Atlantic Highlands NJ Munic Marina - 5/30/12

The tides at Hoffman's Marina are over 5 foot and the current runs at 4 to 6 mph according to the marina.

Current at Dock

 We waited until 10:25 to cast off with low tide almost in place so we didn't have a lot of current to deal with at the railroad bridge.  The opening we had to go through is very narrow and intimidating to us.

NJ Commuter

 As we were getting ready with engines running  we heard the horn on the bridge and had to wait on a commuter train to pass before the bridge could go up.

Atlantic Ocean

Today the ocean was 2 to 4 foot rollers and turned out to be a pretty nice day to travel a short 38 miles.

Sandy Hook, NJ

We turned around Sandy Hook and headed south toward the marina at 2 p.m.  We still had another 30 to 45 minutes of travel left.

Manhattan Ferry

 A couple miles out of the marina the ferry passed us like we were standing still.  Bill had seen it on his AIS but didn't realize it was coming that fast so I called him on the VHF when it was approaching his starboard side.

Nice Yacht

 This beauty was anchored just outside the breakwater for the marina.  It was about this time I realized that the pressure on my starboard transmission was dropping and shifted into neutral to preserve what fluid I had left so I would have its use in docking.  Turns out the same nipple on the pressure gauge on the side of the transmission had failed again probably due to the mechanic leaning on it when installing the shifter cable.  No problem, just a quick trip to the hardware store and all is well ... again.

Looking at Moor $tuff

Carried Away is docked on our port side and Moor $tuff is across the dock.

Next Door Neighbor

On our starboard is this little 150 footer.

Eye Candy on Next Door Neighbor

 With these guys doing the cleaning and waxing.

Captains at Rest

Adult beverages were enjoyed on Carried Away at 6 p.m. Tomorrow we plan to get underway about 9:30 or 10 a.m. for the trip through NY Harbor.  Moor $tuff will cross their wake when we go under the Verranzzo Bridge.  It has only taken them 5 years and over 17,000 miles to get to this spot so I guess they have taken a lot of side trips.

Our position tonight is: n 40  25.029  W 074  01.886

Hoffman's Marina-Manasquan, NJ - 5/29/12

All three boats left Atlantic City at 7:00 a.m. with Carried Away leading followed by Quest and Moor $tuff.   We didn't have far to go until we were out in the Atlantic Ocean for the 64 mile trip to Manasquan, NJ.

Out on the Atlantic

 The weather report said we would have 3 to 5 foot seas with a SW wind.  Since we needed to get several miles off shore, we had a beam sea for several miles then turned NE for many miles.  The beam sea continued and it was getting a little rough.  Ricki went down stairs and had to clean up messes from the pantry door coming open a couple times until it got taped shut.

Moor $tuff

 My opinion of the weather report is that when they say 3 to 5 foot seas ... add them together for an accurate report.  We not only had 5 foot seas but had a few 6 to 8's thrown in as well.  I asked the other guys if they had anything on board that could get my teeth marks out of the stainless steering wheel.  When we finally made the last 10 mile turn toward the Inlet we had a neat whale show.  It actually jumped out of the water a couple times then apparently was feeding since we saw its flippers come out of the water many times.

Entering Manasquan Inlet

The break wall coming into the inlet is made of concrete jacks like the ones we used to play jacks with as kids.  Later after we docked, Ricki heard on the radio that a pleasure craft had got into them trying to enter the Inlet.

Manasquan Beach

Too bad the trip was so nasty.  It was hard to get any pictures with the boat lurching and bobbing so much.
 After spending over 7 hours traveling we finally landed at 2:45.

Coming into Marina

Hoffman's had 2 marina locations.  One just short of a railroad bridge where we staged our passage through the bridge, and a new one just on the other side of the bridge. The tide is about 5 feet here and creates a really strong current.  Carried Away and Quest were assigned T-dock ties while Moor $tuff was right beside us in a slip.  The wind and current was so stiff that the marina manager took the helm of Moor $tuff to dock it.

Cute

Our Marina

 The marina is still being built and is really nice.  Everything is brand new including the lifts and docks.

Our Marina

Going Up

Here's our view of the railroad bridge which is up until a train comes.  This appears to be a main line for commuters since all we have seen are passenger trains and they run several times an hour.

We all pitched in for dinner on Quest and celebrated our trip today.

Tomorrow, if the weather is better, we will go out in the Atlantic once more for the 25 plus mile to Sandy Hook, NJ where we will plan our run through the NY harbor on Thursday.

Our location for tonight is:  N 40  06.388  W 074  03.047

Kammerman's Marina-Atlantic City, NJ - 5/28/12

After long discussion, Moor $tuff & Quest decided to tackle the New Jersey ICW today and Carried Away was going out in the ocean due to a deeper draft on their boat, and head for Atlantic City.

Leaving Utsch's Marina

We pulled out of the marina at 8:35 a.m. after Moor $tuff got fuel and a pump out. at a neighboring marina.

Fishing Fleet

Soon after leaving we passed a harbor full of fishing boats.

Heading for NJ Inter Coastal

And headed for the dreaded ICW.  This stretch of water is known to be shallow and full of shoals due to the inlets from the ocean.  We left on a low tide so we could have the advantage of rising water later in the trip.

NJICW Marsh

 Tides here are still in the 4 1/2 to 5 foot range.  Both boats had 2 or 3 soft groundings but were able to pull off.  Many times we had less than 2 feet of water under the boat.

More Chicks

Lots of Marinas

We must have passed 20 or more marinas on the ICW and each caused a "no wake" zone which seemed to take forever.

ICW Houses

 In many places the houses we built right on the water and we wondered what they did when the pilings rotted.

Birds

Love Our Wake

 On one of the few stretches we could actually blow out the soot we attracted jet skiers.  Due to the holiday we encountered many boats and jet skis.

Fisher Men

 Fishing boats were right in the channel and didn't move but sure gave dirty looks if we waked them.

Atlantic City

The city came into view a couple hours before we got there.  The ICW does many turns and switchbacks along this part of the trip.

Electric Generation

Atlantic City Beach

The beaches were crowded.We got to our marina at 3:50 p.m. having traveled 54 miles.

Dinner

 We met Bill & Joyce at the Golden Nugget for dinner and a little gambling.  Ricki actually came out with over 50% of what we went in with.  That was almost like winning.

Casino Owner's Boat

This little boat belongs to the owner of the Golden Nugget.  It is a beautiful craft.

After talking with the marina owner and a Tow Boat US driver, Skip & I decided not to try going any further up the ICW and go with Bill on the outside to Manasquan a run of 60 plus miles.

Tonight we are at N 39  22.596   W 074  25.393

Utsch's Marina - Cape May, NJ - 5/26 & 5/27/12

OK ... so I slacked a little.  Christine, Greg &the kids all came to the boat on Saturday and we so anxious  to see them that I forgot to post a blog. They got here in the mid afternoon and we really enjoyed their company so much that we didn't do nothing.

Cape May Atlantic Beach

On Sunday Greg took us on a tour of the town and we went first to the light house area and walked on the beach.  With a 5 plus foot tide here the beach is a lot different than Myrtle Beach!

Military Bunker

This was a bunker built during WWI that is still there.  The walls are over 6 feet deep and the tide is washing away the pilings that support it.

Grandchild #10 (Colton)

What a joy!!  grandma really got her kid fix with the two girls and Colton.  He seems like such a cool kid.

Cape May Light House

Didn't do the 170 or so steps to the top.  Looked nice from the ground.

beach

Nothing needs to be said about this ......

Sidney & Riley

Our girls were a joy to be here with us.  Hope they can join us somewhere else on this trip.

Here is where our camera batteries died so there are no more pictures today.  We went to the downtown mall and had dinner at Stewart's Root Beer joint which was exactly what hit the spot.

Tomorrow the Davis' will head home after #10 wakes up and we will start up the NJ Inter coastal which has a reputation of being a little crappy with lots of shallow spots.

Utch's Marina - Cape May, NJ - 5/25/12

Today was not very exciting ... wash the boat / do laundry. The laundry facility is pretty nice and seems fairly new, but it is a hike from the boat to the far side of the marina.  It not only had several washers and dryers but also a nice lounge and individual shower/toilet facilities for men & women.  This is one of the nicest we have seen so far.

Helmet Crab

 This guy was floating around the boat as I washed it.

Dinner

Lucky Bones Backwater Grille was the site of our dinner tonight.  Very good!

1961 Imperial 

Passed this prize for sale on our way.  The sign in the window said that only a little over 1,000 of these rare 2 door cars were made.  We managed to pass on the deal.

I forgot to give Cape May coordinates .... N 38  57.050  W 074  54.321

Jack - coords for Solomons was:  N 38  19.813  W 076  27.518

Utch's Marina, Cape May, NJ - 5/24/12

Today was "make like a tourist" day.  Along with Skip and Barb we decided to go into downtown Cape May to look around and take the historic trolley tour of the area.

Weather Board

On our way to the marina office to call a taxi, we passed this weather board.  Quite clever.

Chain Saw in Marina Shop

This item was over the door to the shop area.

Mall area

Our taxi driver gave us pretty good narrative of the area on our way into the downtown area.  In the late 1700's the town practically burnt down as many of the historic homes were destroyed and had to be rebuilt. In the 1970's a forward looking mayor changed a few blocks of the main street into a mall area and it has become quite a tourist attraction with many shops and restaurants.

Lunch

We had lunch at the Ugly Mug and as we sat down started talking to a couple at the next table who advised us to split the sandwiches because they were so big.  Ricki & I had a great ham & cheese sandwich with onion rings to die for.

Taste of Home

We don't see this brand of chips very often.

5 & 10 cent Store Soda Fountain

While waiting on the 1:30 trolley ride we walked down the mall and into several shops.  This Dime Store still has a soda fountain and the clerks wear the period clothing.

We saw many beautiful homes as our tour went through town.  The neat thing we noticed was that they all looked very well kept. The pictures are just a few of the places we passed.

Cape May Beach

Of course no beach town tour is complete with a drive by of the water. This a look at the Atlantic Ocean.

We got back to the boats in the late afternoon and decided to take a nap before discussing dinner.  The nap turned into bed time and we didn't even bother to eat.

Tomorrow we will work on washing the boat and doing laundry before our Pennsylvania family arrives on Saturday who we are looking forward to seeing.  Grandma needs a kid fix bad.