2024: October means we are heading south

Summer 2024

Our summer flew by in a blur of house and boat expenses - some planned and others not-so-much! The house needed some TLC this summer. When we departed last October, I left myself a note that the washing machine was in desperate need of replacement. The wallpaper in both the kitchen and the laundry room had been up so long it was falling off the walls. I had it held in place last summer with scotch tape and thumb tacks. 

Right after we started working on those projects, we discovered we had a serious problem with the sewer line. Clark identified the problem by hearing the sump pump in the basement run repeatedly for no apparent reason. We have a dry basement, and it should only run if we use the basement sink. Uh oh! Unfortunately, Clark did not realize the size of our problem until he took a shower, and the shower water poured through the ceiling of our finished basement! Not pretty!

Clark said we had a blockage somewhere and called a plumber to come investigate. He was smart enough to realize that this job was more than he could handle and told us to call the township to see if it was street-side. They came quickly and after some preliminary evaluation, gave us the contact information for the plumbers they use. They too appeared quickly and found we had tree roots on our property blocking the sewer water from escaping our house. 

I will omit all the sordid details of the digging up of our front yard as well as tearing out the steps to one of our doors to the house and tearing down part of a wall in the basement we just had rebuilt last summer. It was all rather overwhelming to say the least. As we tried to get this under control, we identified a separate issue of a leaking hot water pipe coming from our downstairs bathroom. This too was making puddles in the basement. 

As we tried to identify what problems we had and where they originated, Clark gave me instructions on where I could do what. It started with, "Do not use the upstairs toilets." "Shower on the boat." Once we identified the hot water pipe leak, it became all of the above, plus "Wash hands in the kitchen sink." At one point I was so confused on where I could do what I just asked Clark, "Where do I go?" How confusing it was just to take care of simple bodily functions!

Meanwhile, we still had the kitchen and laundry room torn apart as we tried to prep the walls to be painted. Clark did the spackling. The day he did the bulk of the spackling, I shut myself in my bedroom to escape the chaos. After a day of hiding from it all, I got down to business and painted both rooms. Eventually, we got it all under control. The rooms spackled and painted. The new washing machine installed. The broken and clogged sewer pipes taken care of. The basement wall and ceiling repaired.
The back steps rebuilt. The nightmare had finally passed.

However, we still had a list of items lined up for the boat. On a regular basis the boat has to be hauled out of the water at a marina to have bottom work done. This year was one of those years. So, we had to get that scheduled and underway. Just about the time we got the house together, the boat was hauled and required daily trips to the marina with long lists of items to be tackled while "on the hard". To say we had a relaxing spring and early summer would be a huge misstatement. 

The boat was out of the water for about six weeks as both Clark and the marina staff labored to get her into prime operating condition. We came away quite a bit poorer in the pocket but with various problems fixed and some updated electronics on board. 

After the house drama and boat work, the fun started. We had visits with all our grandchildren. Two are in Connecticut and three in Idaho. We had all five together at the beginning of August and what fun that was. I worked for several weeks before they all came putting together craft kits, and every morning we did crafts together. I have 4 granddaughters and 1 grandson ages 10 years to 4 years old. It was challenging to find crafts we could all do together. Afternoons were reserved for boating and outdoor activities. 

In the spring, my son and daughter-in-law in Idaho bought a new-to-them house built in 1920s. They invited us to visit them in early September. I had fun with the granddaughters while Clark worked with our son to investigate and address a variety of electrical issues with the house including, among other things, installing a new breaker and 4-prong outlet for their electric dryer. I certainly got the better end of that deal. When we left, the house was in much better condition than when we arrived. 

Since the kids were in school, we walked with them to their bus stop. In doing so, we met many of the "bus stop parents". Twenty minutes after the kids and bus were gone, we were still talking to the parents. One of them decided to throw and end-of-summer pool party, and we got to attend. Such fun! All too soon, the Idaho trip concluded, and it was time to return home and start prepping the boat for our departure south.

Generally, we depart from home to start our way south as early in October as feasible with the goal of waiting for the east to be free of hurricanes. This year we had more than hurricanes to bring into consideration for our travel plans. Our neighborhood decided to hold their "First Annual Block Party" for our street. 

We have lived in our neighborhood for over 30 years. In that time folks that we knew departed, and many new families moved in. With a desire to meet more of our neighbors, we decided to wait until after that event to depart. We could make the planned date, but if bad weather got in the way, we would not make the rain date. Fortunately, we had marvelous weather for the event and got to meet many of our neighbors whom we had not met before. 

The young ones on the street designed a stained-glass "W" for "Wardell Avenue" out of painter's tape and sidewalk chalk. I was very impressed with the end result.

 11 October 2024

Depart: Home (Rumson, NJ) 5:10 p.m.

Arrive: Atlantic Highlands, NJ anchorage 6:20 p.m.

Distance: ~ 8.5 nm

Immediately following the block party on the 5th, I knew that departure would be imminent. I just hoped Clark would give me more than 24 hours notice on when we would pull in our lines and get underway. Watching the weather and taking care of last-minute purchases and boat work, Clark said we would be leaving on October 12th. 

Over those several days, I made more trips carrying things to the boat than I could count.  I dislike dragging things off the boat in the spring and toting them all back in the fall, but it has to be done. I had just gotten down to the last bags of items and was ready to sit down to relax when Clark said, "How about we leave tonight to get a head start on the trip tomorrow?" 

I had hoped to avoid a "fire-drill" scenario, but I know with Clark that it is always a possibility. He made the suggestion we leave at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Just after 5:00 we were underway. It works out well that we are both good with spontaneity. 

We need the Sea Bright bridge open for vertical clearance. It has been under construction for ages. For part of October, it was closed to boat traffic.

Later construction reports indicated that during a portion of October, only one span of the bridge would be opening. With the width of our boat, I was glad Clark was driving and not me. However, as we approached both spans went up. Yippie! Turns out that today after 5:00 p.m. was the first day both spans would open. How was that for timing!

We made it to our anchorage one minute before sunset! 

After anchoring, we had a view of the NYC skyline albeit through somewhat hazy skies.

12 October 2024
Depart: Atlantic Highlands, NJ anchorage 7:35 a.m.
Arrive: Atlantic City, NJ anchorage 5:45 p.m.
Distance: ~ 83 nm

Folks who know us well, know that we are night owls and sleep in late in the morning unless it is time to travel on the boat. Today we were up before the sun. Granted it was only by 5 minutes before, but still impressive for us.

Typically, we get underway as quickly as possible and then eat breakfast as we travel. As per usual, Clark was stationed at the anchor with me at the helm until underway. Once he took over the helm, I went to make breakfast. No sooner did I step into the salon than I shot right back up top. "Clark! The dinghy cover is flying off the back of the boat like a giant flag waving in the wind."

He had been working in the dinghy and forgot to redo the tie downs. We are lucky it did not break free completely.  As I took over the helm, he subdued the flapping canvas and buckled it back into place. Once that was taken care of, I was back in the galley prepping food. 

I snuck out and captured a picture of NYC as we approached the main channel into the Atlantic Ocean.

We had a pleasant, uneventful trip down the coast. As we passed Little Egg / Great Bay Inlet, we found a dredging operation underway. 

I found it humorous that the birds turned the piping into their new fishing hangout.

Shortly after we passed the Great Bay Inlet, I could see a water spout appearing periodically ahead of us. We had heard a report on the VHF radio of someone spotting a Right Whale earlier in the day. I wondered if this spout could be another whale. Eventually, we determined it was a whale. I got a great view of it as it passed close by our port side. Sadly, once I had the camera ready, the whale never made another appearance. 

I did get to see the full length of the whale and its markings. I believe it was a humpback whale which according to Google is the most common whale seen off the Jersey coast. A while later, nearer to Atlantic City, we saw more water spouts, but they were smaller and coming from a pod of dolphins. 

Approaching Atlantic City, we were heading into the sun. I took the picture below knowing it would be dark, but I liked the silhouette of the skyline.

Once we got the sun out of our eyes, we had a clearer view of the city.

Making our approach on Atlantic City, we decided to head for the Brigantine anchorage we have used in the past. It is always interesting going in there due to "skinny" water levels.  We saw nothing less than 4 feet of water below the keel, but we came in at high tide. Hopefully, we will have good water when we leave in the morning.

I forgot to look for a sunset picture as I dove into making dinner as soon as the anchor was down.