Hold Up in Cape May Again!

Sunrise on the ocean, Monday morning!















Entering Cape May Monday afternoon!

















The harbor in Cape May, New Jersey during the storm!

Well, as you can guess by the title we made it to Cape May! What a trip! We decided late Sunday night that it was the best time to go though the night from Atlantic Highlands to Atlantic city. After eating dinner and watching Desperate Housewives, we attempted to nap but weren't very successful. At midnight we lifted our anchor and were underway with another boat, Cerulean. Rich and Lynda on S/V Cerulean have been living aboard for 10 years but this is their first time on the East Coast. Our evening was lit by an almost full moon and an amazing canvas of stars. The moon did leave us before sunrise but the stars keep the sky lit for us. The evening was relatively warm compared with previous night time passages we have made. The unfortunate part for us the wind and waves were once again on our nose giving us a bumpy ride. No complaints though it was a safe passage. We arrived exhausted in Atlantic City around 3:00 in the afternoon on Monday. We chose to get a dock at Historic Gardner Marina given the weather prediction for heavy winds. Gee what a surprise! We were very exhausted from the night trip and had very little sleep. We took showers, had a sandwich and laid down for what was to be a little nap. We woke at 5:30 AM Tuesday morning. Guess we were more tired than we realized. Tuesday turned out to be an extremely windy day and we stayed put. Safe and secure.

We thought we would not be able to leave even on Wednesday but we woke to the phone ringing and Lynda telling us they were going to leave. Before daylight Larry and I wondered the same thing because the winds had completely stopped. The weather prediction was off, the front had stalled causing a calm. We cast off our lines before 7 AM and were under way. The waves were monsters in spite of the calm winds. I wasn't sure I could handle them for 8 hours. Fortunately for me they subsided a few miles past the channel. We started out under motor but then the winds picked up and we motored sailed. Given what was to come for weather Larry wanted go as fast as our boat would go. The last few hours the wind died and the waves settled out. The calm before the storm! We arrived in Cape May around 2 PM and took a dock at Utsch's Marina, our friends chose to anchor out, not a good choice. The winds were predicted to clock around to the Northeast and this anchorage is not good with that wind direction. In fact this whole harbor isn't good with a Northeast wind. We are even moving around at the dock. The winds have been steadily over 25 knots. They have even sustained gusts above 30 knots. When this starts you can not get into a dock or away from a dock. We talked to Lynda and Rich this morning and they are alright but it is uncomfortable out there.

We had planned to leave tomorrow, Friday but the wind will clock around to the East and will be strong like today, which will make it impossible to exit the channel. Guess we'll just stay put and be safe for another day.

This marina has cable and we have been watching the weather channel and following the fire out in California and feel very fortunate that the wind is all we are dealing with, a minor inconvenience.