2023: Going South Yet Again

16 October 2023

Depart: Home, Rumson, NJ 8:10 a.m

Arrive: Barnegat Inlet anchorage 4:40 p.m.

Distance: ~ 61 nm

We closed up the house and moved onto the boat Sunday night in preparation for an early departure Monday morning. Much to my dismay (I hate to get up before the sun), I set the alarm for 6:45 as we planned to get going by 7:00 if possible. The alarm on my phone, however, had other ideas. It let us sleep in until 7:30. The alarm was set. It went off. For some unknown reason, the alarm volume was turned off. My phone volume was up, but apparently, they are separate entities on this phone!

So, we had to make do with an 8:00 a.m. departure. We had set our sights on making Atlantic City today, but we only got as far as Barnegat Inlet. Besides getting a later start than planned, we needed to stop at Atlantic Highlands for fuel and pump-out. We got a slower fill fuel hose than we liked and spent an hour at the marina dock before finally heading for the ocean at almost 10:30. 

The ocean was exceedingly calm, but we had a heavy cloud cover and a chill in the air for the entire way down the coast.

Pictures taken along the Jersey shore - Long Branch, Asbury Park, and Barnegat Lighthouse.

We got our first sunset picture for the season.

17 October 2023

Depart:  Barnegat Inlet anchorage, NJ 8:15 a.m.

Arrive: Lewes, DE Cape Henlopen anchorage 5:50 p.m.

Distance: ~ 80 nm

Our boating friends on "Heliopause" left the dock at Atlantic City as we traveled down the coast. They told us their plans to stay on the ocean and bypass the Chesapeake Bay. Considering the weather forecast on the ocean for the next few days and the fact that we have never gone this way, we made a sudden change of plans and decided to try this alternate route. "Heliopause" gave us the inside scoop on where to stop along the way.

Just when I thought I would have nothing new for the blog, this golden opportunity for adventure came up unexpected.

We passed the usual New Jersey sights including Atlantic City and the Wildwoods.

We passed a whale-watching boat off the coast. I wondered if they saw any whales. I know I did not!

We boated past the Cape May lighthouse (too far away for a good picture). We have always taken the Cape May Canal, so passing the lighthouse was a milestone for us. Clark decided we should cross over to Lewes, Delaware to anchor - another first.

As we approached Lewes, we could hardly make out the land given the cloudy sky ahead. 

We dropped anchor near the "Harbor of Refuge" Lighthouse in Lewes, Delaware. 

Once we were anchored the sun made an appearance, so I could get a good picture of the lighthouse with the evening sky.

18 October 2023

Depart:  Lewes, DE Cape Henlopen anchorage 7:30 a.m.

Arrive:  Chincoteague, VA town dock 4:50 p.m.

Distance: ~ 74 nm

Today we managed to be up before the sun, and I grabbed a picture of the lighthouse with the sun rising in the background. Once again, we had calm, flat seas for ocean travel. 

Map of our destination ... we docked at the Downtown Chincoteague Waterfront Park.

Along the way we passed Fenwick Island, Delaware and Ocean City, Maryland. I have visited both places by car but never saw them from the ocean before.

 

As we passed Assateague and Chincoteague Islands, I kept my eyes trained on the shore looking for wild horses, but of course, we saw none. 

Coming into Chincoteague was interesting. Many tourists come to this cute place on holiday. We saw many little, look-alike cottages.

We even saw many structures that appeared to be covered tents.

One side of the waterway had many, mostly small, houses. The other side was marshland.

Fortunately, we arrived in Chincoteague early enough to get off the boat and have a look around. It is a small village and mostly shutdown this late in the season, but we enjoyed touring and even found a place to grab a bite to eat that did not involve me cooking for a change.

We walked the main street and visited the Village Mall - mostly closed shops as it was late in the day and off-season.

We saw a cute pony with bird statue in town.

We ate an early dinner at the Ropewalk Restaurant where they had great seafood and live music.

When we arrived in town, our friends on "Heliopause" were already docked at the town dock. When we arrived, they were off playing pickleball. We tied up behind them on the dock and went for our walk. We got to talk with them briefly when we arrived back from dinner because they were just returning from pickleball and then they were off to get dinner for themselves. 

19 October 2023

Depart:  Chincoteague, VA town dock  6:55 a.m.

Arrive:  Mill Creek anchorage near Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA 5:20 p.m.

Distance: ~ 82 nm

Clark said today would be our longest day on the ocean, and we needed to be up before the sun to get on our way. The only good thing I can say about that plan was the opportunity to see the sunrise.

Although we had calmer waters than expected early in the day, the winds and the waves did pick up to a slight chop as we approached Cape Charles inlet into Chesapeake Bay. 

The pictures below show the slightly choppy waves we experienced as we approached the crossing-over-the-tunnel portion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

We have anchored in and visited Hampton, Virginia many times as we migrated up and down the coast, so as we approached Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, we were once again in familiar territory ...

with the familiar view of freighters and naval vessels.

20 October 2023

Depart:  Mill Creek anchorage near Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA 9:25 a.m

Arrive:   Great Bridge, VA free dock 1:25 p.m.

Distance: ~ 21 nm

To make up for having gotten up with, or before, the sun the past few days, we slept in this morning. We did not want to wait too long to leave, however, because we wanted to grab a spot at the free dock in Great Bridge, and it fills up fast.

Pictures of the anchorage below show the nearby bridge busy with morning traffic, sailboats in the anchorage with us, and the Old Point Comfort Marina and OPCYC in the distance.

Our travels today took us through Norfolk, Virginia where Clark could not stop himself from taking lots of photos of the big naval ships. 

I took the first two below. The Coast Guard Cutter appears dwarfed by the naval vessels.

Clark took the rest!

Here comes the sun!

Boats in bright, saturated colors like 
the ones my grandchildren like to paint with.

He said he liked the "pointy ships".

We passed by Waterside Marina in Norfolk.

More of Clark's "pointy" ships.

Miracle of miracles, we did not have to wait for the Norfolk South #7 railroad bridge today! We heard the announcement that a train would be coming along in the near future, but we made it through in time to miss all that fun! That really shortened the travel time. Clark's comment, "Well, sometimes you do get lucky!"

When we got to the Great Bridge Lock, we found a number of boats there before us. Soon, some came up behind us. We all had to float around for a while (we waited 20 minutes) for the lock to open for loading.  Altogether we had 5 boats on the starboard side and 3 on the port side of the lock to lock through.  Clark said it was a "lock" jamb like a log jamb only different.

We found two boats docked at the free dock with plenty of room between them for us to pull in for the night. Two men on the dock grabbed our lines and helped us tie up. One was a boater from Rhode Island whose boat was docked in front of us. The other was a local come to watch the boats go by and meet strangers passing through.

Having a number of chores to do on the boat, we only talked briefly before I ran off to get busy cleaning the boat and gathering up garbage to dispose of on shore.

I still cannot believe that we left home on Monday and are sitting here in Virginia on Friday afternoon. Our normal travel schedule would have us anchored somewhere on the Chesapeake Bay tonight.  We took a full two days off our trip with our ocean excursion, saw new sights, and had fun in the process. The ocean spoiled us this time. It is unusual to get four calm ocean days in a row, which is what we needed to make this happen. That, plus the travel knowledge shared by "Heliopause", made it possible.