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| Swans that live in / near our creek in the summer. They came in to visit during the Nor'easter! |
14 October 2025
Normally we would be on Sunset Delight and south of New Jersey by now - most likely in or beyond Chesapeake Bay. Not so this year. We knew we had to wait to leave until after our doctor's appointments scheduled for the first week of October. Then we had to wait for the dinghy repair to be completed. Then we got hit with a Nor'easter with high winds making us happy we were still home. The storm is now over, but we find ourselves waiting for ocean waves to calm down. 6 to 9 foot waves are a little steep even for us!
As mentioned in an earlier post, the day we traveled back to New Jersey from our trip to Idaho, Clark got the call that Dinghy Pro was ready for us to bring our dinghy to Connecticut for retubing. After quickly configuring our car with a hitch and boat trailer, we delivered the dinghy for repair on the 13th of September. Finally, Clark got the call that we could pick up the dinghy on the 11th of October.
Clark reached out to our son, Chris, to see if they had time on their busy schedule to get together since we would be passing through their area. Unfortunately, because it is soccer tournament season, both Lillian and Jack had games all day long at totally different venues. Chris went with Jack, and Heather went with Lillian to their respective games.
I had something to drop off, so we swung by Jack's venue very briefly on our way to collect the dinghy. Traffic both going to get the dinghy and returning home afterwards was outrageous. When we dropped off the dinghy in September, the trip up and back including watching an hour-long soccer game mid-day took us about 8 hours. The trip to collect the retubed dinghy took us about 10 hours round trip. We only stopped by the Danbury sports / soccer stadium for enough time to say hello, hit the restrooms, and drop off the items I wanted to deliver to Chris.
We had hoped to get to the dinghy repair shop before 1:00 but traffic delays pushed us closer to 2:00. After checking out the "new" dinghy, paying for the work, and getting ourselves hitched up to the trailer, it was approaching 3:00 when we left there. The dinghy sure looked a whole lot better when we retrieved it than when we dropped it off!
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| Check out the new tubes! |
Going home, Google Maps directed us to its favorite highway - Interstate 95. Why the algorithm calculates the George Washington Bridge is the fastest route to anywhere is beyond my imagination.
Regardless, we had to travel 95 for some distance, but we planned to divert for the Tappan zee (Gov Cuomo) Bridge near White Plains, NY. However, the traffic came to an almost complete stop on 95, so we decided to bail out at Route 15. Big mistake!? As we committed ourselves to the exit ramp, I caught a glimpse of a road restrictions sign. It went by too quickly to read all the restrictions listed, but number two on the list said "Trailers"!
I quickly did a Google search and read that no trailers (commercial or otherwise) are allowed on the road due to how narrow the passageways are under the bridges. Uh-oh! We had to exit at the next opportunity. That took us on a tour of rural Connecticut until we finally got to Rte 684 and could continue on known highways to find our way home. We lost about 40 minutes travel time. On the bright side we saw sections of Connecticut we have not seen before! One can only wonder if we would have done better to stay on 95?
We reached the New Jersey border somewhere around 6:00 p.m. An hour before that Clark had asked if we had any food with us. I had brought lunch for the two of us, and that was all, so the answer was no. We stopped at the rest stop immediately over the border into NJ, hit the food shops there for snacks, and visited the restrooms before getting back in the car for the final leg of our day-long journey. As soon as we got home I started yanking food out of the fridge to put something together for dinner.
We spent a considerable amount of time rearranging and cleaning out the garage to make room for the new boat trailer. When we got home, Clark backed the trailer / dinghy into the garage with me giving him hand signals regarding "too close" "okay come back another X feet", etc. Amazingly the trailer just barely fit in the garage. Another 4 inches and we would have been in trouble!
We tucked the dinghy into the garage for a few days due to the Nor'easter coming in the day after we picked up the dinghy. With gusts of up to 50 or 60 mph, it was no time to go launching a dinghy at a boat ramp and traveling through Pleasure Bay.
Besides cleaning out the tons of stuff that was in the way of using the garage for the trailer, I mandated that we would now need to park the car on the opposite side of the garage. I refuse to have to climb over a boat trailer every time I come home from grocery shopping.
Even something that sounds quite as simple as parking on the opposite side of the garage was a bit of a chore. We only have one working remote control for the garage with 2 separate doors. The other one disappeared years ago. Clark did his engineering magic and swapped things out so the one remote we have now works with the opposite door.
Meanwhile, while we were waiting for the dinghy to be retubed, some issues came up with Sunset Delight such that we had to have the boat hauled out onto "the hard" for several days while the starboard Aquadrive system thrust bearing was worked on and reinstalled. There was a possible cutlass bearing problem we were checking on. A few thousand dollars later, the boat was back in the water. As we drove it home from the marina, Clark was concerned with a noise coming from where the repair work was done. The new thrust bearing was still running hot. He thought it might need additional work, but luck would have it, the noise seemed to have worked its way out on a following maintenance run and the temperature came down to within 10 degrees of the port side!
So, now, we had all the doctor's appointments done, Sunset Delight in good shape, and the dinghy in the garage. Alas, all we needed was weather permitting us to depart. Along comes a Nor'easter to stand in the way! With flooding on our creek during the high tides of the storm, access to the boat was occasionally nonexistent.
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| Ramp is normally near horizontal at high tide! |
60 knot wind gusts and 12 foot seas did not sound encouraging for a departure any time soon.
While waiting, we have been doing odd jobs that keep us busy. When we could get to the boat, we brought down loads of items for getting ready to leave including food, clothes, etc. Clark filled the water tank. He spent a lot of time trying to clean rust off the boat that we acquired at the boat yard. Apparently the boat lift had a problem and spewed rust particles all across our boat.
Those rust particles embedded themselves in the fiberglass. It's a nightmare and nothing seems to work to get out the millions of spots. Clark talked to the folks at the marina, and they said several boats had the same issue. They have been sending a crew out to clean the impacted boats - ours included. They came the day before we planned to head south.
In preparation to departure, we cleaned up outside the house - put hoses away, that sort of thing. We had a lot of tree branches come down in our driveway from the Nor'easter, so those had to be cleaned up.
I loaded all my cement ornaments I had on display on our front porch into my "little red wagon" to bring them in for the winter. Years ago, over time, I bought them as plain cement statues and painted them myself as a hobby. Each one was the creation of a talented artistic man who had his own molds and secret cement recipe. I would seek him out at Farmer's Markets and buy some things whenever I could.
They are painted with Acrylic outdoor paint and have lasted for many years. My first was one he called the "Frog on a Log". The collection grew from there.
Sadly, with new tubes on the dinghy, the rest of the boat looked dingy. We took most of a day where Clark set to cleaning the hull, and I tackled the interior. The dinghy is approaching 20 years old, but now with our joint efforts looks close to new. We scrubbed, waxed, repaired fiberglass, and painted where necessary. It has some hopeless spots but is amazingly improved in condition!
On the 14th the weather cleared up enough to launch the dinghy at a boat ramp in Little Silver. I meant to take a picture or two but was too busy to remember once we got there. This whole trailer and boat ramp thing is totally new to me. My only experience up until now had been watching other people either do it quite well or make a total muck of it. I hoped we wouldn't be in the latter category.
A man hangs out at the boat ramp. He offered useful input when we pulled the dinghy out in September. He appeared again when we drove in to launch the dinghy. Clark speculated that he lives nearby and jumped on his motorcycle when he saw us arriving. He magically appeared shortly after we did.
Clark backed the trailer into the water. Then we had to work it a little to get the dinghy to agree to go in the water. Clark said it was about 60 degrees. Perhaps the dinghy did not want to get wet and cold? With my pulling on a stern line and Clark pushing on the bow, the dinghy reluctantly lowered itself into the water.
As Clark drove away in the dinghy, I walked back towards the car to drive it home. The man who had appeared to assist was a bit confused. "You're not going with him?" I told him it was my job to drive the car home instead. I am a pro at that. Twice now I have driven the car with the empty trailer attached.
Now that we have the new boat trailer, Clark decided that we had to get rid of the one that has been littering our backyard for decades. It is rusted, has broken tail lights, and flat tires! He said we could load the old boat trailer onto the new boat trailer and drive it to the recycling plant nearby. I suggested he find a strong man to help him, but no, he said the two of us could do it.
To do this took multiple steps. First, we had to unload the rowboat from the old trailer and then push / pull the old trailer (with flat, non-inflatable tires) up the hill from our backyard to the front. I got the easy part - I pushed!
Once we got to the driveway, we lifted the old trailer up onto the new one. As we struggled to get the trailer where we wanted, I lamented the fact that my red wagon was occupied with cement statues. I said that if we put the bow end of the old trailer on wheels, we could pull the stern end up onto the new trailer.
Clark remembered that I have a 60-year old skateboard that I keep around as a workhorse for its wheels. I pulled that out, we set the front of the trailer on the skateboard. Voila! We were able to pull the old trailer up onto the new trailer. That 4" x 16" skateboard has been amazing over the years. Often it has helped me move furniture single-handed! It came through yet again with flying colors!
Once in place, we strapped it on and drove off to get rid of it in Red Bank.
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| Ready to go! |
On the way home, I asked Clark if he realizes that we are both 70 years old and should not be lifting boat trailers. His answer was "No". I guess he still thinks he's in his 30s and me with him!
When we got home, the lifting exercises were not done yet. Clark wanted to put the rowboat on the trailer to store it in the garage. The 11' aluminum rowboat is also not light! I took the slightly lighter / less awkward bow. Clark took the stern and we walked it up the hill and around the house to the driveway where we placed it on the trailer. Phew! I needed to sit down for a while after that! With the rowboat on the trailer, Clark rolled the trailer into the garage! Done!
As we wait for the ocean to settle down for travel, we are still doing odd jobs. Hoping to leave first on the 15th, then the 16th, then the 17th. We still have bags of things to load onto the boat. food to move from one fridge to the other, and a house to put to bed for our absence. It has been a bit tricky deciding what needs to remain in the house as the target leave date keeps moving outwards.
With time on my hands, as I brought items onto the boat, it motivated me to pull things out of the cabinets in the galley to get organized. I enjoy bringing chaos into order and find organizing to be a fun hobby of mine. The activity was a huge success as I managed to bring a bunch of unused items off the boat. For example, I must have had 30 or so lids for plastic containers I no longer own! I had cleaners on the boat I did not know I had (and did not need), and I found stocks of items I thought I needed to go out to buy! I got more usable space and saved money at the same time!
16 October 2025
Today did not look good for a ride on the ocean. Doing his analysis, Clark decided we could be on the move on Friday the 17th with more tolerable seas. With warmer weather, we would close up the house and sleep on the boat the night before departure. However, given the chill in the air, we decided to have one more night sleeping in a warm house / bed and depart from our home dock in the morning.
Given that, we spent today doing last minute clean up in the house and on the boat. As mentioned earlier, we had a shower of rust on the boat from our visit to the marina. Two guys from the marina came at 10:00 this morning and spent a good part of the day scrubbing Sunset Delight. It's not perfect, but they removed a lot of rust spots and it looked a whole lot better by the time they left.
Meanwhile, I worked on the house so that it is neat and clean when we return. I hate to leave a dirty house. Other than dusting and running the vacuum when we return, the house should be in good shape to welcome us home.
Between Clark and myself we took care of a number of jobs such that we could walk out of the house in the morning with minimal effort.
17 October 2025
Depart: Home / Rumson, NJ 9:10
Arrive: Barnegat Inlet anchorage 4:30
Distance: 59.5 nm
We decided to eat breakfast underway to save some time and got underway just after 9:00 a.m. Clark delayed departure a but because he wanted one last luxurious shower before moving on board.
Transiting Pleasure Bay near our home ..
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| 9:30 a.m. entering Pleasure Bay |
An hour and a half after leaving home, we were passing by NYC and could see the Verrazzano Bridge in the distance.
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| NYC / VZ Bridge |
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| Nicole Evelyn passing us on the ocean ( vessel local to us in our home area) |
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| 11:30 a.m.: Sailboat on glistening Atlantic Ocean |
We passed the usual sights along the coastline like the Convention Center in Asbury Park, NJ. Along the Northern coast of NJ waves were only about 4', and I remarked off of Asbury Park, the sky was blue and the waves were calm.
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| 12:30 Asbury Park |
We passed Manasquan Inlet and continued onwards. Calculating travel time versus sunset, we had no option other than anchoring at Barnegat Inlet. Atlantic City would require traveling in the dark until after 8:00 p.m.
As we approached Barnegat the swell from the northeast pickup to close to 7' as reported on the weather radio. We were running with the swell so the 7 second period was effectively longer so not that uncomfortable.
Coming into Barnegat was a challenge. Dredging is taking place here. Clark haled a tow that was taking up the entire channel to find out how we should pass. He said, "Two whistles" which meant we would be outside of the channel coming in the inlet. The tow was pulling a dredging pipe behind him as he headed towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Unfortunately, the pipes that followed the first of two tow boats were drifting over close to the green marker not leaving enough room for us to pass inside the channel. Also, this buoy marks the shoal the runs along the south side of the inlet. Clark passed the marker close on the wrong side, and we were able to pass the last tow on the back end of the pipeline and move back into the channel. Fortunately, it was high tide and there was enough water to pass outside the channel.
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| Looking back at tow after passing in the inlet |
As we approached the place where we normally anchor when we stop here, we were stymied by the dredge setup. To one side a sign proclaimed "DANGER Pipeline". These waters are normally shallow so careful navigation is required on a good day.
Clark tried to hale the dredging ops people, but no one answered. It looked like we could pass over the dredge pipe to get to the channel, but we had no indication as to how deep the pipe was laying. After failed attempts reaching the dredging folks, Clark haled the USCG located right there at the site. A while later they replied that they could not raise the dredge folks either but thought we would be fine crossing the line.
Meanwhile a catamaran had come in and paused to look at the situation and eventually continued on over the pipeline. With encouragement from the USCG, we opted to do the same. After we were already safely across, we heard a person on the radio say the pipeline had been submerged, and we would be fine.
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| 4:10 p.m.: Safely over the pipeline! Time to anchor. |
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| 4:30: anchor down with a beautiful view from boat at anchor |
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