Cape May is lovely

It seems like just yesterday that we were weathered in at Waretown N.J. at a great little marina that protected us pretty well while the wind blew at 30 knots with gusts to 40. Our stay at Spencer's Marina lasted a full week, and ended after receiving advice from the locals about when would be the best time to take off for Atlantic City. When we arrived at Waretown, the weather forecasters were predicting strong winds and heavy rain for the balance of the week. Graham realized that there would be no more sailing for him on this trip, so he caught an early flight back to the "big smoke", on Wednesday. He still had the balance of the week off and would use that time to do some work on the siding on his home. Caja will really miss Graham - he is far more liberal with treats than I am!
My original plan was to do the Atlantic City trip in 2 days but the locals advised to push a bit and do it in 1. The weather was ideal on Monday September 29th, so off we went. We travelled through the balance of Barnegat Bay and then went on to Manahawkin Bay along some quite narrow channels. At some times, the channel ran right alongside the large and beautiful summer homes that seemed to cover every available piece of shoreline, particularly along the eastern shore of Little Egg Harbour. This part of the trip went pretty quickly since we had a bit of an assist from the tide.
Things changed drastically, though, we we reached Little Egg Inlet. There we had to make a sharp turn "upriver" and came face-to-face with the strongest tidal currents to date. They were at least 3 knots, and it took full throttle from Resolute to gain the channel that apparently constantly changes with the strong currents in the inlet. The Coast Guard were busy in one of their boats rearranging the buoys that marked the channel. The struggle against the current continued for about an hour until we made another turn, this time towards the towers marking the casinos in Atlantic City. The last portion of our journey took us through marshland for about 3 hours as we followed a fairly narrow channel that moved back and forth across the marshes.
We had a slip booked at the Farley State Marina which is connected to and operated by the Trump Marina Hotel, a large complex in a very protected basin just off the Absecon Inlet that leads out to the Atlantic.
From Atlantic City, our original plan was to take 2 days and go "inside" in a protected waterway that held a large number of bridges for us to go through, a few fixed bridges with a height of 35 feet (I guessed that Resolute's mast measured 34'5"), and a waterway that took many twists and turns and was reputed to be shallower in some spots than the advertised 4 feet (Resolute draws about 4 feet). So, I decided that since the forecast for Tuesday was for ideal conditions, we would go outside and do it in 1 day. There was virtually no wind except for a bit that arose later in the day. We again did no sailing and ran the engine the whole way. So did each of the other 7 sailboats that left A.C. at about the same time - 8 a.m. that day. The run to Cape May was uneventful, except that while we were leaving the marina at A.C., we spotted our first marine life. Two porpoises surfaced right beside the boat. I seem to remember that this is a good omen. It was. I had earlier reserved a slip at Utsch's Marina and the very helpful staff provided great directions and a helping hand to tie up at our slip. Once Caja was taken care of, I treated myself to a nice dinner at the Lobster House where my eyes were larger than my stomach. The 2 consecutive relatively long days had taken their toll on me and I quite frankly felt that I neeed a bit of a break. I decided to stay one more day at Utsch's and do a few of the boat jobs that seem to have no trouble appearing on my list. Among the items were another try at getting in touch with U.S. Customs. Boats travelling on cruising permits - which I obtained in Oswego, N.Y., are required to report to U.S. Customs regularly. I have tried to do so recently but it has been frustratingly hard to do so. Today, after being redirected 6 times, I finally found someone who took my information. It feels good to be "legal" again.
Cape May is beautiful. It is clearly an area with a focus on the sea. It has large beaches on the Atlantic, a huge fleet of fishing vessles located in the many, many, marinas spread throughout the Harbour area. It is a town with a long history that seems to be well remembered and protected. Many of the houses in the town date back to the 1800's. I did take a walk down through the older part of town on my way to get a haircut and pick up a few provisions but I forgot my camera. If I stay another day, I will remember to take a few photos to post here.
Brief comments relating to the photos. The 1st is of a home in Waretown N.J. The interesting feature about it is that it is built up on pilings about 10 feet above ground level. Several other homes in the community were similarly built. My guess is that it allowed for storm surges to go beneath the house. The 2nd is of one of the hotels in Atlantic City. Many of them were lit up at night. The 3rd is of a bird that landed on Resolute when we were about 3 miles offshore doing the run from A.C. to Cape May. It stayed long enough for me to take a number of pictures of it. I haver no idea what kind of a bird it was. The 4th and 5th are of some of the homes in Cape May. The 5th photo is of a house that is octagonal in shape.
There is a possibility that I may leave tomorrow, weather permitting. My original plan was to do the Delaware Bay in 2 days but the locals at the gas bar here convinced me otherwise. Another Canadian boat, the Chimo 11, is here and they are planning to do it tomorrow, starting at between 3 and 4 a.m. If one leaves shortly after the low tide, one gets to ride the flood all of the way up the bay and the 60 mile trip can be done is less than the normal 12 hours (at 5 knots). The only problem is that one has to get up with the low tide. It would be reassuring to have company for the trip, although, never having sailed at night, I am a little apprehensive about leaving quite that early. I may try to convince them to leave a little closer to sunrise - say 5 or 6 a.m.
We will see how that plays out. The most recent weather forecast that I looked at called for 10 to 15 knot winds, pretty much on the nose, with gusts to 20 knots. It is little fun going against the wind in a sailboat, so I am right now leaning towards waiting another day. It will give me a chance to see a bit more of Cape May.
Well, Caja is looking at me with that "look". He needs to be watered. Talk to you later.

Mike