Thursday and Friday, May 26 and 27, 2011

Second Day in the New York Area:  We got every thing done yesterday so we devoted all day to seeing the sights of New York (Keith was a good boy!).  We took a tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  I told Keith before we left not to take his knife because they had security before getting on the ferry, but he took it any way.  Well, I set alarms off as usual because of all my titanium.  Then when Keith went through they saw his knife and said he could do one of two things;  leave or lose his knife, so he said he would bring it back to the boat and we would take the next ferry.  By this time it had already taken us over an hour to get through the line.  Now we know how our ancestors felt when they came from the old country.  In about 5 minutes Keith was back and we got our place back in line (he hide his knife out side in a potted plant).  We enjoyed the tours but there had to be 10,000 school buses full of kids.  I couldn't believe the noise.  It was a nice day and the sun was shining but there was a "haze" over the whole city and it was hard to get a good picture.  At least we can say we have been there.  In the afternoon we took a water taxi across the canal into Manhattan and picked up a few things.  Wow!  A 12 pack of beer, a cheap bottle of booze, a 4 pack of Starbucks, and quart of milk came to $80.00 plus!  It's time to leave New York.  We did have a very nice meal tonight. 


CO's comments: I have carried my pocket knife with me half way around the world, through places like Heathrow, and never had a problem.  Now I want to board a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and they won't let me board.  After what us veterans have given to this Country, I think it's a shame.  I realize their concerns but I think they are going to far overboard.  The next thing you will see are check points from one state to another.  It is crazy that we are letting a few fanatics ruin our Country.  I am glad I have left New York City and I will never go back and; besides, the people are rude.

New York City to Georges Island, NY:  We both had enough of New York and were ready to get going again.  It was sunny and 80 degrees by 07:30 as we headed up the Hudson River.  We saw an old PT Boat; Number 786, heading into the city.  It had been refurbished and was probably part of the Memorial Day celebration.  We had very heavy traffic until we reached the "George Washington Bridge" and then it calmed down quit a bit.  We are in a nice  little anchorage, a little wavy but is supposed to calm down by tonight.

CO's comments:  Boy am I glad to be off the Atlantic and out of New York City Harbor.  Finally a nice day to cruise on the river system.

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W73.94088

View from our porch of Lady Liberty

View of Manhattan at night

Another view from our boat of Manhattan

Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty from our boat

USMC Osprey

Tuesday and Wednesday, May 24 and 25, 2011

Tuesday; Metedecock River to Manasquan Inlet-Clark's Marina, NJ:  Waited for high tide then we left at 13:35 for the short trip through the Point Pleasant Canal to our marina.  The canal was beautiful.  The marina was definitively one to forget! 

CO's comments:  This is the first time ever that we have had a dock master walk away from our boat before we were completely tie up and shown where the electric was.  The XO had to call him back.  He was not pleased and still didn't tell us where the electric was before he left again.

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W74 03.561

Point Pleasant Canal
on NJICW

Point Pleasant Canal

Wednesday, Manasquan Inlet-Clark's Marina, to Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City, NJ:  We were up early and at the gas dock waiting for it to open at 08:00.  We had a fixed bridge and a RR bridge and lots of strong current.  We went through Manasquan Inlet and out into the Atlantic.  It was a beautiful sunny day about 85 degrees.  We had 2 to 4 foot swells with about 7 to 8 seconds between  each swell.  Couldn't ask for much better.  It was exciting to get into New York Harbor and take in the sights on the way in.  We got to our marina and Keith washed the very dirty boat and I washed a weeks worth of clothes.  This marina is so much nicer than last night.  We can see the Statue of Liberty from our porch. 

CO's comments:  New York Harbor is very rough.  No body seems to obey the rules of the waterway.  The real bright side to coming into New York Harbor is was we saw the Iwo Jima and her escorts as they were about to leave.

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W74 02.477

Roamer Shoal Lighthouse in N Y Harbor

West Bank Lighthouse in N Y Harbor

The Battery with Manhattans skyscrapers
coming right down to the shore.  The
world-famous Battery got it's name
from a battery of 92 guns places there
by the British in 1693 to ward off
attacks by the French.

The Narrows Bridge, the 8th largest
suspension bridge in the world, divides
Upper Bay and Lower Bay.  It is a mile
wide and connects Staten Island and Brooklyn

Coney Island

First view of the Statue of Liberty

Saturday, May 21, 2011 through Monday May 23, 2011

Cape May, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ, 5-21-2011: We finally left this morning about 08:30 after 7 days waiting on the weather. We had a beautiful first day on the Atlantic Ocean; fairly smooth, sunny, with just a little wind. Can't ask for anything better than that. It was pretty uneventful actually but we like it that way. Found a real nice anchorage in a little cove. There are 2 other Loopers here also.

CO's comments:  On our way to Atlantic City we were doing about 10 knots and were passed by a 120' yacht that made us look like we were standing still.  The rooster tail had to be at least 6' tall.  I would hate to pay that fuel bill.

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W74 24.625

Leaving Cape May on 5-21-2011

View of Atlantic City from the ocean

Our anchorage in Brigantine
cove on 5-21-2011

Looking at Atlantic City from our anchorage

Atlantic City, NJ, to Anchorage at Cozy Cove on the Toms River; 5-22-2011: We got up early (04:30) to make the 10 hour trip to Sandy Hook, NJ.  The weather checked out OK, at least we thought it did, so we were on our way by 05:30.  We got outside on the Atlantic and the seas and wind were not as reported.  We thought about it (but not too long) and we turned around and went back into the Absecon Inlet and anchored in the harbor to decide what to do.  The couple we anchored with last night, "Summer Wind" had not left yet and they were planning on going on the inside using the NJICW.  We talked and decided to go with them so we didn't waste another day hanging around.  The NJICW was very shallow all the way to our anchorage with depths only 3 to 6 feet deep most of the way and every once in a while we  would cheer when we had 10 to 12 feet under the boat.  We got to our anchorage about 14:30; a little cove in about 6 feet of water that turned out to be very wavy due to the wind.


CO's comments:  The only boats that we saw going out to the Atlantic were 2 - 47' Sea Ray Sundancers.  They climbed up on plane and were riding the tops of the 4 to 5 foot waves.  If we had tried to pick up our speed and ride the tops of the waves we would been out of fuel real quick.

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W74 08.596


Toms River Anchorage to Metedeconk River Anchorage; 5-23-2011:  We slept in this morning after yesterday's long day.  The weather is still unpredictable and we only had about a 2 hour window so we only went 14 miles on the NJICW.  There were 3 of us in this anchorage.  This is the first time we had trouble getting the anchor to hold.  We must have tried 6 times before it held.  We were in a lot of seaweed and it kept dragging.


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W74 04.045

CO's Comments:  I think maybe part of the problem with the anchor not holding is the anchor swivel  not working properly.  We have not had a problem with anchoring until we put this one on.  I will change it as soon as we get to a marina.

"Summer Wind" in anchorage on 5-23-2011

View from our anchorage on 5-23-2011