10/14/15 - 10/15/2015 Offshore New Jersey and up the Delaware

One of the Atlantic Highlands Victorians overlooking Raritan Bay

 A closer check of the weather indicated we could head to Cape May around noon today, giving us time to go ashore in the morning before we departed.  The forecast said the winds might be a bit gusty making for less than ideal sailing conditions, but we would tuck along the shore so fetch wouldn't be a problem in a NW wind.  The NWS predicted a brief spell of SW winds before they clocked back into the NW until next Tuesday, hardly ideal for doing the Delaware, but we'd keep a close eye on the forecast before committing to running up the bay.  We hoped to reach the Chesapeake before the flow of NW winds began since they would provide great sailing winds to head down the bay, besides we didn't want to spend a week sitting in Cape May.

Interesting Victorian house and public steps heading down the hill in Atlantic Highlands

Rather than launch the dinghy or anchor closer to the dock for a drier ride ashore, we paid $25 to tie up at the Municipal Marina for 3 hours - it would be perfect timing with our intended departure time.  We made the mandatory stop at the Flaky Crust, an interesting bakery/deli, for some treats before heading to the store to pick up a few things.  On the way back to the boat, we explored part of town and did a short walk on the nature trail along the water. 

Our timing was perfect - we departed at noon as planned.  After motoring into the wind to round Sandy Hook, we were off and sailing.  We spent much of the trip about 1.5NM offshore which kept the waves to a minimum.  I think this was the first trip where we actually sailed the entire NJ shore to Cape May.  The wind had us reefed down, but we were more concerned about going too fast and arriving before daybreak - the entrance to Cape May is easy, but depending on how other boats were already anchored, finding a spot to drop the hook in the dark might be tricky.

Sunset off the New Jersey coast.  The new moon gave us a dark and starry night offshore

It was a great sail.  The skies cleared and gave us a great view of the almost new moon low in the sky at dusk.  The wind held throughout the night, blowing enough to take in some on the jib occasionally.  Since we were so close to shore, we didn't have to worry about big boat traffic, just keep an eye out for the local fishing fleet.  Another sail boat shadowed us down the coast, headed for Ocean City and Norfolk.  Conditions would have been ideal to head for Norfolk, but that would preclude cruising in the Chesapeake, something we look forward to each trip and wanted to share with Deeter.

Another sail boat, well reefed, heading down the New Jersey shore at dawn

A song sparrow hitching a ride after a long flight - we had several visitors and saw a number of flocks of migrating birds

It's great having Deeter aboard for the this portion of the trip. It's wonderful to have an experienced extra hand on board to help stand watches and lend a hand, and she's perfectly happy to share the 'garage' with our bikes and other gear.  And best of all, she doesn't have a schedule and is willing to stop or go as chance dictates (we're known for having rather 'fluid' plans on these trips).  She's open to finding transportation back to Jamestown from a number of different places on the Chesapeake, so we'll see how far we get - there are lots of options.

10/15/2015    To 39 30.538N,  75 34.416W    Anchorage at Reedy Island

As we approached the Cape May entrance, Leonard checked the weather for any last minute changes (he planned on spending the night at Cape May).  The forecast wind velocities for Thursday on the Delaware had dropped to 10 - 15NW, switching to W and SW during the day with 2-3' seas.  An improvement from the 10-20NW with gusts to 25 forecast earlier, with the wind backing to the WSW in the evening, and even less ideal conditions until next week.  I was not a proponent of the idea to run the Delaware at night during the brief period of SW winds - we'd need to stay in or close to the big ship channel to avoid bobbers and big ship traffic on the bay can be busy.

A brief discussion yielded a consensus to go for it.  Why we ever trust the NWS is an open question.  They may only be 20% off not only in the wind strength (not necessarily an insignificant amount if you happen to be on a small sailboat) but also direction and timing.  We knew we'd be going to weather, and the conditions wouldn't be great until the current switched (against us) to run with the wind sometime mid morning, and they weren't.  We don't like going to weather for good reason - it's miserable and an extra 5 kts of wind make it worse.

We considered heading back in  the Cape May Canal from the bay, but the reason we hadn't taken it in the first place (it's a shorter route) was a high, spring tide.  Bottom line, we don't fit under the 55' bridges and there's no place to anchor bay side while waiting for the tide to drop in a NNW wind.  Even with a current boost, it was like walking through glue, a very slow process.  Deeter didn't mention doubting our sanity, but did say our upwind track looked more comfortable than the 2 boats heading across the bay, rolling in the seas, trying to reach the canal entrance.  She must have trusted we knew what we were doing - it made a bit more sense when she looked at the chart and saw eventually the fetch would lessen as the bay narrowed and the seas would calm down as the current switched.  It's not often we appreciate a current pushing us backward!

Conditions did improve - gradually - as the wind backed slowly to the W a bit allowing us to head up the bay and the current began to ebb, but it would be a long day, after dark before we'd reach the anchorage at Reedy Island where we hoped the wind conditions would allow us to anchor, and close to 2300 if we went to Chesapeake City, about 10NM W on the C&D Canal.  What kept us going was the reality that these were the best weather conditions we'd get for some time.  Ah, the pleasures of cruising - nothing but fair winds, blue skies, balmy temperatures, and a glass of rum!

At 1915, we shut down the diesel for the night behind the Reedy Island Dike, some 31.25 hours and 185NM After leaving the Atlantic Highlands. We enjoyed a celebratory dinner - we'd finished 2 of the least favored legs of the trip.  We were all tired and ready to call it a night, sleeping in will be a well earned treat before we head on to explore the Chesapeake in the morning. It had been a long day. We'll have a leisurely morning while we wait for the ebb current (E bound) to go slack around noon, which will give us time to either reach an anchorage on the upper bay, or stop at Chesapeake City - the free dock may be open!  After the Delaware passage (we'll likely have burned as much fuel as we saved on the sail down), we're all looking forward to seeing some of the highlights of the Chesapeake - it will be difficult to choose which to explore.