The End of Intracoastals

We were able to leave Thursday, June 28 and finish the New Jersey Intracoastal.  Although we have much more water to look forward to, no more that we will travel is designated ICW.  Barnegat Light, along the way:

Hoffman's Marina, in Brielle, NJ, is on 2 sides of this railroad bridge.  We had to go through the bridge to buy gasoline, then come back through to our berth for the night.  As you can see (that's the boat windshield in the forefront of the picture), we're quite close to it.

It stays open for boat traffic on the very busy Manasquan Inlet except when a train comes though, which is 2-4 times an hour all day (commuters).  A whistle blows before it opens and closes, one more among many new and interesting experiences on this trip!

Here is Mary Frances tied at the face dock our first night here.  We look so small because these are fixed, not floating, docks and this picture is taken toward the low of a 4 foot tide.  We moved to a slip our second night, as they needed the long dock for an 85 footer.

The bridge provided more entertainment than expected, as the boat in the picture miscalculated in all the tide and current and was swept into the side of the railroad bridge.  The 47 foot Coast Guard boat is towing it away from the bridge and into position to dock behind us.  John and the dockhand are preparing to slide Mary Frances forward a few feet to make room.  Five minutes after the Coast Guard pulled it free, a train came through.  Wouldn't it be terrifying to be sucked up tight against the bridge with a train screaming by next to you?

The plan is to leave early Saturday morning at slack tide and make our way to New York Harbor.

Good night.

Beach Haven, NJ

"The best laid plans....."

We awoke Monday, June 25, to thunder, lightning, pouring rain, and a severe thunderstorm watch.  The meteorologists were just a little off on the forecast.  No way will we leave today.  We did manage to get a walk in, but had to do some of it inside the casino to get out of the rain.  Though wind was predicted for Tuesday, we decided to head back onto the intracoastal (actually, Mary said why are we going in this much wind and John said it's the icw, how bad can it be).  We knew it would be rough in the inlet (where boats can go out to the ocean or come into Atlantic City) and it was.  It didn't help that a Coast Guard helicopter was assisting a training mission and its rotor blades were whipping up water and throwing it against us.

Rough water on the icw, taken from our marina in Beach Haven:

Once we moved onto the icw, conditions improved, although the wind didn't lessen.  We moved only 25 miles, as John said, "This just isn't any fun."  We saw 2 boats aground, one was a sailboat the other a trawler.  With wind like we had, one small miscalculation or being blown just a little out of the channel would be especially unfortunate, as the wind would just keep pushing you further.  Across a couple of bays, where the ICW was wide, waves had built as it's very shallow.  We had a very gentle docking.  No one was available to assist and there are floating docks, so Mary had to step off the swim platform.  She couldn't be up on the bow to help fend us off.  As the wind blew us into the dock, she braced for a thump as the piling and bow collided, but it didn't come.  John's timing was just right, as he gave first the stern just a little "kick" as it approached the dock and then the bow.  Wish we could bottle that perfect timing for future use!

Here we are at the dock:

Town is only a couple of blocks away and the ocean is just beyond, so we're off for a walk.  Plan for now is to leave here tomorrow, finish the intracoastal, and leave for New York City on Saturday.  Thanks, Rich, for helping us figure out how to read ocean waves and winds and figure what will work for us!  (Remember, flexibility is key! All plans subject to weather.)

More Atlantic City

Thursday, June 21, we stayed close to the marina and did boat chores.  Friday, even though the temperature was going to climb into the 90's, we decided to climb the 228 steps to the top of the Absecon Lighthouse tower.  Back on the Jitney bus:

Absecon Light:

Can you pick out our boat?

We had decided we'd wander in and out of casinos to admire the decor (really-we don't gamble), picturing that these casinos would be like those in Vegas, where the lobby decor is stunning and each one rivals the next.  Here, not so much.  The exteriors of the buildings are elaborate and over-the-top, but inside are mostly storefronts and restaurants and then the slot machines start.  One note-ATM's here give $100.00 bills.  What a surprise, as we waited for the 10 twenties!

We were chased indoors by thunderstorms.  Here you can sit in a beach chair with your feet in the sand 3 floors above the actual beach:

Our next boat:

Our plan is to stay close to the boat tomorrow, do some more chores, then leave Monday to finish the NJICW and stay at the northern end until a good day comes to cross to New York Harbor.

We finally leave Cape May, a Conundrum, and Atlantic City

Sunday, June 17              Happy Father's Day

Mary took John out for breakfast then we took an historic Cape May trolley ride.  We read, lounged around, had pizza for dinner-a good day.

Monday John went to the airport to see a B-17.  This is like the helicopter at the beginning of each MASH episode.  It's so small!

The B-17, which is based at the Willow Run Airport in Michigan:

We plan to leave Tuesday, so John washes and vacuums Carol and Rich's car and puts it in their garage.  He calls TowboatUS to make sure there is nothing new on the intracoastal since the other boats traveled it a week ago.  Guess what?  A bridge we have to pass under is broken and won't lift.  We have enough clearance to fit under at low tide, but know that we should only travel the New Jersey Intracoastal at high tide because it is so shallow.  How ironic that the 4 loopers who were with us in Cape May all planned to travel outside (in the ocean) and had to take at least part of the intracoastal because of the wind and waves and we, who had planned all along to take the ICW, are now having to consider going outside.  TowboatUS assures us that we'll be fine, just stay in the channel.  The bottom here is mud, not the unforgiving rock of the Great Lakes, we have not yet been hard aground on this trip, so decide to follow our original plan.

The New Jersey ICW:

It's a pretty ride and the B-17 flies over:

After 2 small we're-hitting-bottom hesitations and a short time plowing mud when a fishing boat's wake pushes us out of the channel, we approach Atlantic City:

The worse thing about today's ride has been the greenheads (NJ horseflies).  We had to fire up the generator twice to vacuum up bodies before we landed and then had to spot clean the carpet.  We broke our flyswatter!

Mary Frances at Senator Frank S. Farley State Marina, Atlantic City, New Jersey:

We register in the marina office, this marina is part of the Golden Nugget Casino complex, and ask where the closest restaurant is (it was a long day).  They tell us right upstairs so we take the elevator up and step out in front of the hostess stand at the Chart House Restaurant.  Guess we should have taken a minute to think "Chart House" and "Golden Nugget" and changed our clothes, but they let us in anyway and the food is fantastic.

Wednesday we hop on the "jitney bus" for a ride to the boardwalk.  John was last here when he was in middle school and things have changed drastically since casino gambling was approved in1976.  Caesar's Palace:

The wicker push chairs are celebrating their 125th anniversary:

The New Jersey Korean War Memorial is sobering and thought-provoking:

This is more the boardwalk John remembers:

From class (The Chart House) last night to kitsch today, we decide to have lunch at a Rainforest Cafe.  John has never been in one, Mary last ate at the one at the Mall of America when she and her brother Jack took the kids there quite a few years ago.  John is not too afraid of the jungle animals and thunderstorms.

Steel Pier:

It's fun to see so many of the Monopoly game (which was developed here) names:

This whole store is devoted to candy!

Cape May is a great place

Canyon Club is a fishing marina.  Rich said this scene reminds him of the sword honor guard at military weddings:

John went to the visitor center on Thursday, 6/14,  to request the self-guided walking tour brochure our AAA Travel Guide assured we could get there.  It is no longer available (we're guessing that's because you can now pay someone to take you on a guided walking tour) but the woman highlighted a route for us on the tourist map and Friday we took a walking tour of Victorian Cape May.

Carnegie Hall is about the same vintage as the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and the interior reminded us of the Grand Hotel and the Island House.

This is the second of the WWII sub spotting towers still in Cape May.  Evidently it would have been prohibitively expensive to tear it down, so it was incorporated into the construction of the hotel:

Saturday we checked out the Coast Guard Training Base for a brisk walk and then attended Cape May's Harbor Fest. This scene brought back wonderful memories for John of basic training and officer candidate school:

Still in Cape May

Monday, June 11, Mary and John took Passport out into the Atlantic Ocean.  The crews of Boreas and Glory Days joined us for a trip to the Cape May Lighthouse:

A world war II bunker:

The sisters of St. Joseph own some prime real estate:

We had lunch at the Ugly Mug, on Carol's recommendation-again a good one.  Afterward, Mary and Pat shopped while the rest of the visitors went to the WWII observation tower.  A shot of the lighthouse tower lantern room:

Inside the tower, propaganda posters from WWII:

The tower, which had been a fire tower, but was used for sub spotting in WWII:

After grocery provisioning for all 4 boats, we took Rich and Carol out for dinner.  Tuesday we had rain all day.  We visited with Carol and Rich for a little while before they headed home to NJ to prepare to travel back to Salt 'N Sand to finish the loop (although the boat and Rich have"crossed their wake" Carol has a few more miles to go).  Wednesday the other 3 boats left about 11 am to take advantage of the tide on the NJICW, as the ocean will be rough for several days.  Our box of mail arrived from Jo and Mary spent the afternoon sorting it and responding as necessary.

Thursday we went to the Hereford Inlet Light:

Forecasts were correct-the ocean doesn't look friendly:

Mary Frances in Salt 'N Sand's slip: