Cape May, Delaware City, North Chesapeake Bay and Annapolis

 



Barnegat Light

We motored past Barnegat Light and anchored Tuesday night in Cape May with the first of the boats we were now to be seeing headed south. All of them were sailboats. We went ashore and took a nice, long walk into town to re-provision and stretch our legs. The sailors had to anchor much farther out, so we did not see any of them off their boats. It turns out that we are travelling quite a bit faster as we can go 20 knots plus and they can generally only go 6-8 knots. The sailors we have talked to seem to have a year or more planned for their trips.



We rode along the Chesapeake Delaware Canal.

Linda and Phil Winn visited us in Delaware City along with
old pal Lin Wiesinger and friend.

The next morning we headed out the Cape May Canal into the Delaware Bay. Not too much excitement on that waterway. I will try and stay away from the word boring as I doubt any of you care, but...

In Delaware Bay we were called on the radio.  It turned out to be Josh Allen and his family.  He recognized us as we had been in a slip near them at the 79th Street Boat Basis.  We would end up seeing them a couple of more times in our travels and becoming boat friends.

We stayed at a great marina in Delaware City just 2 miles above the entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. We pulled our bikes off and took a great ride along the canal and around Delaware City. Full sun, shorts and short sleeve shirts! The gloves, wool hats and wool socks have been put away for now. Bill's cousin and her husband, Linda and Phil and our friend Lyn and her fiancé Ted joined us for a crab dinner at Crabby Dick's where we all got free balls. Classy joint!


Our boat is in the distance dwarfed by the freighter.

The next morning we had to wait for fog to clear and did some projects on the boat in the morning. Bill figured out why our AIS wasn't working and ordered a part to be delivered to us in DC. The AIS is a system that shows other boats around us on our GPS chart plotter screen. We got going at noon to go through the 17 mile canal. The first boat we meet at the entrance is the biggest thing I have ever seen. It appears to me that we are racing to enter the canal first. I yell at Bill to please not compete with a behemoth! What if we get in there and our motor stops again?!!! Bill appears not to hear a word I say and he guns the engine. So, needless to say, our motor works fine and we are faster then the big guy. We leave him in our wake in no time. There are other tankers and freighters in the canal, still very big but much smaller than the behemoth. We are following another cruiser and quickly learn from him how to ask permission to pass on the radio. We pass two and found the ship captains polite and friendly to the little guys and helpful giving info and advice.  Our fellow travelers, sailors Josh and Ann, got a photo of us passing one of the freighters.  Do you see our little spec?.

Once out of the canal, the Chesapeake opened up and we found a beautiful quiet anchorage in Worton Creek, on the eastern shore. After anchoring, with only one other boat anchored a little way from us (a Mainer!), we put our kayak in the water and explored the area. There were 3 small marinas, a few houses and what appeared to be lots marked off for future building. The water was totally calm. We saw quite a few blue herons, which are bluer and smaller than ours in Maine and very noisy. We were clearly on the migration path of Canadian Geese and saw/heard several skeins with at least 200 birds. (On the ground they are a gaggle!) They seemed disorganized, rude and competing for leadership. Hmmm...


Going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge



In the morning we went by the Allens
 in Worton Creek.  They had arrived the
night before about 6 hours after we did.

Yesterday we got off early and took a morning trip across the bay to Annapolis. The bay was quite choppy. Approaching Annapolis, we crossed, under the 4 1/2 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge.


We toured the Naval Academy.

We were able to pull up to the town dock in downtown Annapolis. After a harborside burger and beer, we explored the old city and took a tour of the beautiful Naval Academy. 


The United States Naval Academy

Our first meal in Annapolis

The State of Maine flag is up there.

Today, Bill's brother Bob picks up to spend a day at their home outside of DC, but only after we see the great harbor tug of war between two sections of Annapolis.  The Eastport section, across the harbor, won, indicating that the bartenders there are a little huskier than their downtown Annapolis counterparts. 







On the Water Again to New York and Beyond

So where were we? Oh yes, no motor! We got showers and some laundry done in Riverhead, Long Island. Thanks to Eric and Conrad Kreuter, owners of Moriches Boat and Motor, and boat repairman extraordinaire, Bill, our new lower unit for our motor arrived from Atlanta by 10 the next morning and we were off by noon.


Moriches Boat Yard - 18 inches depth at low tide.

 The weather was very rough in Great South Bay and we ended up anchoring for the night at the entrance to a small creek off Bay Shore. Now can I say that our sea trials are over? Here's hoping!

Verrazano Bridge

On Saturday, only on day behind schedule, we had a beautiful cruise down the Long Island Intracoastal. Its serene beauty can't be captured in a photograph. Pale green marsh grasses on both sides, small beaches which might not have been accessible by land, small sport fishing boats hoping to get one more weekend in, and gulls, circling close, hoping that we might be fishermen with bait to toss.



There is nothing like seeing the NYC skyline from the water.

At the end of Long Island, we started to get glimpses of the Big Apple skyline. The Verrazano-Narrows bridge was our entrance into New York Harbor. At the time the bridge was built in 1962, it was the longest span in the world. The engineers who designed her had to take into account the curvature of the earth. Thus the tops of the towers are farther apart than the bases. Because it was the weekend, there was virtually no commercial boat traffic. I asked Bill why we weren't seeing any other small cruising boats headed south. "They all left a month ago."  Great. Our trip into Manhattan on the Hudson River was much easier than I had anticipated. The chart and marks were good, the skies were blue and the seas were relatively calm.

79th Street Boat Basin

Arrived in NYC just after Halloween.

We got a slip at the 79th St Boat Basin, near the neighborhood where we lived 35 years ago and near the neighborhood where our daughter, Liz, had an apartment while in college. We pulled out our folding bikes and rode down to the Battery in the southern tip of Manhattan. It was a gorgeous day and I have to say that we must have seen close to 1000 people on bikes.  There is a walking/riding/skating trail all along the Hudson River, which is beautifully maintained by NYC. After our ride, we walked all through Liz's old neighborhood and had an outside dinner at a nice Italian restaurant that we used to frequent. The next day, we separately went shopping for supplies. What a glorious day Sunday was. In the afternoon, we walked down to Broadway to see the phenomenal Hamilton. Most of the original cast is gone, but the cast we saw was remarkable. Worth the first week, Bill!

 

Hamilton is about to begin.  How about those 3rd row seats!

In daughter Elizabeth's old neighborhood.

Early this morning (very early!) we were awakened by the heavy roll caused the weekday ship traffic. We got off as quickly as we could, hoping to beat the bulk of it. Not sure we did, because there is also heavy morning traffic from commuter ferries taking people in from Staten Island and New Jersey. Fortunately, visibility was great.


The Statute of Liberty in the distance

We were very low on gas and not finding anything in Manhattan, we had to go a couple of hours out of our way to gas up at a marina on Staten Island. Just learned that New York and New Jersey settled on the ownership of Staten Island with a sailboat race.  We then went on the most boring stretch of our trip so far along the straight New Jersey Shore. At noon, we entered the beginning of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) at Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey.


 

  

Here we just entered the Intracoastal Waterway.

We were treated to a beautiful night with our friends, Mike and Jo Robinson, in Tom's River/Island Heights. Man, can they ever cook. We are now headed to Cape May, New Jersey on glassy, flat water.

The Trip Almost Comes to an End

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning ...




The sun is rising over Plymouth, MA.

This isn’t one of those husband/wife blogs where each spouse alternates a post.  This is Molly’s blog, and I thank her for letting me make an occasional entry.  I want to document that Molly has been a trooper.  It is an understatement to write that the weather conditions have not been conducive to cruising.  Since Saturday, October 22^nd, we have been exposed to fog, 25 knot winds with stronger gusts, downpours, unsettled seas, large swells and cold weather.  In fact, the temperature has dropped every day since we left Maine. 

We thought this bridge was named Bascule until we passed
under multiple bascule bridges.

Of course, on top of the weather are the needed boat repair and maintenance items that challenge both relationships and wallet.  First there was the heat that didn’t work as the temperature was dropping to 45 degrees outside.  I gained some spousal respect in figuring out that the motor that pumps the salt water coolant to the unit was not low enough in the boat.  I lowered the pump and, presto, heat!  Then we lost steering today that I diagnosed as needing some more hydraulic fluid, and that was also fixed.  Finally, we continued our travels through the very interesting Shinnecock Canal and Lock and Long Island’s own Intracoastal Waterway, complete with more canals and beautiful houses, including one all-glass house. 

Checking in to our motel room, waiting
for a new lower unit.

So, all is good and I am starting to look like a hero until mid-morning when we hear an unwelcome noise in our main motor, sounding to Molly, at the helm, like a helicopter overhead.  The motor sounds like it is toast.  Fortunately, we are in a protected bay only a few miles from a boatyard, although the water depths approach the draft of our boat.  We use our 10 hp auxiliary motor to limp into a small marina in Moriches, Long Island, have the boat pulled, lower unit removed, and, yes, find it ruined because of metal grinded on metal due to lack of oil.  Thanks to a very nice crew at Moriches Boat, we are hoping that our boat will be operational again by late tomorrow after a new lower unit is shipped overnight from Georgia. Still hoping to make NYC by Sunday.

Stay tuned!

Through Canals to Long Island

In the Cape Cod Canal

Mark said goodbye after passing through the Cape Cod Canal.

Ok. No joke. This first five days has been an adjustment for this landlubber.  Not to say I haven't had my share of adventure on the water (I'm married to Bill Webster, for God's sake!). We have had some rough weather and wild seas. Very few boats on the water, because of course, who would be out in this?! After Salem, we spent a night in Plymouth, Ma and a night in the beautiful village of Mattapoisett, Ma. We spent a little time visiting some historic sites in Salem and Plymouth, and despite my best efforts, I slept through all three videos describing the towns' histories. Maybe they were a little boring, but more likely it was because the stress of the rides just exhausted me. After Plymouth, we did have a


quiet ride through the Cape Cod Canal with our friend Mark Cutler. Mark is a wonderful photographer, and even though he has been a lifelong resident of Mass, he had never been through the Canal. Check out some of his pix on Instagram.

The temperature got down to 28 degrees before
the heat was fixed!

We did eat well.

We anchored for the first time this trip in Mattapoisett. The anchor held just like a "state of the art" anchor should. We have eaten well on the boat, played lots of cards. slept well. Bill has spent quite a few hours fixing stuff, like the heat. It now works!!!  We had pretty good weather today and decided to get some miles in and hightail it to Long Island and calmer waters. Should be fairly calm from here on, or did I just jinx us? We're in the Shinnecock Canal near eastern end of Long Island.  The Canal is a connector between the north and southern part of this long island.  Tomorrow we will head down the well-protected southern in-land route, planning on 1 more stop before NYC. Hamilton Broadway on the 30th and then on to the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).


Port Judith, RI

Headed South in Cold and Rain

Heavy rain in
New Gloucester

Hot oatmeal and coffee quickly became
our staples.

So, the weather has not been great so far. The night before we left from Spring Point Marina in South Portland, the skies opened up. That's me with my first set of clothes soaked. We set off the next am before sunrise (sun?) in thick fog. The seas were rolling, and the fog only occasionally lifted, but thanks to bonine and my anti nausea wrist bands, it was only my anxiety level that was effected.  Bill, of course, was cool. At least that's how he acted. We got into Gloucester Harbor and took off for the dock in our dinghy.  That's when the skies opened up again. I admit I was pouty. Sorry, Bill, I promise I will get my sea legs.  Back on the boat, and now most of the rest of our clothes were wet. To top things off, our heat was not working. Rain, gale winds and cold, but at least we were on a secure mooring for the night. Yesterday am we headed off for Plymouth, Mass. Ok, no laughing matter, this was perhaps one of the most frightening experiences
of my life (so far!). Gale winds > sturdy little boat. I wish I had pics, but it's hard to capture. Check out the movie Perfect Storm.  Slight exaggeration, but that's what it looked like to me! Even Bill wasn't too happy. We cut our day short and pulled into Salem Harbor. We had a lovely day in Salem. We saw many witches, Bill got the heat working, we were able to dry our clothes in the sunny, windy weather and off we go again this morning. Stay tuned.

Getting Ready for Departure

At our home dock in Robinhood, Georgetown Island, Me.

Stephen Fay joined us early
for our Open Boat.

Boat punch list, how to store food in a small space, what clothes to pack for New England fall to NYC to Bahamian winter, folding bikes storage, leak in dinghy and more. These remain open items but we are getting closer to leaving Maine on October 22nd on our way to the Bahamas.

We invite everyone to our Open Boat Event, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 16th, at Spring Point Marina in South Portland, near Southern Maine Community College.  Call for code and slip number on that Sunday.

[The pictures to the left and below are from the open house and were posted later to this blog.]

Great to see Elaine Runyon, Anne and David Gould, Jim and Sharon Handy
and Caroline and Noah help send us off.  The Gormleys, Geants, Krill/Andrews, Mary Herman and
Whitfields also came by.

  

Spring Point Marina, South Portland

See that little boat in the middle? That's us! First fog of the season, as far as I can tell. Getting all supplies and food stowed. Wine cellar filled. So you didn't think we had room for such a thing? Listening to Hamilton CD non stop. Having dinner tonight in South Portland with daughter Caroline and her bf. Heading out in the am, weather permitting. Will high tail it to NYC and  warmer climes, so maybe some long days at the beginning of our voyage.  Working on figuring out how to allow comments on our blog. Thanks to all for the kind words and great send off. Looking forward to sharing our adventures here.