Coastal Cruising: Bay Breeze & Aquavit

A lesson in humility and privilege After a few days back home to take care of affairs and cats, we were set to get back on AQUAVIT in Liberty Landing Marina. We have lots scheduled in NYC with plays and culture and hoping to rendezvous with a few friends and family. However, this evening it was a frustrating attempt to get back to the marina in Jersey City, but a big lesson in humility and thanksgiving for our circumstances…and our white privilege. We left for the airport early, knowing we would have to eat at an airport concession to make our flight. Scheduled for 8PM, it was delayed til !0, so we rebooked on the earlier flight to Atlanta, which was delayed from its 6PM departure. After boarding we taxi to the end of the runway and waited for 45 minutes before the captain came on the intercom to announce we were returning to the terminal. With no chance to make connections to Newark (even though that flight too was delayed), we bailed out and rescheduled. Calling Lyft, we ...

Calm morning to leave Hoffman's Marina in Brielle, bound for NYC. Breakfast was at the River Cafe' in Brielle. We only have 38 nm to go to get to New York or, more accurately, Jersey City which lies across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Heading back out the Manasquan Inlet we noted the weather was perfect for our outside run along the ocean shore. Coming in to Masasquan there was a Corps or Engineers vessel holding its place in the channel. Well spaced rollers sneaked under a glassy surface. We could make 24 knots cruising along about a 1/2 mile off the beaches and still have a smooth ride. Checking the AIS display for the expected increased ship traffic, we saw few boats. Most were cruisers traveling the same path as us. We passed them and a few large head-fishing boats at Sandy Hook. As the skyline of the City revealed itself on the horizon, we realized we really had made it from the Gulf to our destination, or soon would be making it, after navigating up...

ANNAPOLIS TO CAPE MAY We were ready to get back on our sea legs after miles of walking the streets of Annapolis. Casting off just after sunrise we started on the segment that gave us the greatest trepidation so far. It’s 120 nm from Annapolis to the harbor at Cape May NJ. The top of Chesapeake Bay is fairly wide and open water. We passed by some beautiful, scenic, pastoral areas where hills and forests roll down to meet the bay. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal as it is known) is a 20-mile run starting at the northern part of the Chesapeake, reportedly sharing a narrow channel with big commercial freighters. (The Waterway Guide says that the C&D Canal is the busiest canal in the nation and the 4th busiest in the world!) Then, after the C&D, there is the unpredictable 50-mile open water run down the Delaware Bay with few places to get out of bad weather. If winds are running against the tide, the waves can kick up. We passed a couple lighthouses built up...

We left Tangier Island early to take advantage of the calmer conditions. Winds (and therefore the seas) usually pick up as the day progresses. Because the Bay was calm we could travel at 22 knots, making good time. The trip was less choppy than the last 2 days and the only large waves were from the wakes of the large commercial vessels. As we scooted along, we were watching activity cutting the surface of the water and wondered what critter might be making the disturbance. Then we saw rays just under the surface with their “wing” tips breaking the surface as they gracefully glided through the water. As we moved north, we noticed our odometer showing we have traveled 1500 nautical miles . Today we traveled 82 miles, arriving at Yacht Basin Company Marina in Annapolis before noon. Annapolis is the sailor’s mecca. Sailboats (and motor boats and super yachts and kayaks and paddle boards) are everywhere! It’s a very busy harbor but in a much different way than...

All was going well today when we started out, until the wind (from the north again) and waves picked up.  Because the leak(s) in the bow seem to occur when we are bouncing on rough water, we decided to cut our day's trip to Annapolis short to visit Tangier Island. We will have to leave a visit to Smith Island (in Maryland) to another day. Our reservation date in New York City is coming too soon to divert another day. Crab shanties line the channel that cuts through Tangier Island What great serendipity, as we got to visit a destination we had always wanted to see but was a bit off our convenient route. It is sort of the fork in the waterway less travelled. It is another Chesapeake waterman working island community that crabs for a living. Listening to the accents of the watermen and 500 or so locals is a special treat - a resonating echo at the way English settlers may have sounded. Tangier Island played a pivotal role in the War of 1812 and the burning of Washington DC. Th...