape May. We hired towboat Rick to guide us out of the treacherous ICW and out to the sea. We got an even later start as Rick had a last minute call to tow another grounded boat off a...
July 15, 2015
John and I walked Through the beautiful Victorian neighborhoods to the South Jersey Marina (where we would have been docked if all had gone according to plan) to pick up some supplies John had shipped there from Amazon.com and then had a beautiful late breakfast outdoors at The Blue Pig Tavern. Our white limo came back to pick us up and take us back to the Beach Haven Yacht Club. There the boat was waiting for us with new shiny propellers in place. We noticed one of the front sunpads was next...
July 14, 2015
When the boat was hoisted onto the lift and assessed, luckily bent propellers were the only damage. As we had to wait for the propellers sent by overnight delivery, John called for a cab to go to Cape May to see the town. There were no Ubers or cabs in the area that would take us there, not one. So he arranged for us to be picked up by the only available transport, a limo. We walked to brunch at Fred's Diner while we waited. Upon our return to the shipyard we were expecting a black car with...
July 13, 2015
John Mathew and Andie ubered to the airport early that morning. We felt badly their time with us was so short although the way the day went they turned out to be the lucky ones. We set off from Tom's River along the NJ Intercoastal Waterway with a plan to dock at Atlantic City, NJ. Although John was following the chart exactly, he made the mistake of choosing the chart over one the daymarks and in a second we found ourselves grounded on a sandy shoal. Before we even had time to radio for help,...
July 12, 2015
We cruised from Manasquan to Tom's River, NJ, tying up at the Lighthouse Marina. Although John made reservations for Sunday, we discovered the marina office was closed Sunday and Monday. Fortunately there were lots of people around due to the weekend and two nice fellow yachtsmen helped direct us to an open slip. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool then took a cab to Seaside Heights, walking the boardwalk made ‘famous’ by the reality show Jersey Shore. We won some stuffed animals...
July 11, 2015
Before setting forth on our next voyage, it was time for the overdue christening of the boat, John Mathew did us the honor using a special (not for human consumption) bottle of champagne produced for just such a purpose and furnished along with a thoughtful bag of goodies embroidered with the boat name from Cape Yachts. We had a very pleasant cruise from Jersey City to Manasquan, NJ with fabulous views of Lady Liberty along the way. After tying up at Hoffman's Marina and a little boat cleaning,...