Baltimore to Atlantic Highlands, NJ; June 13-23 June 13 – 15 ~ Anchor Bay, MD to Chesapeake City, MD On Wednesday, June 13th, we left Anchor Bay for Chesapeake City about 9:00 am. We got just past the railroad bridge and decided there was too much vibration and went back. Art, the owner, got on the boat and we went out again. He and Phil finally decided that the boat was all right, so we took him back and left about 10:15. We still had some vibration, but it seemed better. Our trip was uneventful, except for the weather. It was a little stormy, tiny bit of rain and a whole lot of wind! We bid fond adieu to Chesapeake Bay and arrived at Chesapeake Inn Restaurant and Marina about 4:15. It was very windy when we got there and the fairways between the slips are very narrow. If your boat is over thirty feet, you stick out into the fairway. They wanted us to dock in a narrow slip across from a boat already sticking out and Phil could not get the boat in the slip. There was not enough room with the wind, boats on both sides, short finger piers and the boat sticking out across from us. They put us in a double slip and we tied to both sides which was great for us. We were glad to get tied up! Boaters are so nice to help each other. We had lots of help which we appreciated very much and we always try to pay it forward whenever we have the opportunity. Thursday was a pretty day and I was ready to have a day off the boat! I walked into town. Ellen, from Double SS, found me and we wandered through the town. Chesapeake City is a darling little town with lots of pretty bed and breakfast inns. One was a huge beautiful house with a life-size statue of a pirate coming down a rope from the third floor. There are pots of flowers everywhere. It is so pretty. The shops have really nice merchandise and there are lots of restaurants. Phil had discovered a problem with the brand new Federal coupler that we had installed at Anchor Bay and had called Art earlier in the day. Dan, our favorite mechanic and nice guy, arrived from Anchor Bay about 4:30 and installed a new coupler and realigned the engine, transmission, etc. He worked a long time and the boat has run so smoothly since he worked on it. Phil thinks it runs smoother than it has ever run since he has had the boat. We ate dinner on the water with Ellen and Woody from Double SS and another couple, Rich and Lee from Crazy Eights. The restaurant was so pretty, the view fantastic and the food excellent. It was the fourth game of the NBA Finals and we went to the bar at the marina, hopeful that San Antonio would sweep! Phil and I were the last to leave the bar and the bar staff let us stay while they mopped and vacuumed. They were really so nice to let us finish watching! We loved the sweep! In lieu of the Rockets, go Spurs! June 15 – June 18 ~ Chesapeake City - Cape May On Friday, June 15th, we left Chesapeake City with the current swirling and the wind blowing. It was a tough departure. Once again with the limited space and the surging, twirling current, we struggled to get out of there without hitting anything. However, if anybody can get us out, Phil can and we came away, not proud, but safe. They say that any docking that doesn’t injure anyone or hurt the boat in a good docking. So we felt we had a good docking and departure. We were in the C & D Canal, which leads from the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River which turns into Delaware Bay. We had a following tide, so we flew through the Canal at thirteen miles an hour, which is very FAST for us! Our typical cruising speed, wide open, is ten miles an hour. There was a lot of debris in the Canal, including huge logs, so we had to be very watchful. When we entered the Delaware Bay, the water was so smooth. Our crossing was our favorite kind: smooth and uneventful. We saw lots of boats, ships, tugs and shoal markers that were fifty to sixty feet tall. Some looked like big light houses and some looked like big houses. We arrived in Cape May at Utsch’s Marina about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16 – 18 ~ Cape May, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ Cape May is a delightful little town and is a national historic landmark. There was a terrible fire in the mid 1800’s, just at the beginning of the Victorian era, which destroyed the town. When it was rebuilt, it was all Victorian homes and they have been preserved. There are beautiful homes there and the new homes are built in the same type of architecture. On Saturday, we rented a car and went to the downtown district. Lee, from Crazy Eights, went with us. Reggie, her little dog, went with us, also. Phil and I took a trolley tour, a combination beach and historic tour. It was so interesting. We enjoyed it very much. The real estate prices in Cape May are out of sight. The most affordable home, a “starter home”, begins at $500,000! The ones we saw on the tour, both old and new, were, at the very least over $1,000,000. Makes us glad we live in Houston! Sunday was Father’s Day and a relaxing day. We did the wash, read our books and went into town for lunch at the Pilot House, which was very good. We ran errands, drove around a while and went to the Lobster House to buy fish and scallops. Charlie, from Sonata, invited us down to meet his wife, Bonnie, and their guests, Ann and Johnny. After we got home, another couple, Paul and Jane, from Happy Destiny, came over to visit. They are Loopers, also, making their second Loop. It was a very nice day. June 18th is Phil’s birthday. We left Cape May at 8:05. We were traveling with our friends, Charlie and Bonnie, from Sonata. He talked us into going on the inside and not going off-shore. The ICW here is not very deep and we really had to watch our depth at all times. We left on the rising tide and hoped for the best. It was an interesting run. There were lots of little houses right on the water, some even on stilts in the water. There were also lots of boats with people fishing, sometimes right in the channel where we needed to be. Charlie honked at one boat – five times, which is the danger signal, and the guy looked at him like he was from another planet and only, by the grace of God, moved his boat up a little bit out of the way. It was, as I said, an interesting run. We arrived at Kammerman’s Marina in Atlantic City about 3:00 pm. The marina offered no amenities that we knew about, but we were in a slip and tied up. We were directly across from the Farley State Park Marina, which used to be the Trump Marina. We could see the casinos and Harrah’s has such a pretty light display. I decided that cruising the Great Loop was, of itself, an adventure and a casino would only be more of an experience than I was willing to have at that time. However, that is the closest I have ever been to a casino when I did not gamble! Woody and Ellen, from Double SS, came and got us in their dinghy and we went to dinner. We went to a really cute and nice restaurant called Back Bay Tavern. We celebrated Phil’s birthday and it was really fun! June 19 – 23 ~ Atlantic City to Atlantic Highlands, NJ On Tuesday, we left Atlantic City about 8:30 am, once again, continuing on the ICW. We fueled at Beach Haven and continued on our way. We crossed Barnegat Bay, which is huge. It was windy and rough. It was hard to steer the boat. The auto pilot would not hold the boat because of the wind and waves; we had to hand steer the whole way. We arrived in the Metedeconk River and anchored about 5:00. It was a long day. We were glad to be anchored and set. We were in a cove with other Loopers, Bill and Karen from Candy Dish, and, later, Charlie and Bonnie joined us. We had a happening while we were anchored. There was a sailboat race, which was so much fun to watch! We were anchored in the middle of it and the boats came whipping around our boat, trying to circle their mark. Phil and I sat out on the bow of our boat and watched. It was so much fun! I was sure we were going to get hit once. I even covered my eyes, but, of course, they tacked, missed us and got quite a kick out of my covering my eyes! We were sorry when the sailboats all made the mark and finished the race. Later that night we had a terrible thunder and lightning storm with a lot of rain. There was not much wind, but the storm was right over us for some time. It was quite a light show. On Wednesday, June 20th, we left our anchorage in the Metedeconk River at 8:45 am. We went through the Manasquan Inlet and out into the Atlantic Ocean about 9:50. Phil really checks the weather charts carefully before we start, but, of course, they are not always accurate… We had planned to stay another day because of the weather report, but Charlie had left earlier that day and called to tell us that the seas and the weather off shore were great. So we decided to leave, as did Candy Dish. We never dreamed we would ever be in the Atlantic Ocean in our own boat! The water was smooth. We ran about a quarter to a half mile off shore and the trip was very pleasant. I had really dreaded it and it turned out to be a non-event, thankfully. We went around Sandy Hook, NJ to Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina. We could see the New York City skyline as we came in off the ocean. We got to the marina about 1: 15. They wanted us in a slip, but decided to put us on a face dock, which we much preferred, except that it was a little rocky, rolly some of the time. |
Our Travel Log
Travel Log