Weather can really kick up on The Chesapeake Bay. And we got to see it first hand. Once we got through some rough days there we had even bigger, potentially more dangerous waters to cross.
The Delaware Bay is notorious for winds and waves and uncharted wrecks just off the main channel. In fact, the Delaware City Marina gives a daily briefing on the next day’s weather and offers advice on go/no go for each boat and crew.
On the night of our weather briefing the waters looked great, but even so, people from every boat at the marina attended. The forecast was not good.
We were disappointed, and went to bed thinking that if we got up (very) early and checked the weather, we might have enough time to make it down the bay before things got gnarly. Fortunately, we were right.
The 5am departure was worth it. The water was gorgeous. And only a few big boats were out on the water. But the ones that were on the water were very big!
We made it to Cape May New Jersey by early afternoon. Whew!
Cape May is a touristy, beachy vacation spot. Pretty, but a little crowded. And you have to buy a “beach tag” to use the beaches. What?!?
More bad weather. Had to stay for two nights instead of one.
We rode our bikes and mad the best of it. We were even able to dinghy over for lunch at a seafood shack a few miles away!
And we found some great lobster rolls in the downtown pedestrian mall!
And then the weather broke!
Another early departure, and another route choice. Up the Jersey ICW (rumored to be boring and very shallow) or go on “the outside” which means on the Atlantic Ocean.
We chose the open ocean and decided to forgo the stop midway in Atlantic City. We went the entire 110 miles in one day. It was a long day, and we spent a lot of fuel by going fast, but the wind was at our back and reasonable sized waves pushed us North. Yay!
By late afternoon we were at Great Kills on Staten Island where we spent a couple of nights at a private yacht club with an AGLCA member that coordinates open slips for Loopers. It was cheap. And nice. We rode bikes around the southern tip of the island, bought sandwiches and supplies from a fantastic Italian grocery, and had dinner with Looper friends.
And, of course, we were treated to another fantastic sunrise! Absolutely beautiful.
To see our current voyage path, click on this: G&P Voyage Map