THE CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL
Sunday, June 29
Andiamo’s departure was timed to take advantage of the current that would take us out the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay and through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal (also known as the C & D Canal) to the mighty Delaware River. Nearly all the boats were quietly anchored on this calm, clear and warm Sunday morning. As the tug left Worton Creek, into the broad bay and turned north to join the Chesapeake, the current added one to two miles per hour to its speed.
The bay was glass and the wind was still. The tug hummed along at 9 to 10 miles per hour, sipping diesel at 5 miles per gallon. An on-coming tug pushing a huge barge took nearly the entire width of the shipping channel. A 100-foot long pleasure yacht came out of a river, probably carrying their celebrity owner and rocketed past us at 14 miles per hour. At 10:30, church must have got out because the bay was suddenly alive with those fast little cruisers that paid no attention to markers, rules of the road, or common sense. Indeed, weekend is the amateur hour for boaters.
Near Town Point, the man-made canal that was built in the early part of the 1800’s took all the eastbound traffic and left behind the marinas on the adjacent creeks. Soon, the channel markers disappeared because the entire 450-yard wide canal is dredged to 45 feet to accommodate the largest freighters and barges. Today, the canal was devoid of commercial ship traffic.
However, I would rather meet a knowledgeable and experienced commercial captain with 400 foot long barge than the idiots who pilot their go-fast 30 foot long Sea Ray or Sun Dancer Cruiser that are not only unpredictable and will run right at you until the last possible moment, but will throw a 3 foot high wake. The C & D Canal needs a 20-mile per hour speed limit like many other areas that Andiamo has been.
Chesapeake City is the only human habitation on the 14-mile long canal and the tug was slowed down through their no wake zone. Then, there were more jet skis and the formula powerboats. These boats have absolutely no practical value: cannot fish, cannot cruise or entertain. Formula boats are those sleek boats with three or four huge gas-burning inboard engines that are engineered to do only one thing: go very fast and there are used by only kind of human: the white, male, age 30 to 50 who easily throws away a lot of money very quickly.
At the junction of the Delaware River, the water was burnt orange to light rust color with absolutely no clarity and the surface was mixed with current, wind and wakes. The winds and the current would take us up the river a short distance to the Delaware City Branch Canal where the privately owned Delaware City Marina is a common stop for loopers who are waiting for the window to travel the temperamental Delaware River downstream to Cape May, New Jersey.
The marina is small, paralleling the shoreline of the narrow canal but has a busy boatyard, a decent marina store and a fuel dock. Andiamo was pumped out and settled into parallel parking place on the long floating dock. The tug had traveled 46 miles in 5 ½ hours.
Tim is the owner of the marina and provides a daily lecture at the end of the business day to loopers about the traveling the Delaware River. He talked about the 55 statute mile run, the hazards, where to find refuge, and tomorrow’s conditions. The central issue is the constant velocity of the river current, colliding with the ebbing and flooding currents of the Atlantic Ocean and the huge effect that a fresh breeze or a moderate wind can have on the sea conditions. He walked us through the predicted factors for the next 24 hours, some of which we already knew from our monitoring Sailflo and WeatherBug.
He brought up on his computer a sophisticated computer model that NOAA has that is NOT part of the marine weather forecast service that displays wave heights and their direction. Tim confirmed the need to make an early start, like at sunrise, and be off the river at Cape May by noon because after the mid-afternoon, the wave conditions at the river’s mouth would be horrible all recreational craft.
We got our heads around the challenges of the coming days with a weather window closing and the impact of the holiday events on the marinas and anchorages. Also, the inland route of the ICW does not go to New York, there was about 40 miles of open Atlantic Ocean that Andiamo would need to transit in the coming week.
Sunday, June 29
Andiamo’s departure was timed to take advantage of the current that would take us out the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay and through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal (also known as the C & D Canal) to the mighty Delaware River. Nearly all the boats were quietly anchored on this calm, clear and warm Sunday morning. As the tug left Worton Creek, into the broad bay and turned north to join the Chesapeake, the current added one to two miles per hour to its speed.
The bay was glass and the wind was still. The tug hummed along at 9 to 10 miles per hour, sipping diesel at 5 miles per gallon. An on-coming tug pushing a huge barge took nearly the entire width of the shipping channel. A 100-foot long pleasure yacht came out of a river, probably carrying their celebrity owner and rocketed past us at 14 miles per hour. At 10:30, church must have got out because the bay was suddenly alive with those fast little cruisers that paid no attention to markers, rules of the road, or common sense. Indeed, weekend is the amateur hour for boaters.
Near Town Point, the man-made canal that was built in the early part of the 1800’s took all the eastbound traffic and left behind the marinas on the adjacent creeks. Soon, the channel markers disappeared because the entire 450-yard wide canal is dredged to 45 feet to accommodate the largest freighters and barges. Today, the canal was devoid of commercial ship traffic.
However, I would rather meet a knowledgeable and experienced commercial captain with 400 foot long barge than the idiots who pilot their go-fast 30 foot long Sea Ray or Sun Dancer Cruiser that are not only unpredictable and will run right at you until the last possible moment, but will throw a 3 foot high wake. The C & D Canal needs a 20-mile per hour speed limit like many other areas that Andiamo has been.
Chesapeake City is the only human habitation on the 14-mile long canal and the tug was slowed down through their no wake zone. Then, there were more jet skis and the formula powerboats. These boats have absolutely no practical value: cannot fish, cannot cruise or entertain. Formula boats are those sleek boats with three or four huge gas-burning inboard engines that are engineered to do only one thing: go very fast and there are used by only kind of human: the white, male, age 30 to 50 who easily throws away a lot of money very quickly.
At the junction of the Delaware River, the water was burnt orange to light rust color with absolutely no clarity and the surface was mixed with current, wind and wakes. The winds and the current would take us up the river a short distance to the Delaware City Branch Canal where the privately owned Delaware City Marina is a common stop for loopers who are waiting for the window to travel the temperamental Delaware River downstream to Cape May, New Jersey.
The marina is small, paralleling the shoreline of the narrow canal but has a busy boatyard, a decent marina store and a fuel dock. Andiamo was pumped out and settled into parallel parking place on the long floating dock. The tug had traveled 46 miles in 5 ½ hours.
Tim is the owner of the marina and provides a daily lecture at the end of the business day to loopers about the traveling the Delaware River. He talked about the 55 statute mile run, the hazards, where to find refuge, and tomorrow’s conditions. The central issue is the constant velocity of the river current, colliding with the ebbing and flooding currents of the Atlantic Ocean and the huge effect that a fresh breeze or a moderate wind can have on the sea conditions. He walked us through the predicted factors for the next 24 hours, some of which we already knew from our monitoring Sailflo and WeatherBug.
He brought up on his computer a sophisticated computer model that NOAA has that is NOT part of the marine weather forecast service that displays wave heights and their direction. Tim confirmed the need to make an early start, like at sunrise, and be off the river at Cape May by noon because after the mid-afternoon, the wave conditions at the river’s mouth would be horrible all recreational craft.
We got our heads around the challenges of the coming days with a weather window closing and the impact of the holiday events on the marinas and anchorages. Also, the inland route of the ICW does not go to New York, there was about 40 miles of open Atlantic Ocean that Andiamo would need to transit in the coming week.
THE DELAWARE RIVER TO CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
Monday, June 30
This was going to be day of meeting challenges: from nature and from humans.
We awoke with start to the sound of the diesel engine from a nearby 60-foot long Fleming yacht, named Curiosity, that was leaving the dock and we suppose to be leaving behind them. In 10 minutes, Andiamo was away from her place on the dock and moved to the fuel dock because of the decision to run at the tug’s fast cruising speed the whole distance to Cape May and would use up to 50 gallons of diesel and that was not planned for yesterday.
Tim, the marina’s owner, pumped the fuel and said that the wind was higher than predicted and that meant that the waves coming from the ocean, into Cape May could be 3 to 4 footers and could be on our beam as we headed toward the Cape May entrance channel. The news jolted us more than a triple shot of espresso.
We pulled away at about 0545 hours into the rising sun and the orange clouds. The water was choppy and a fresh breeze was mixing up the seas and it was building. Andiamo was eased up to 3,200 RPM’s when her temperature was up and skated along in the 2 MPH ebbing current at 14 to 15 miles per hour. We were going to cover the distance as fast as the conditions would allow.
An hour later, the tug was doing 15 MPH and the water had built to 2 to 3 foot swells with an occasional 4 footer. The southbound current was opposing the stiff southerly breeze and this caused the water to “stand up.” We elected to move out of the deeper shipping channel that had the stronger current to depths of 20 feet and found the swells where smaller and more comfortable. However, the tug had to avoid the shallow areas that were marked on the chart but did not have shoal markers on the water.
We were catching up with Curiosity who was staying in the shipping channel. A 40-foot yacht that was also with us at Delaware City Marina whose skipper had done this trip many times, roared by us, doing 20 miles per hour, and we slipped behind him to follow him as much as we could. At 0900 hours, Andiamo had 14 miles to go and the currents had faded in strength and the wind remained steady at about 12 MPH. Andiamo’s auto navigation system was engaged, a first for this trip to take the tug to the entrance buoy. We watched the estimated time of arrival stay steady at 1000 hours.
The width of the Delaware River near its mouth is huge and with the low elevation of the shoreline, there was nothing to see for 270 degrees except for the occasional fishing boat and the cargo freighters in the shipping channel. At the Cape May entrance channel, Curiosity fell in behind us and we fell in behind a Sea Tow boat that was towing a sailboat from Canada. High fives from Andiamo’s crew for a safe and uneventful passage: 56 miles in just over 4 hours.
This was going to be day of meeting challenges: from nature and from humans.
We awoke with start to the sound of the diesel engine from a nearby 60-foot long Fleming yacht, named Curiosity, that was leaving the dock and we suppose to be leaving behind them. In 10 minutes, Andiamo was away from her place on the dock and moved to the fuel dock because of the decision to run at the tug’s fast cruising speed the whole distance to Cape May and would use up to 50 gallons of diesel and that was not planned for yesterday.
Tim, the marina’s owner, pumped the fuel and said that the wind was higher than predicted and that meant that the waves coming from the ocean, into Cape May could be 3 to 4 footers and could be on our beam as we headed toward the Cape May entrance channel. The news jolted us more than a triple shot of espresso.
We pulled away at about 0545 hours into the rising sun and the orange clouds. The water was choppy and a fresh breeze was mixing up the seas and it was building. Andiamo was eased up to 3,200 RPM’s when her temperature was up and skated along in the 2 MPH ebbing current at 14 to 15 miles per hour. We were going to cover the distance as fast as the conditions would allow.
An hour later, the tug was doing 15 MPH and the water had built to 2 to 3 foot swells with an occasional 4 footer. The southbound current was opposing the stiff southerly breeze and this caused the water to “stand up.” We elected to move out of the deeper shipping channel that had the stronger current to depths of 20 feet and found the swells where smaller and more comfortable. However, the tug had to avoid the shallow areas that were marked on the chart but did not have shoal markers on the water.
We were catching up with Curiosity who was staying in the shipping channel. A 40-foot yacht that was also with us at Delaware City Marina whose skipper had done this trip many times, roared by us, doing 20 miles per hour, and we slipped behind him to follow him as much as we could. At 0900 hours, Andiamo had 14 miles to go and the currents had faded in strength and the wind remained steady at about 12 MPH. Andiamo’s auto navigation system was engaged, a first for this trip to take the tug to the entrance buoy. We watched the estimated time of arrival stay steady at 1000 hours.
The width of the Delaware River near its mouth is huge and with the low elevation of the shoreline, there was nothing to see for 270 degrees except for the occasional fishing boat and the cargo freighters in the shipping channel. At the Cape May entrance channel, Curiosity fell in behind us and we fell in behind a Sea Tow boat that was towing a sailboat from Canada. High fives from Andiamo’s crew for a safe and uneventful passage: 56 miles in just over 4 hours.
Continuing on, Cape May, New Jersey was an immediate shock to our senses. Thousands of boats in many marinas, hundreds of people in fishing boats, and the density of the urban development were all surprising. After four hours of no one sharing your space to hundreds of people to deal with, it was lot to take in. After passing the large Coast Guard base, Andiamo was followed by one of their small and fast patrol boats for 2 miles before rocketing by us at 40 miles per hour.
With great weather and good water conditions, the reservation at the marina in Cape May was cancelled and we continued northward on the ICW. Back to the magenta line on the chart and the red and green markers that had yellow reflective tape. The ICW was left at Norfolk, Virginia and that seem like a long time ago.
We were in New Jersey where large floating barrels that lay on their side marked the No Wake zones and the enforcement was done by the Coast Guard, the local police and the New Jersey State Police.
Then came the area known as Wildwood, with a huge number of homes, marinas, cars and businesses. A very active time of dodging fishing boats in the channel, jet skis who came right at the tug, staying with the channel markers, and knowing if the tug was in a no wake zone. Laurie summed it up, “This is just like Florida” and later added, “only on steroids.”
After Cape May, Andiamo went another 44 miles, snaking through the Jersey Shore of bays and marshes, through communities that were very heavily built on both sides of the shoreline where 5 MPH seemed too fast, and dodged several small-boat sailing schools with young teenagers that were shepherded by the instructor in a skiff that took me back to San Diego Bay 50 years ago.
Super storm Sandy had re-sculptured the channels. Now, there were more channel markers, more turns, less depth and less width. At best, it was entertaining and challenging because the steering was very active but at the end of the day, after going on the wrong side of the five hundredth marker and the bottom went to inches as the depth alarm went off, it was annoying.
I now understood why the larger looper boats and all the sailboats do the Jersey coast from Cape May to Sandy Hook in one very long day by going five miles off the coast. However, we enjoyed the scenery of the towns and had no regrets about doing the ICW.
Andiamo stayed at the All Seasons Marina near Ocean City because it was the only option and was one of the lowest marina experiences we had: no signs identifying the docks, going aground twice, no employees and they charged $2 a foot. But we were tied up on a rising wind and the swirling current in tight quarters where there were no anchoring opportunities.
Andiamo had traveled 94 miles in almost 10 hours. We spent the evening researching the anchoring, marinas and the weather and the tidal issues.
With great weather and good water conditions, the reservation at the marina in Cape May was cancelled and we continued northward on the ICW. Back to the magenta line on the chart and the red and green markers that had yellow reflective tape. The ICW was left at Norfolk, Virginia and that seem like a long time ago.
We were in New Jersey where large floating barrels that lay on their side marked the No Wake zones and the enforcement was done by the Coast Guard, the local police and the New Jersey State Police.
Then came the area known as Wildwood, with a huge number of homes, marinas, cars and businesses. A very active time of dodging fishing boats in the channel, jet skis who came right at the tug, staying with the channel markers, and knowing if the tug was in a no wake zone. Laurie summed it up, “This is just like Florida” and later added, “only on steroids.”
After Cape May, Andiamo went another 44 miles, snaking through the Jersey Shore of bays and marshes, through communities that were very heavily built on both sides of the shoreline where 5 MPH seemed too fast, and dodged several small-boat sailing schools with young teenagers that were shepherded by the instructor in a skiff that took me back to San Diego Bay 50 years ago.
Super storm Sandy had re-sculptured the channels. Now, there were more channel markers, more turns, less depth and less width. At best, it was entertaining and challenging because the steering was very active but at the end of the day, after going on the wrong side of the five hundredth marker and the bottom went to inches as the depth alarm went off, it was annoying.
I now understood why the larger looper boats and all the sailboats do the Jersey coast from Cape May to Sandy Hook in one very long day by going five miles off the coast. However, we enjoyed the scenery of the towns and had no regrets about doing the ICW.
Andiamo stayed at the All Seasons Marina near Ocean City because it was the only option and was one of the lowest marina experiences we had: no signs identifying the docks, going aground twice, no employees and they charged $2 a foot. But we were tied up on a rising wind and the swirling current in tight quarters where there were no anchoring opportunities.
Andiamo had traveled 94 miles in almost 10 hours. We spent the evening researching the anchoring, marinas and the weather and the tidal issues.
THE JERSEY SHORE
Tuesday, July 1
The morning was hot and sticky with low 80’s in temperature and humidity. Worries about finding a marina with the approaching weather system from Florida on this holiday weekend were vanquished with a phone call to Sue at the Beach Haven Marina who could easily take us. We pulled away to match the best bracket of time to take advantage of the high tide. We needed to cover 40 miles of shallow water, some times less than 2 feet under the keel, transit many no wake zones and narrow channels that limited our ability to go faster than 8 MPH.
Andiamo only draws 2’6” and that gives us more versatility than most looper boats. The larger looper boats move through the Jersey ICW for two hours on each side of the high tide. Whereas, we could add 3 more hours to that time bracket.
Flies became the nuisance. In Georgia and the Carolinas, it was the no-see-ums. Those little flies that are like fleas with wings that can go right through most screening material. They love Laurie and are a bother just before sunset. Now, there are the green-headed flies that bite and the screening keeps them at bay. The fly swatter came in very handy and Laurie is a lethal predator.
Before Atlantic City, Andiamo was suddenly in waterfront communities with two to four stories built over the water, boats on lifts or floating at dock with no side yard and no front or back yard. A few were still damaged from Super Storm Sandy. It felt like we were in Venice (and we had been there too). In 5 miles, we encountered 5 bridges that needed to be opened for us. Andiamo had to wait on three as they open on a schedule or a train had to pass.
Atlantic City was an anomaly. Huge modern hotels rising into the sky, older casinos, the very high end homes and then blocks and blocks of the lowest end slum. The ICW runs through all of them equally. Atlantic City faded quickly into the vast marsh that separates the beach from the mainland. The ICW runs through this marsh, touches the inlets and beaches and dips toward the mainland. Twisting and turning, right turns in the middle of a bay with 1 or 2 feet of water depth for miles on both sides of the channel, and the current changing directions as it enters or exits to the ocean were approached and passed. The wind had risen to over 15 knots causing whitecaps as far as the eye could see.
Beach Haven Marina Yacht Club takes transient boaters. We were directed to a slip on a fixed dock that was back out of the main channel and against the land. The stiff wind wind was blowing across the slip and the fairway (the width between two docks) was the same length as Andiamo. I figured that I had one chance to do this docking under reasonable control. Laurie did her job well handling lines and the dock master climbed on the adjacent boat to get our first line on the critical windward bow piling. In minutes, the tug was all-secure.
The tug had traveled 39 miles in 6 hours.
We walked to the nearby grocery store for a provisioning run and decided to stay here until the tropical storm that is coming up the eastern seaboard is no longer an issue.
The morning was hot and sticky with low 80’s in temperature and humidity. Worries about finding a marina with the approaching weather system from Florida on this holiday weekend were vanquished with a phone call to Sue at the Beach Haven Marina who could easily take us. We pulled away to match the best bracket of time to take advantage of the high tide. We needed to cover 40 miles of shallow water, some times less than 2 feet under the keel, transit many no wake zones and narrow channels that limited our ability to go faster than 8 MPH.
Andiamo only draws 2’6” and that gives us more versatility than most looper boats. The larger looper boats move through the Jersey ICW for two hours on each side of the high tide. Whereas, we could add 3 more hours to that time bracket.
Flies became the nuisance. In Georgia and the Carolinas, it was the no-see-ums. Those little flies that are like fleas with wings that can go right through most screening material. They love Laurie and are a bother just before sunset. Now, there are the green-headed flies that bite and the screening keeps them at bay. The fly swatter came in very handy and Laurie is a lethal predator.
Before Atlantic City, Andiamo was suddenly in waterfront communities with two to four stories built over the water, boats on lifts or floating at dock with no side yard and no front or back yard. A few were still damaged from Super Storm Sandy. It felt like we were in Venice (and we had been there too). In 5 miles, we encountered 5 bridges that needed to be opened for us. Andiamo had to wait on three as they open on a schedule or a train had to pass.
Atlantic City was an anomaly. Huge modern hotels rising into the sky, older casinos, the very high end homes and then blocks and blocks of the lowest end slum. The ICW runs through all of them equally. Atlantic City faded quickly into the vast marsh that separates the beach from the mainland. The ICW runs through this marsh, touches the inlets and beaches and dips toward the mainland. Twisting and turning, right turns in the middle of a bay with 1 or 2 feet of water depth for miles on both sides of the channel, and the current changing directions as it enters or exits to the ocean were approached and passed. The wind had risen to over 15 knots causing whitecaps as far as the eye could see.
Beach Haven Marina Yacht Club takes transient boaters. We were directed to a slip on a fixed dock that was back out of the main channel and against the land. The stiff wind wind was blowing across the slip and the fairway (the width between two docks) was the same length as Andiamo. I figured that I had one chance to do this docking under reasonable control. Laurie did her job well handling lines and the dock master climbed on the adjacent boat to get our first line on the critical windward bow piling. In minutes, the tug was all-secure.
The tug had traveled 39 miles in 6 hours.
We walked to the nearby grocery store for a provisioning run and decided to stay here until the tropical storm that is coming up the eastern seaboard is no longer an issue.
BEACH HAVEN ON LONG BEACH ISLAND (LBI), NEW JERSEY
Wednesday-Saturday, July 2-5
A car was rented, as there was time to explore. The rental car allowed us to see this region that is not on the water. Beach Haven is one of a string of communities that are nearly back-to-back with shared borders on Long Beach Island or, as it is know, LBI. This 18 mile long strip of sand between the ocean and the bay that separates it from the mainland was dominated by summer homes. Now, it is transitioning to full-time residents. The coming of Costco and the list of big box stores in nearby Manahawkin is the bellwether of this evolution.
Tropical Storm Arthur formed off of Florida’s east coast and is predicted to be a hurricane in the coming days with a northbound path. The weather apps are being watched closely. BoatUS has a hurricane notification system that forwards the bulletins directly from the National Weather Service.
LBI was severely damaged by Super Storm Sandy nearly two years before. The communities closer to New York City received greater media attention but the damage was devastating here. A restaurant close to Andiamo was having its grand re-opening July 2. Most of the construction work on homes had been finished, giving the area a fresh, clean and modern look. Most homes have no vegetation in the yards and many are built on poles or on top of garages. Sue, the marina owner rebuilt her docks first and that explained the great condition of the marina.
This was a very hot day with highs in the mid-90’s and it was pleasant to be in air conditioning. Jersey drivers have not figured out roundabouts yet as they like to enter them at 35 miles per hour. The design of the roadways often includes a “jug handle” to avoid left hand turns, exit to the right, then a tight curve to the left brings you at right angles to the highway where there is a signal. Mastering left hand turns and the technology is a behavior that has not evolved here or perhaps they know something that the rest of us do not?
We paid tolls, enjoyed the scenery, took different routes out and back. At 9PM, the streets of Beach Haven were choked with people and bicycles. The tourists for the holiday weekend had arrived in droves.
The next day, the goal was to find charts and guides for the journey north and the New York Canal System as the pause in the trip caused a delay in being better prepared. Afterwards, the car was returned to Enterprise and after a few hours of reading, data collection and communicating, the bikes were set up and used to tour the area. Though LBI Boulevard was packed with cars, the side streets with their wide bike lanes made for an easy and fun ride to watch families toting their beach toys, the joggers, and the kids on bikes and skates. We returned to Andiamo for cocktails in the cockpit and chatted with the neighbors. Sue’s marina was packed.
Hurricane Arthur is now a class 2 hurricane with sustained winds of higher than 100 MPH. There are no warnings that applied to the Jersey Shore. Meaning, there will be substantial winds but not above 50 miles per hour. Preparation and prudence is still the order of the day. Thoughts occured about what to do if the hurricane does not do what is predicted. Tomorrow will be hurricane day and it will be new to us.
The calm, warm and humid day is closed with steaks on the BBQ and a movie
Wednesday-Saturday, July 2-5
A car was rented, as there was time to explore. The rental car allowed us to see this region that is not on the water. Beach Haven is one of a string of communities that are nearly back-to-back with shared borders on Long Beach Island or, as it is know, LBI. This 18 mile long strip of sand between the ocean and the bay that separates it from the mainland was dominated by summer homes. Now, it is transitioning to full-time residents. The coming of Costco and the list of big box stores in nearby Manahawkin is the bellwether of this evolution.
Tropical Storm Arthur formed off of Florida’s east coast and is predicted to be a hurricane in the coming days with a northbound path. The weather apps are being watched closely. BoatUS has a hurricane notification system that forwards the bulletins directly from the National Weather Service.
LBI was severely damaged by Super Storm Sandy nearly two years before. The communities closer to New York City received greater media attention but the damage was devastating here. A restaurant close to Andiamo was having its grand re-opening July 2. Most of the construction work on homes had been finished, giving the area a fresh, clean and modern look. Most homes have no vegetation in the yards and many are built on poles or on top of garages. Sue, the marina owner rebuilt her docks first and that explained the great condition of the marina.
This was a very hot day with highs in the mid-90’s and it was pleasant to be in air conditioning. Jersey drivers have not figured out roundabouts yet as they like to enter them at 35 miles per hour. The design of the roadways often includes a “jug handle” to avoid left hand turns, exit to the right, then a tight curve to the left brings you at right angles to the highway where there is a signal. Mastering left hand turns and the technology is a behavior that has not evolved here or perhaps they know something that the rest of us do not?
We paid tolls, enjoyed the scenery, took different routes out and back. At 9PM, the streets of Beach Haven were choked with people and bicycles. The tourists for the holiday weekend had arrived in droves.
The next day, the goal was to find charts and guides for the journey north and the New York Canal System as the pause in the trip caused a delay in being better prepared. Afterwards, the car was returned to Enterprise and after a few hours of reading, data collection and communicating, the bikes were set up and used to tour the area. Though LBI Boulevard was packed with cars, the side streets with their wide bike lanes made for an easy and fun ride to watch families toting their beach toys, the joggers, and the kids on bikes and skates. We returned to Andiamo for cocktails in the cockpit and chatted with the neighbors. Sue’s marina was packed.
Hurricane Arthur is now a class 2 hurricane with sustained winds of higher than 100 MPH. There are no warnings that applied to the Jersey Shore. Meaning, there will be substantial winds but not above 50 miles per hour. Preparation and prudence is still the order of the day. Thoughts occured about what to do if the hurricane does not do what is predicted. Tomorrow will be hurricane day and it will be new to us.
The calm, warm and humid day is closed with steaks on the BBQ and a movie
JULY 4TH WITH HURRICANE ARTHUR'S INFLUENCE
Friday’s rain and wind started out light and intermittent after sunrise and built steadily all morning. By noon, the winds were a steady 25-30 with gusts to 44 MPH. Andiamo was secured with six lines, two bowlines, two stern lines and a mid-line on each side, to the fixed dock and faced west. As the tide rose to its peak at 3PM, the lines would slack and the tug would get close to the dock, requiring three line adjustments. With near horizontal wind-driven rain, rain jacket, rain pants and a rain hat with a chinstrap were needed.
The life jacket was wet from the rain and left in the cockpit. Two hours later, a loud hissing sound, like a firework was heard and the life jacket had auto-inflated. The small pill had dissolved in the constant rain showers like it was suppose to when it is exposed to water. We laughed and learned, finding that CO2 cartridge and the pill-pocket trigger had expired years before. Laurie’s cartridge and trigger will be replaced and spares will be acquired.
Rain continued off and on until the early afternoon. The wind remained constant at 25 MPH with a forecast of no significant changes for the next 24 hours. Tomorrow’s possible travel day is in jeopardy. It was inside day in Andiamo, doing research, writing, communicating and listening to the tug’s audio system. The marina was quiet except for the sound of the wind buffeting the boats and the constant slap of water against fiberglass as the boats swayed in their slips and pulled hard against their lines. Mid-afternoon, the rain was gone and the wind remained at 25 MPH and higher. A walk was taken through shops, the permanent small carnival and the grocery store. On the streets, the wind dropped by 10 to 15 MPH and the temperature as warm bringing out the holiday crowds. An inside dinner was followed by a movie. Throughout the night, the tug pulled and swayed against its lines making it one of the most uncomfortable rides on this trip.
Friday’s rain and wind started out light and intermittent after sunrise and built steadily all morning. By noon, the winds were a steady 25-30 with gusts to 44 MPH. Andiamo was secured with six lines, two bowlines, two stern lines and a mid-line on each side, to the fixed dock and faced west. As the tide rose to its peak at 3PM, the lines would slack and the tug would get close to the dock, requiring three line adjustments. With near horizontal wind-driven rain, rain jacket, rain pants and a rain hat with a chinstrap were needed.
The life jacket was wet from the rain and left in the cockpit. Two hours later, a loud hissing sound, like a firework was heard and the life jacket had auto-inflated. The small pill had dissolved in the constant rain showers like it was suppose to when it is exposed to water. We laughed and learned, finding that CO2 cartridge and the pill-pocket trigger had expired years before. Laurie’s cartridge and trigger will be replaced and spares will be acquired.
Rain continued off and on until the early afternoon. The wind remained constant at 25 MPH with a forecast of no significant changes for the next 24 hours. Tomorrow’s possible travel day is in jeopardy. It was inside day in Andiamo, doing research, writing, communicating and listening to the tug’s audio system. The marina was quiet except for the sound of the wind buffeting the boats and the constant slap of water against fiberglass as the boats swayed in their slips and pulled hard against their lines. Mid-afternoon, the rain was gone and the wind remained at 25 MPH and higher. A walk was taken through shops, the permanent small carnival and the grocery store. On the streets, the wind dropped by 10 to 15 MPH and the temperature as warm bringing out the holiday crowds. An inside dinner was followed by a movie. Throughout the night, the tug pulled and swayed against its lines making it one of the most uncomfortable rides on this trip.
The next day, the skies were clear blue and by noon the wind had eased to 15 MPH. After looking for a replacement cylinder for the life jacket and not finding one and doing another store errand, the weather and sea conditions were researched. Using three data sources, a weather window had developed making it possible to leave very early on Sunday and arrive in New York late in the day. The predictions of wind and currents may make a comfortable day of “going with God.”
How do we do this planning and what is our criterion? For winds, sustained winds of over 15 MPH and are in the opposing direction of the trip are avoided. The most desirable, is the wind’s direction is the same as the trip. For currents, we try to run with them, however, currents of less than 2 MPH are not deal breakers, 4 MPH and more are problematic. Fetch is a large factor with traveling on large bodies of water where the wind travels across the water creating swells. With a long fetch, like 50 miles, even a moderate wind can create a steep chop that is uncomfortable.
The fuel tank was filled, as the tug needed the reserve in the event that speed was more important than efficiency. After the sunset, we were thoroughly entertained by the holiday fireworks show. Our slip provided a front row seat.
How do we do this planning and what is our criterion? For winds, sustained winds of over 15 MPH and are in the opposing direction of the trip are avoided. The most desirable, is the wind’s direction is the same as the trip. For currents, we try to run with them, however, currents of less than 2 MPH are not deal breakers, 4 MPH and more are problematic. Fetch is a large factor with traveling on large bodies of water where the wind travels across the water creating swells. With a long fetch, like 50 miles, even a moderate wind can create a steep chop that is uncomfortable.
The fuel tank was filled, as the tug needed the reserve in the event that speed was more important than efficiency. After the sunset, we were thoroughly entertained by the holiday fireworks show. Our slip provided a front row seat.
Sunday, July 6
The alarm went off at 0500 hours and though the sunrise was advertised for 0535 hours, the predawn light was considerable. After breakfast, the lines were dropped and the tug idled out of her slip at 0545 hours. The ICW was 100 yards away and Andiamo started the slalom-like dance of going around the channel makers keeping the greens on the right and the reds on the left. The water was rippled with a light breeze and the sky was a deep orange as the sun came up over the spits of land that were packed with houses.
The first 8 miles was mostly through a no wake zone where there was no enforcement presence but the speeds were kept down because the docks and boats were only 100 yards away. Andiamo was not the first boat on the water, fishermen were everywhere and as the morning blossomed, there would be more.
Entering the wide and long Barnegat Bay, Andiamo was powered up to her fast cruising speed and we were quickly lulled into an easy cruise at 15 MPH over the one foot chop that was caused by the winds from the southwest. The depth was rarely more than five feet under Andiamo’s keel and I found it odd that panic was not setting in as the tug skimmed over the bottom where sometimes the depth under her keel was less than two feet. By 0830, we had transited 34 miles and had 11 more miles before we came out into the Atlantic.
The tug was sucked into the Mt. Pleasant Canal by its 4 knot ebbing current and the just above idle speed resulted in 9 MPH. The canal connects the bay to the Manasquan River and as we entered the last river of the Jersey Shore portion of the trip and dodged the fishermen in their center-console fishing boats, and slid past marinas, a railroad bridge that was closed for an Amtrak train stopped us. The tug waited in place by idling against the current until the bridge opened. With the bridge open, Andiamo motored down the river, past the jetty and into the Atlantic Ocean at 0950 hours covering the 45-mile trip in 4 hours.
We are not blue water cruisers. So, being three miles off the coast in 55 feet of water, with 2 to 3 foot swells that rolled northward because they were pushed by the southwest wind was new for me and created some anxiety. Andiamo was doing fine at 8 MPH but we wanted this over with and the tug can deliver on that desire. This part was about avoiding the clusters of fishing boats.
At the end of the Jersey Shore is a spit called Sandy Hook that is part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area. The Sandy Hook Channel into New York Harbor was taken, as the destination was an anchorage in the Great Kills Harbor. After rounding Sandy Hook at about 1230 hours, the water in the bay was choppy with whitecaps and the edges of the channel were clogged with fishing boats. The wind had shifted to a more westerly direction and the waves were higher because the wind had strengthened and the fetch was long.
Great Kills Harbor is a large circle-shaped harbor that has an entrance on the south side and a number of marinas ring its edges with the center being a huge mooring field of boats. Laurie had found a small anchorage on the far east side and the anchor was dropped in 12 feet of water at 1330 hours.
Andiamo had covered 84 miles in almost 7 hours. Yes, the BMW-made engine used 40 gallons of diesel but the tug caught the favorable conditions of current and wind before they disappeared and protected us well in the ocean.
Planning was done for tomorrow’s trip past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson to Half Moon Bay Marina. The wind rose until nearly sundown with an occasional gust to 30 MPH. The Ultra anchor on Andiamo held fast like it always has. This weather pattern is predicted for the next several days, meaning that the tug needs to be secured my mid-afternoon. A simple dinner was served and the news was watched. An hour after sunset, the bay was nearly flat as the wind eased to less than 10 MPH.
The alarm went off at 0500 hours and though the sunrise was advertised for 0535 hours, the predawn light was considerable. After breakfast, the lines were dropped and the tug idled out of her slip at 0545 hours. The ICW was 100 yards away and Andiamo started the slalom-like dance of going around the channel makers keeping the greens on the right and the reds on the left. The water was rippled with a light breeze and the sky was a deep orange as the sun came up over the spits of land that were packed with houses.
The first 8 miles was mostly through a no wake zone where there was no enforcement presence but the speeds were kept down because the docks and boats were only 100 yards away. Andiamo was not the first boat on the water, fishermen were everywhere and as the morning blossomed, there would be more.
Entering the wide and long Barnegat Bay, Andiamo was powered up to her fast cruising speed and we were quickly lulled into an easy cruise at 15 MPH over the one foot chop that was caused by the winds from the southwest. The depth was rarely more than five feet under Andiamo’s keel and I found it odd that panic was not setting in as the tug skimmed over the bottom where sometimes the depth under her keel was less than two feet. By 0830, we had transited 34 miles and had 11 more miles before we came out into the Atlantic.
The tug was sucked into the Mt. Pleasant Canal by its 4 knot ebbing current and the just above idle speed resulted in 9 MPH. The canal connects the bay to the Manasquan River and as we entered the last river of the Jersey Shore portion of the trip and dodged the fishermen in their center-console fishing boats, and slid past marinas, a railroad bridge that was closed for an Amtrak train stopped us. The tug waited in place by idling against the current until the bridge opened. With the bridge open, Andiamo motored down the river, past the jetty and into the Atlantic Ocean at 0950 hours covering the 45-mile trip in 4 hours.
We are not blue water cruisers. So, being three miles off the coast in 55 feet of water, with 2 to 3 foot swells that rolled northward because they were pushed by the southwest wind was new for me and created some anxiety. Andiamo was doing fine at 8 MPH but we wanted this over with and the tug can deliver on that desire. This part was about avoiding the clusters of fishing boats.
At the end of the Jersey Shore is a spit called Sandy Hook that is part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area. The Sandy Hook Channel into New York Harbor was taken, as the destination was an anchorage in the Great Kills Harbor. After rounding Sandy Hook at about 1230 hours, the water in the bay was choppy with whitecaps and the edges of the channel were clogged with fishing boats. The wind had shifted to a more westerly direction and the waves were higher because the wind had strengthened and the fetch was long.
Great Kills Harbor is a large circle-shaped harbor that has an entrance on the south side and a number of marinas ring its edges with the center being a huge mooring field of boats. Laurie had found a small anchorage on the far east side and the anchor was dropped in 12 feet of water at 1330 hours.
Andiamo had covered 84 miles in almost 7 hours. Yes, the BMW-made engine used 40 gallons of diesel but the tug caught the favorable conditions of current and wind before they disappeared and protected us well in the ocean.
Planning was done for tomorrow’s trip past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson to Half Moon Bay Marina. The wind rose until nearly sundown with an occasional gust to 30 MPH. The Ultra anchor on Andiamo held fast like it always has. This weather pattern is predicted for the next several days, meaning that the tug needs to be secured my mid-afternoon. A simple dinner was served and the news was watched. An hour after sunset, the bay was nearly flat as the wind eased to less than 10 MPH.
