NJ: Barnegat

Day 363
NM Today: 45
NM To Date: 6062

Even at midnight Clark is busy with the camera.

Atlantic City, NJ at midnight
(view from Sea Moss)

At sunset last night, we heard a bugle play "Taps". This morning, at 7:55 a bugler played First Call followed by Reveille at 8:00 a.m. He ended Reveille with a little flourish not normally a part of the tune. Planning to travel the Intra-Coastal waterway to Barnegat and looking for "good" water depth to do so, we left the docks at 8:30 (a bit earlier than our 9:00 a.m. goal) to catch the rising tide.

Departing Atlantic City, NJ

Coast Guard Station - Atlantic City, NJ

What a difference a short travel distance made in the view!

Marshland in New Jersey
(Atlantic City still visible in background)

With the marshes came the flies! We had scads of the "green-head" variety that hurt when they bite. They like to join boats traveling through their water for a free ride. Some just sit on the underside of the Bimini Top while others fly around looking for "fresh meat".

We both sprayed bug repellent on ourselves, but they still flew all around us. I sat with a flyswatter waving it back and forth to shoo them away with a motion resembling that of a windshield wiper - sometimes at slow speed and sometimes at top speed. Without even aiming I frequently hit flies that came in too close.

On the way to Barnegat to visit fellow "NJ Mainship Group" friends, Garry and Sherry, we stopped in at Mystic Island, in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey for a look at the man-made lagoons located there. Given we approached there near high tide, we could take Roundabout Creek through the marshes to get there.

Marshes by Roundabout Creek in New Jersey

Egret in the Marshes by Roundabout Creek
(picture taken from boat underway)

Approaching Lagoons in Mystic Island, New Jersey
from end of Roundabout Creek

Typical Lagoon in Mystic Island, NJ

Houses on a Lagoon in Mystic Island
(some raised / others not)

After a quick peak at the houses, we wove our way out of the Mystic Island lagoons and back to Great Bay.

View from left to right of
Osborne Island, Big Creek, and Mystic Island, NJ

View of the old "Fish Factory" on Great Bay

Fish Factory - in serious disrepair

 We also passed by the old Coast Guard Station that is now a marine center.

Old Coast Guard Station on Great Bay in NJ

Turning northward, our next sighting of interest was the town of Beach Haven, New Jersey. Areas through here were hard hit by super-storm Sandy and are still recovering from the damages they sustained.

Beach separating Intra-coastal Waters from the
Atlantic Ocean

Approaching Beach Haven, NJ

View through Beach Haven
from Intra-Coastal Waterway through town to the Atlantic Ocean
Typical of the New Jersey barrier islands

 Approaching Barnegat, we saw Barnegat Light lighthouse in the distance.

Barnegat Light

We negotiated the waters to our friend's house for the night. Several years have passed since we last saw Sherry and Garry. They offered us the use of their dock for the night where we joined them for a home-cooked meal and lots of catching up.

Entering lagoon off Barnegat Bay in New Jersey

Sunset in Barnegat, NJ

Late in the evening Sherry rapped on the window of the house (she was outside) and yelled, "Look at the moon! Look at the moon!" The rest of us rushed outside to see what she could see.

Orange Moon Setting in Barnegat, NJ

Overall, we had a lovely evening. Clark and Sherry even enjoyed some shared guitar time after dinner. Although she's getting older at age 12, their cute little dog, Bailey, and I played some fetch with her toys. She runs like a puppy when she plays fetch and walks like an old lady at other times.