Northport to Port Jefferson, anchor

Another short day, jumping over an exposed bay and into a protected one. The weather projected rain and t-storms in the latter part of the morning so we thought we'd get a jump on it an go early while the winds were calm. Even when they kicked up they were from the south, and Long Island offered decent protection along the way. 

Not a great sky but awesome water.

We made water again, which is a 2 hour task, so we couldn't move fast or it wouldn't be done by the time we got there. This is still a new process for us so we're keeping it to using very deep (and we're hoping, therefore, cleaner) water to start with.

Breakfast: French Toast and strawberries

Raining weather means wet dingy rides, which I'm against. Yesterday, Northport had a farmers market, so we bought salads, bread, and strawberries. All of it is fresh in a "eat me now!" sort of way. So that's our plan.

Lunch: Salad, with a quinoa
and toasted almonds.

While cute I wouldn't plan a future trip around this particular market. It's quite small and extremely pricey. We believed some of the items would have been cheaper at a Whole Foods. But, fresh salads are wonderful (we eat the a bunch) and we're contributing to the local economy. But don't go out of your way to plan on seeing it.

Oyster Bay to Northport, anchor

The weather pattern seems to be repetitive these days. Good day, windy day, good day, windy day. Yesterday it was too windy to get back into the little town. We'll have to save that brewery for another visit. Meanwhile, today was lovely.

Lovely sky and water.

The tide changed around 8:30 so we waited for it to suck us out of Oyster Bay. The short voyage was only to the next bay over, Northport. We dropped the hook, dropped the dinghy, and headed into the small town just in time to grab some lunch at the Rockin' Fish. We split a number of appetizers and Russ got a flight of beer, making up for the missed opportunity yesterday.

It's looking like New England to me.

We made a quick stop for fuel for the dinghy then headed back to the boat. 

Rumor has it there's a farmers market here Saturday morning. That's the plan... weather allowing.

Port Washington to Oyster Bay, anchor

Yesterday we had some stiff winds as the once-hurricane moved out into the Atlantic creating some vacuums Mother Nature had to fill. We headed into town earlier in the day, around 9 am, taking the shuttle boat to shore. The tender operator told us we needed to be done by 2 pm. We all watch the weather when we deal with boats. We mailed a package, walked around the cute little town, then had a late breakfast/early lunch. We were back on inQuest by 11:30. 

The bouncing was the worst when the current and wind direction differed. That led to a bunch of pitching. Once the tide changed it got much better, and as night came it all settled.

Wind speeds clocked while on the ball Tuesday.

A light house. The real deal.

This morning you'd never know. Calm winds, calm seas. We got off the ball and headed back into the Long Island Bay. We needed to make some water which is a 2 hour process, so we slowed down to ensure that happened. Going far was not the plan anyway, just 1 bay over. The generator even started, taking this short voyage to recharge our batteries. Both were done by the time we dropped the hook.

There might be yet another windy and rainy day tomorrow so we anchored in a sheltered section of the bay. Once the anchor was down we headed to The Clam Bar for lunch. I haven't had fried clams in a coon's age. They were very good. But the show stopper were the Buffalo Calamari -- better then the chicken wing version, in my opinion.

Buffalo Calamari. Omg, so good!

The cutest thing about going to the clam place was that you dock on a floating pier. From there a tender picks you up to bring you to the marina/restaurant. That way all the boats are out of the way of the small but busy marina.

We plan on being here for a couple of nights, maybe going to a local brewery tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting.

Brooklyn to Port Washington, ball

The toughest part about staying at the One 15 Marina in Brooklyn is the waking. The movement is one thing which makes it a bit of a challenge to move about the boat without stubbing a toe, but the creaking lines was almost constant. Thankfully it gets quiet around 11 pm. It starts over around 4 am. It wasn't horrible over the weekend, but it was much worse on Monday morning when the ferries handle commuters so they run three times more frequently. We tossed our lines at 8:30 am waiting for a favorable tide. We were quite happy to get underway by then.

Farewell Manhattan!

Huge Pepsi 

Riker's Island

Yet another prison, Burnan C Bain Center.
They had no place to build this one
so they put it on a huge barge. Look closely.

The first hour was intense as we dodged and weaved around said ferries. If you watch the video you'll notice that as we go, however, the camera get smoother. Gorgeous day, gorgeous water, and a very short day. We traveled along Long Island, passing under a myriad of bridges, along Roosevelt Island, along La Guardia and into a quiet bay with a bunch a mooring balls. 

We snagged a ball and promptly hailed the handy pump-out boat. It snuck up on us while we were watching a charter seaplane take off after dropping of a fare.

Watch the volume!!!!

The first night here is free. If you pay for a ball you get a deal on the water taxi to run you into the little town here. So we'll spend 2 nights. Today we're cooking black-eye peas on crispy rice and listening to Yacht Rock radio (one can never have enough Christopher Cross and Michael McDonald in one's life). After 2 days of big walks in the big city we're ready to chill.

The above is collected data of the last 4 days of boating. These aren't the biggest or in real time since these are readings in 5 second intervals. But you can see how bouncy it was on the trip to Manasquan, and how much movement we had in the marina.

A day in Manhattan

Headed to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our marina is in Brooklyn right off the East River that runs between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Even on a weekend, ferries run at highspeed up and down the river which means we rock like wild. The view and convenience make it worthwhile, though.

We started the day at a bakery nearby. On the back of the boat we enjoyed some of the best croissants we've had in a very long time. Then we trekked to and over the Brooklyn Bridge and across the town to get on the Hudson River side of the island.

The High Line. Note that tracks are still there
just off to the right.

We turned up Broadway, then back to the Hudson to get on the High Line. Around 1999 it became clear that the raised railroad would never be used again. Rather than tear it down New York decided to turn it into a walking park. The views from the 1.5 miles of walkway are gorgeous. Along it are trees and plants, benches and recliners, statues and fountains. 

This is The Shed. It's roof (that geometric
part on the right) moves.

Once off the High Line we ended up near a newer mall, Hudson Yards, and "The Vessel." The Vessel was built for people to walk up and down the many staircases, get a little exercise, and take in the view. After a number of suicides, however, it's closed so you can only look at it. Apparently, adding some kind of protective barrier was right out.

The Vessel

From there we walked back into the heart of the island and found a sidewalk eatery where we had lunch. I had a crispy rice bowl full of veggies and a chickpea stew (so awesome!) and Russ had an Impossible burger (also awesome!). 

Once fed we boarded the F line and took the subway back to Brooklyn. The transit folks added Google Pay tap-n-pay right to the gates. No tickets or cards needed anymore.

Once back at the boat we checked our fitness devices. NYC is a great place to get 22,000 steps.

In the subway there's this picture.
It's a mosaic.

Here's a close up of the eye.

Manhattan at night.

Manasquan to Brooklyn, marina

Saturday. And a glorious one at that. That means lots of boats on the water. Including us.

We left the marina early only to make sure we were in or around our destination by noon. We only had 4 1/2 hours to travel. After yesterday we were looking forward to a lovely day out. The Atlantic did not disappoint us again. We were waked by many, many fishing boats but the water itself was well behaved.

A couple of hours in we could see the New York skyline. Once we neared the channel we had a new game of "watch out for traffic" -- between ships, ferries, tugs, and tourists boat were zipping everywhere and in all directions. The fastest of those, the ships and ferries, thankfully use AIS so you could watch their whereabouts from the helm. 

We did the touristy thing. Before we went to the marina we headed for Lady Liberty and took pics of ourselves. That was probably the most waked we got after ferries cruised by. 

We then proceeded to the marina, wiggled our way down the fairways, and got into our slip. No wind, a little current, but ultimately no issues.

Then we promptly went to Grimaldi's for pizza.

Getting into the harbor, head to Lady Liberty, 

then onto the marina. Most of the bounce

is from wakes.

Cape May to Manasquan, marina

We planned on a short day today heading up into Atlantic City. There's an excellent anchorage there and we wanted to go back. It would have been about 4 1/2 hours away, making a nice day. Water was just fabulous too... 2 foot swells on a 6 second period, no real wind to speak of making the ride fabulous. Being ever vigilant on the weather both Russ and I did a quick check on the days ahead.

Turns out Saturday, the good day, was much less so, especially in the afternoon. Doing a short run today meant a long day tomorrow. That made us both less than enthusiastic. 

The big problem with this section of coastline is the lack of bail out points. There are only 3 "grade A" rated inlets from here to New York: Cape May, Atlantic City, and Manasquan. There's another called Barnegat that's considered okay but you should do it on a slack tide. Others have existed but shoal in so quickly that the Coast Guard no longer maintain them. And, of course, anchorages are rarer still, which is to say "non-existent."

Sunrise on the Atlantic, heading east then north.

So if we do a short day, and tomorrow's not great, we'll have a terrible afternoon. Given the water and weather forecast were so wonderful right now we thought let's make the long run today. We were planning on putting in13 hours, going all the way to Sandy Point, the top of New Jersey.

And ... note the title.

Note the difference?

We left Cape May at 5:45 am. About a half hour before reaching the Atlantic City inlet the wind picked up. Weather apps predicted an increase from about 10 am to 1 pm from 4 mph to 8 mph. It would come from the ENE and swing to south by 2pm.

They were indeed ENE, staying easterly. They never did move south. They were over 13 mph, and upwards near 20. Pretty much the one direction you do not want a decent wind from when on the east coast is, in fact, east.

The bad water started around 9:30. But 2:30 I'd had enough. The swells increased in frequency and intensity. 3 - 4 feet on 4 second periods. Needless to say, we turned off at Manasquan.

Hoffman's Marina: it's about as expensive here as it will be in New York. The marina is right off the very busy channel so we're constantly being rocked (after today, it's nothing, but just some information for any of our boating friends). Diesel is no deal here, either. Also, there's a commuter train just a couple hundred feet away. Other than being a handy stop to pick up everything that's on the floor I can't say much about it.

Lesson learned: We've said it before, but never have long days. Even though tomorrow afternoon continues to look bad (and we'll be in New York before then!) we should have taken the short day and just dealt with tomorrow. Every weather app had it wrong today, even the different models some offer. So who knows what tomorrow would have really been like.

Such is boat life.

Coming into Manasquan. Note the change in camera 

vibration. So good to be on calm water.

Then note all the boats sitting in the inlet fishing.

Chesapeake City to Cape May, anchor

Up and out quite early today. Thunderstorms were predicted in the late afternoon but if we hit the bay early enough we should be anchored and set by 2 pm, long before they turn up. With thunderstorms can come some nasty winds, and with winds can come some nasty water. The Delaware Bay is sizable. We do not want to witness its nasty water.

Note the pink line.
It makes a u-turn, then
gets behind islands rather
than just going out to 
the channel!
You can click on the image
to make it bigger.

(Side Post entitled "Navionics Secretly Wants To Kill You, part 2"): We're onto its tricks now. Not long after leaving the pier I checked to see how we were getting onto the Delaware. And laughed. The route it recommended (the one it believed would save us some time) took us along the inside of a breakwater wall. It has a number of issues. A: it's an anchorage. While some folks don't feel the need to slow down for those, we do. B: it's shallow. So we'd go slower, making sure what our charts read and what we were experiencing were similar (it was NOT yesterday). C: it's behind a breakwater wall. At some point you need to return back to the bay. There is a teeny, tiny gap in the wall made just for that, but with a nearly 3 knot current, we'd turn sideways to it and that seemed like a terrible idea. This particular breakwater wall is a notorious boating hazard. It sinks 1 vessel a year on average. I am not making that up.

The voyage down the Delaware was fairly entertaining. At the start where the bay is the most narrow the water was calm. We ignored the villainous chart blotter and took a wider arch to get right into the channel. The current was going out, and it was ripping. We got 2 - 3 knots out of it, traveling over 11 knots. As the bay widened, however, the water got rougher. Not choppy, just tight swells. We'd go up one swell, then nose dive into the other. It wasn't consistent, but it was noticeable. Normally, we'd consider tacking to take the waves on the quarter bow rather than on the nose (we aren't fans of taking it on the nose), however...

A little foggy this moring

We heard a sécurité call over the radio. A vessel announced they were leaving the C&D (the canal we were on last night) and entering Delaware Bay to head out to sea. Using one of our navigation apps I was able to pull up an image of that vessel. It was a car carrier. Side note: I cannot image what that would have looked like going by us while docked at Schaeffer's! He was about 4 miles behind us but doing 16 knots. Those things looks slow but they can move. It turned out, another freighter was already in the channel, about 3 miles behind us, moving at 13 knots. The two of them were working out how they were going to pass each other. Upon hearing that, us and all the other vessels in the channel started to move outside to give them both space. When big boats like that move at speeds like that, that implies massive waves and wakes. No one wants to be part of that.

Here they come!

That also meant we couldn't take up the channel wiggling back and forth in front of those guys. We just rode out the waves for the couple hours or so until the two ships passed us. And everyone else. By the time that drama was done the water flattened. We had some fog, we had some mist, but mostly it was a nice day to be on the water.

There they go!
I know the pics make them look small.
Not. Small.

Pics do this no justice. Trust me.
This isn't something you want to see behind you.

Once off the bay we travel on a small canal that cuts us over to Cape May. A small bit of drama there as we entered the canal in front of a ferry... moving at 11 knots. We figured eventually he'd slow down. Ferries, man, they have their routes wired. He did not slow down until he was docking. He about pushed us out of the way. 

The 2 brown wood looking things are
horseshoe crabs.

Meanwhile, I noticed floating wood in the water. Not wood, though, roundish. Like coconuts. But... this is New Jersey. No coconut trees here! Then I thought a dead turtles? But there were so many of them, that seemed terribly tragic. Then we realized... they were horseshoe crabs. Bunches of them! Floating along, right on the surface. For some reason I envisioned these things moving along the bottom of the ocean so the sight was stunning.

Dropped a hook, ate some lunch, took some naps, and showered. Now, we wait.

New York on Saturday. Still a go.

Baltimore to Chesapeake City, wall

We headed out of Baltimore around 8 am this morning. While we didn't really need fuel we decided that, from here on out, it would be more expensive in New England. So we topped off at the cheapest fuel stop nearby. And even that was $5.50 a gallon. 

Nope, not gonna do that again.

(Side Post entitled "Navionics Secretly Wants To Kill You"): When Navionics generated the route to Bowley's fuel dock -- always in an effort to save us time -- it routed us up a narrow channel between North Point State Park and Pleasure Island, south and west of Hart Miller Island. Given it was a new area for us Russ double-checked depths and ease of navigation. When we got to the tiny channel we had to slow down tremendously. Russ, at the helm, reported depths just over 1 foot. This was at high tide. Our review: Pleasure Island Channel, 1 out of 5 stars, "Wouldn't recommend."

On the dock at Schaeffer's.

After fueling we took a more-or-less straight route to the main channel (dictated by millions of crab pots) and continued north. We're trying to plan out the next few days since Saturday looks optimal for going up the Atlantic into New York. Russ called Delaware City for docking the night but they were packed. They recommended Schaeffer's, which is a restaurant with a long pier for boats in the CnD channel. They had space, saying a number of boats cancelled on them. I liked this idea because the long pier runs parallel to the channel, so easy, easy on and off. Just like the rivers of last year.

And a handy restaurant for dinner. What more can you ask for? 

Apps: Crab soup and Imperial Oysters,
baked oysters topped with crab.

This is docking at Schaeffer's. Once docked, note the 

ripping current!