Leaving the harbor we were treated to some spectacular views of The Statue of Liberty. This is the view we had dreamt about since we started planning this trip. Laurie had more of an opportunity to enjoy the view than Dan as he was steering. New York Harbor is a very busy place on a Monday afternoon, with a lot of shipping and ferry traffic.
We had a nice sail down the harbor with no close calls, to Sandy Hook where we formally entered the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
As we cruised down the New Jersey shore, we had a beautiful sunset.
As sometimes happens, the actual weather did not match the forecast. By the time we got near Atlantic City, the wind and waves came up, and the were right on our nose. Rather than bash into the seas for the next seven hours, we decided to seek shelter. After a frustrating attempt to find a marina in Ocean City, we went back out and backtracked to Atlantic City.
We ended up staying two nights at a marina in the shadows of the Golden Nugget Casino. We walked the Boardwalk and decided we could not leave without seeing a show. We saw The Legends at Bally. It was fun and a little corny, but part of the AC experience.
The wind blew hard all day Wednesday and there were quite a few boats in the marina watching the conditions and trying to decide when to leave. Thursday morning looked like the best time to depart, and if we didn't, we would be stuck at AC until Saturday. Off we went with several other sailboats. When we got out into the ocean we were greeted by a pod of dolphins (another first for us) that would not cooperate in getting their picture taken.
We also found flat calm seas and had an easy motor to Cape May. After we got settled into our slip, we walked into town to see the town that so many people had recommended to us. It was very picturesque and a huge contrast to Atlantic City.
We did not have much time in Cape May because our Skipper Bob guidebook says that to go from Cape May to the top of Delaware Bay, it is "best to depart two hours after low tide." Low tide was at 1:00am, so after a lobster, clams and mussels dinner on the boat, we set the alarm for 3:00am and left the dock at 3:30am.
Skipper Bob was right and after a nervous trip through the Cape May Channel in the dark, we entered the Delaware Bay and had a great ride up to Delaware City. We got here at noon yesterday, which gave us time to relax, clean the boat and enjoy cocktail hour and a couple games of cribbage.
We are leaving later today to go through the C and D Canal to enter the Chesapeake Bay.
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Location:Deleware City. DE
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