2020: Chesapeake City to West River anchorage MD

12 October 2020

No travel.

Windy, rainy, chilly

During the night the wind picked up and the rain came down as the remains of Hurricane Delta passed over the area. With the wind howling and causing the boat to bounce around, I was glad that we were tied to a dock and not sitting at anchor somewhere. Yesterday, Clark did not know if we would stay here another night and plug in for some power or leave when the rain stopped and head to an anchorage. This morning he decided we should stay the night and pay the $15 for electric to recharge the batteries. 

We walked the short distance into town and found the Town Hall. Since today is Columbus Day, the office was closed. We found the drop slot in the door but none of the promised envelopes to put our money in, so I took one of the brochures on display there and turned it into an envelope. Clark put the money in the "envelope" and dropped that in the slot. 

When we docked yesterday, we just tried to place ourselves as out of the way of others as possible. We did not realize that we had chosen so wisely, as it turned out that the 50 amp power box was closest to where we docked. The others were 30-amp power. We hit the jackpot without even trying.

Given the weather, we stayed on board for most of the day. Finally, at 3:15 or so, I decided that in spite of the rain, wind, and cold, I needed to get off the boat and stretch my legs. Reluctantly, Clark went with me for a walk. Near the water, the wind blew strongly and turned the heavy mist into rain that wet our jackets and pants. On the side streets, we were protected from both and could enjoy looking around town.

At the docks, Flags blowing in the wicked wind 

Marina at Chesapeake City Inn

AGLCA members will appreciate this ...
NEBO!

Nice Landscaping!

Chesapeake Inn Frontage

Sarah Beaston House c. 1848
example of old homes in area dating to 1830s and 1840s
when Chesapeake City was know as Bohemia Village

Looking at old homes down Bohemia Drive

I liked the copper pumpkin on display here

Remembering the tall vessel that passed under this bridge yesterday, I really felt small while looking at the height of this bridge!

Bridge over the C&D Canal

The Olde Gray Mare Gift Shoppe
Chesapeake City, MD

Our grand excursion lasted about 30 minutes. Then it was time to come in out of the cold, wet air. I decided that with all the cooking I have to do that I wanted a night off. I found a pizza place that delivers and called in an order. It was fine until they asked for my address. 

"Uh, I don't have one. We're on a boat at the Chesapeake City free dock." After she told me to hold on, I heard, "They're on a boat! What do I do?" She offered to deliver the pizza to the Chesapeake Inn, but Clark looked up the address of the ice cream shop we could see from our boat and asked them to deliver it there instead. They said okay. When the pizza driver came; however, he stopped beside the boat like he had done that route before.

With nothing better to do, after dinner, we watched the Rizzoli & Isles marathon on the Life channel until it was time for bed. I had Clark turn on the heat in the stateroom, so when I went to bed it was nice and cozy down there!

13 October 2020

Depart: Chesapeake City, MD free dock 9:03

Arrive: West River Anchorage #2 3:30

Distance: 57.5 nm

Conditions: Cloudy, Breezy, Dreary, no Rain

Clark said that 9:00 would be a good departure time, and we met that objective more or less. I had trouble getting out of the nice warm bed into the chilly stateroom. Finally, I "bit the bullet" and forced myself to get up to make the 9:00 objective. Since we had plugged into the 50-amp power, we could run the heat. We had turned it off for sleeping, so I hit the heat-on button to warm things up for Clark to get him out of bed as well.

Once we were on our way, I headed down to the galley to make breakfast while Clark piloted. When I brought his breakfast up to him, he had a big smile and said we had the current with us. He was seeing 10 knots, plus or minus, of speed (about 11 or 12 mph). Practically flying!

We saw little-to-no traffic until we entered Chesapeake Bay. Then we saw a variety of vessels including an Army Corps of Engineers boat, fishing boats, commercial freighters, et al.

Tug pushing a barge

We saw one boat that we could not figure out. It turned out to be a fishing boat covered in rusty fish traps. The picture turned out poorly.

Traps on the roof! Traps in the cockpit!

The water is deep on Chesapeake Bay, so we did not need to stay in the shipping channel. It is better to stay out of the way of the "Big Boys". Unfortunately, straying out of the channel presents a different problem - traps! As I saw traps ahead, I would point them out, so we could navigate around them. Some had flags in a variety of colors; others were flagless. 

I told Clark some traps were coming up. He pulled out the binoculars and said, "I only see a couple of small birds." Frequently, sea gulls fool us into thinking they are traps until the fly away, so I didn't question his response. Until we got closer ...

Is that a bird or a trap?? 
It, and its friends, turned out to be traps with 
frayed, white flags that, to Clark, looked like feathers!

Today's weather in a nutshell!

Chesapeake Bay Bridge up ahead

Chesapeake Bay Bridge getting closer

More of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Freighter on Chesapeake Bay

Clark said we would stay tonight at an anchorage near Dobbins Island. I thought that was great. I planned to look for Harry Potter's house elf when we got there. Unfortunately, we got there way too early, and Clark said we should carry on to the West River for the night. He actually would have liked to go further, but reaching an alternate anchorage would have put us in after dark.

View from our boat at
West River Anchorage #2

Near West River Anchorage #2

As I looked around the upper helm during our ride today, I got more and more disgusted by the grime that has accumulated there. It looked like a layer of soot in some places. Makes me wonder what I'm breathing in sometimes. Once we got the anchor down, I went to work with a bucket of water and scrubbed the upper helm from ceiling to floor and everything in between. 

I worked on it for an hour and a half. When I came back down, I found the captain stretched out in the pilot house taking a nap. Must be nice! I knew he would be back up top eventually, so I left things open.

Later, after dinner, I asked about the cleanliness of the upper helm (prompting him for a compliment hopefully - I always have to pry compliments out of him). He said, "Oh, I didn't notice!" Grrrrr! I told him I thought the worst-case situation would be that he would come tell me where I had missed a spot. (his typical "compliment"). Little did I know!

Sunset at the West River Anchorage

2020: Atlantic City to Chesapeake City MD

10 October 2020
Depart: Atlantic City, NJ (Brigantine Anchorage) 10:36
Arrive: Cape May Anchorage 3:45
Distance: 50 nm
SW Wind, clear skies

With a relatively short distance to travel today, we saw no rush to jump out of bed early. We had a leisurely breakfast and then got underway. 

The below photos were taken from the Brigantine Anchorage at Atlantic City ...

The channel into the anchorage is not very wide. To keep in deep water, the boat is practically in the marshes. When we entered the channel yesterday, I watched the depth sounder closely and called out depths to Clark as he steered our way in. Fortunately, we never saw anything less than one-foot of water under the keel. 

I did the same as we left today. The only difference was that Clark had to focus hard on steering as the wind wanted to drive him into the marshes. He had to "crab" the boat through the narrow channel - he needed to stay close to the marshes -- not in them! With me calling out depths, he could keep his eyes on the path!

Fishermen love to drive their trucks on the beach next to the channel into the anchorage. They get up close to the edge!

Our travel on the ocean today was the opposite of yesterday where it started out calm and got nasty; today it started out nasty and eventually settled down. As we entered the ocean we had 4-to-6-foot seas. Sadly, like yesterday, the waves came close together, so we pounded over them. The wild ride makes getting from the upper helm to the head (toilet for landlubbers) an interesting adventure.

Perhaps because of the dismal weather, we have seen fewer boats on the water so far this trip south than usual. As we approached Atlantic City yesterday, we did have company for the wild ride after Barnegat. A small, 20-something foot boat was bouncing along in the ocean a mile or so east of us. I was glad I wasn't in that boat. 

At some point, the owner called us, announced himself as Perseverance (a most appropriate name I thought given the situation), and asked if we had any idea regarding what the remainder of the trip to Atlantic City held in terms of seas. Clark replied that he expected "more of the same". He called us a few times during the trip. I think he was happy to have someone nearby in case things got even dicier than they were.

Although Perseverance had the ability to speed up, he stayed relatively close to us until the Absecon Inlet into AC came into view then he took off like a shot. When he got to the Farleigh State Marina, he tried haling them for several minutes to no avail. Unfortunately, it was after 5:00, so apparently they had gone home for the day. Finally, Clark called Perseverance on the radio and told him where he thought he should tie up for the night. He appreciated the advice. Since Perseverance is also headed towards Chesapeake Bay, perhaps we will see him again. 

Unlike yesterday, when we increased speed to reach the anchorage before dark, Clark throttled back today to take the waves at a slower speed. That helped tremendously as far as comfort! Some things shifted around inside the boat or toppled over today; whereas yesterday, as Clark put it, "we trashed the inside of the boat". It was nothing like when we used to "trash" the insides of Sea Moss, but still, we are not used to having to clean up inside Sunset Delight after a voyage. As the day progressed, the sea declined, and we had a somewhat more pleasant 2-to-4-foot seas experience. 

Finally, after over four hours of being tossed about, we arrived at the Cape May inlet. Clark commented, "Wow! Now, this is calm water." He noted that after the 6-foot waves, the 3-footers had felt calm. Once inside the inlet, we remembered what calm really felt like! 

We saw a lot of commercial vessels out and about in Cape May - mostly tour boats and one large fishing-boat-for-hire. I found it interesting that, on the more populated boats like the Whale-watching tour boats and the fishing boat, I saw no one wearing masks. On the smaller boats with half-a-dozen people on board, like Wilderness Adventures, everyone was wearing masks including the pilot. All of them were open boats.

 

We found space at the anchorage near the US Coast Guard station. Clark circled around to check out the depths and space and then dropped anchor for the night. Sitting in the anchorage, we could hear the troops drilling at the Coast Guard station - hup, 2,3,4 ...

Unusual for us, but by "Looper's Midnight" (9 p.m.), we were tucked up in bed. I read for a couple of hours, but Clark was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

11 October 2020

Depart: Cape May, NJ Anchorage 9:08

Arrive: Chesapeake City, MD Free Dock 4:55

Distance: 63.5 nm

Overcast, slight wind @ 3 mph, rain predicted, 68 degrees F

Clark said we should not rush out this morning because he wanted to hit the Delaware at slack tide. We timed our departure accordingly to leave just after 9:00.  As I got ready for the day, I heard music coming from the Coast Guard station. It started just before 8:00. I thought that they would be playing Reveille to start the day, but I swear I heard Taps! Next, we heard the Star Spangled Banner!

When we arrived at the anchorage yesterday, we had three hours until low tide. We saw only the top of the mast of a sunken sailboat that has been there for a while. However, when we pulled up anchor today, it was low tide, and we got to see a lot more of the sailboat than I have ever noticed before.

Old, slimy, sunken sailboat
at Cape May, NJ anchorage

Our route today took us along the Cape May canal into Delaware Bay up the Delaware River and along the C&D Canal. The weather was dreary, but the wind was negligible, and the seas were the flattest one could ever imagine. I told Clark to take a couple of pictures as proof!

Lighthouse at Miah Mall Shoal
Note the flat water! Like glass!

Company on Delaware Bay -
again, note flat water!

We saw little boat traffic today as we headed up the Delaware. We passed one trawler. Two speedier boats, traveling together maybe, passed us on their way to stay at Shaeffer's Marina for the night. At one point, on the C&D canal, Clark looked back and said, "Wow! That's one big boat coming up behind us!" He looked at AIS to get the stats and found it to be the Grand Neptune at 656 feet long, 105 feet beam (wide), and a 29-foot draft (water required not to run aground).  Huge! 

Since Grand Neptune traveled at 10 knots compared to our 8.5 knot speed, we knew that eventually he would catch up and pass us. Fortunately the C&D canal is wide enough for safe passing even with a vessel that size. It is intimidating though!

Grand Neptune coming up behind us

Clark wanted to get some pictures as he passed us to show perspective of size.

Our hopeful plans for the night were to tie up at the free dock at Chesapeake City. This is always a crap shoot as there may or may not be space available. Clark tried to call ahead to get the inside scoop, but all avenues failed. He called the tour boat company that ties up on the dock; only to find out that due to yucky weather, they stayed home today. He haled one of the two boats that passed us heading for Schaeffer's and asked if he could give us a shout back about status. When he called us later, however, all we got was static roar and therefore remained clueless as to availability.

After waiting what felt like forever for the Grand Neptune to pass us, it appeared that he would finally do that just as we needed to cross over to scope out the Chesapeake City docks. We hoped he would get going and be gone. Instead, he called us on the radio to say he would be slowing down to change pilots. 

Given that, we slowed way down to pass behind him. When we came up on the other side, the pilot boat had already dropped off the pilot and was heading away. Fast! Too bad we did not get to the other side soon enough to see the guy climb the ladder on the moving vessel. From what I could see, it looked like he'd have to crawl into the access space to get onboard.

Pilot has been dropped off ...
Black line up to rectangular opening is the ladder
(glad that is not my job)

As we watched Grand Neptune continue on her way, we saw she was approaching a bridge and wondered how much, if any, clearance the boat would have.

Gosh! Will it fit under??

Maybe! Probably!

Oh! Lots of room to spare!

When we got to the free dock, we could not believe our eyes - no one was there taking up the free space! We tied up as close to the canal as possible with our nose sticking out beyond the floating dock a bit to allow space for at least two more boats. Just as we were tying our lines, a sailboat came in and tied up behind us. He said he was concerned, when he saw us come in, that we would take up the last available space, but we were both lucky today.

The lousy weather held off until we got tied up, and then it started to rain. At a very safe distance, we talked to our new, temporary neighbors for a while, exchanged names and boat cards, and then we went our separate ways to get in out of the rain. 

A picture of one of the things we talked about is below - a  "1947 Trumpy"  The website says that this is a luxury charter yacht starting at $36,000 per week. Any takers?

BB Luxury Charter Yacht

Clark was excited that we would either have a short trip tomorrow or stay at the free dock a second night, so he could stay up late. (Like a little kid!) With earlier football games, the news and everything else on TV afterwards was seriously delayed. I left him to it and took my book to bed with me. 

2020 Heading South: Home to Atlantic City, NJ

 

8 October 2020
Depart: Home / Rumson, NJ 1:55 p.m.
Arrive: Atlantic Highlands Anchorage 3:15
Distance:  8.4 nm
Sunny, Windy, Temps in the 60s

I started making lists and putting items to be brought onboard to one side about 4 weeks ago. Clark had suggested a departure from Rumson some time more towards the latter part of October, which would have given me about 6 weeks lead time. Regardless of that proposed timeframe, I started getting ready in early September and am I glad I did. As the end of September presented evenings in the 50s and 60s and the Atlantic Ocean showed no hurricanes expected to come our way, Clark decided that leaving sooner would be better than later.

We both had annual physicals scheduled for the 2^nd of October, so that set a “no sooner than” date in the sand. In September, I had a visit to the dermatologist where two biopsies were done for potential skin cancer. Fortunately, I got a “not cancer” diagnosis on both. With those items out of the way, we were free to leave when ready. We tried for Wednesday but 1) I was not ready and 2) it started to rain which put quite a damper on loading the boat. The only item left on my checklist for Wednesday was moving food onboard, but that was a big and important item. We decided on a Thursday departure, and instead of trying to get somewhere down the coast, we just positioned ourselves at Sandy Hook ready for early depart on Friday.

Clark had a long checklist required to closeup the house. Every time he did something, it seemed like he found something else that needed to be done. A few examples … He removed the batteries from an outdoor thermometer and found the house trim required nails to be hammered in. When he got the step ladder out to hammer in the nails, he could see that the gutters were in need of cleaning before we left. Later, when he went to put the hose away, I told him he needed to wash the creek muck off the bow and stern lines before expecting me to store them and use them onboard. So, before he could stow the hose, he had some cleaning to do.

The last thing I did Wednesday night was to finish my latest acrylic painting. I had it started and did not know when I would get back to it. Clark took the picture that I based it on when we did the Great Loop.

 

I enjoyed painting a couple of other pictures during the summer. These, however, were ideas from a friend's photos or the internet and not ones where Clark provided photos.

We finally pulled in the last fenders and lines just before 2:00 on Wednesday, and we were officially “on our way”!

 As we passed through the Highlands area, we contemplated going to at least Manasquan. Passing by Sandy Hook, we saw lots of people out kite surfing and sail surfing.

Fun at Sandy Hook

Shortly after that, we entered Sandy Hook Bay and quickly decided we would stay in the anchorage by the Atlantic Highlands Marina.  The seas kicked up, and the boat got quite a salt-spray bath. We are in no rush right now, and if the bay was that bad, I did not want to see what the ocean had to offer.

 

Depart: Atlantic Highlands Anchorage 8:10 a.m.
Arrive: Atlantic City (Brigantine) Anchorage 6:25 p.m.
Distance: 83.2 nm
Bright, Sunny Day, Temps in 60s

 It was chilly last night. Even with heavy-weight pajamas and two blankets on the bed, we were cold. At one point I checked the thermometer in our stateroom and it read 62 degrees. When we got up in the morning, it actually felt warmer outside the boat than in. 

Clark was up and out early enough to capture sunrise pictures at Sandy Hook.

We started our travels with a bright, sunny day and seas less than a foot high – extremely calm.  As we passed Sandy Hook, Clark took note of the dredging underway.

 

Dredging at Sandy Hook

 

We traveled just over a mile offshore for most of the day.  Along the way, he took pictures of Long Branch

 and Asbury Park as we passed by.

Asbury Park Convention Center

 

At Barnegat we passed a pilot boat

and sent a picture of the BI marker to Franklin who traveled south with us last year.

Clark likes to check the AIS to see what other vessels are in the area. He went to “spy” on one and found no vessel information provided. As he looked over to see what type of vessel it was, he got so excited! “Is that a Krogen Express?” he exclaimed. Out came the binoculars and, yes indeed, it was a KE52. Shortly after, we heard a call on the VHF radio to the “Krogen Express off the Jersey shore”. I could tell that the owners of that boat were just as excited to see us as Clark was to see them! Clark and the owner of “Caledonia” exchanged contact information for future use.

Side note …

[ That reminds me of something that happened this summer. We knew that the folks that bought our boat “Sea Moss” sold it to someone who kept the boat somewhere in our local area. In fact we took our boat out and scouted various marinas looking for it to no avail. Then one day, Clark looked at the AIS to see who was around, and we saw “Amanda Renee” appear in the list.

We were shocked. Here, following closely behind us on the Shrewsbury River, was our old “Sea Moss”. Clark called “Amanda Renee” on the VHF radio and got an answer from the new owners who told us that the AIS was not updated (good thing), and the new name of the boat is “Sea Shanty”.  We made a slight detour for our day’s travel and met them at Horseshoe Cove where we exchanged contact info. I passed them a boat card via a net with a long handle and they dropped a card in for me. Clark and Adam have been in touch ever since. Both are happy as clams to be connected.]

 As we followed the contour of the land at Barnegat, we turned directly into the southwesterly winds gusting to 36 knots. Our calm seas went by the wayside. Instead of one-foot seas, we had 4 to 6-foot seas that formed deep gullies that Sunset Delight kept crashing down into. We had waves breaking over the bow sending water way over our heads at 22+ feet in the air.  Unfortunately, we had about 3 hours of that to contend with. I felt qualified to try riding a bull at the rodeo afterwards as it seemed the way my body was pounded and thrown around must be somewhat similar to that in nature. I repeatedly felt like shouting "YeHaw!" (By the way, Clark checked the weather radio, and it said "2-foot seas" at Barnegat. No way!!)

It felt like it took forever for "Sunset Delight" to arrive at the channel marker for the Absecon Inlet (Atlantic City).

 

Note the wave action here

Arriving at Atlantic City, NJ

Clark took a picture through the full-enclosure panel – a little wet up there. That is saltwater spray - not rain splatter!!

Approaching the Brigantine anchorage, we passed a tug very busily towing a number of objects behind him that he eventually attached to a mooring ball. Dredging was being done there, so I expect the objects have something to do with dredging, but I cannot imagine what. It looked more like a train with numerous cars than any tug I have ever seen before.

We were glad to get our anchor set before the sun went down. As Clark positioned the boat to drop anchor, he handed me the camera and said, “Go get a sunset picture!”

Sunset at Atlantic City, NJ --
Brigantine Anchorage