Cape May (Marina)

Wednesday, September 16, 2015
38 57.617 N
74 52.001 W


145 NM does not sound much, but it takes us about 20 hours. Rather than take three days we decided to take advantage of the good forecast and "do an overnight" on the Atlantic.

We dropped the moorings in Port Washington at 11:10 AM on Tuesday. Could not leave any earlier as we had to catch the slack and the ebb down the East river, past the east side of Manhattan and out New York harbor to the Atlantic. We arrived at the Cape May entrance at 7 AM on Wednesday morning, a bit earlier than expected. It was nice and calm so we dropped anchor outside on the Atlantic shore in about 15' of water to wait for the marina to answer the phone.

Sunrise, Cavara off Cape May

We have now made the run down the East River along the east side of Manhattan at least 1/2 dozen times, but it is still fun. We tend to go crazy with the camera, but this time I decided just to focus on the bridges.

Throgsneck Bridge  - the first bridge -  complete with  petroleum barge

Bronkx-Whitestone Bridge - Empire State Building in the background

Hells gate Bridge - this is where the current really picks up

Triborough Bridge

Queensborough Bridge. You can see the tidal flow rapids on the left

Williamsburg Bridge 

Manhatten Bridge with the Brooklyn Bridge behind

Brooklyn Bridge - everybody's favorite

Verrazano Narrows Bridge - last one

We met this freighter on the way out Ambrose channel. He did not really follow our rules and got a bit close. I told Deidre not to worry

It was totally dark by 7 PM. The first hour or so of running in the dark is a bit spooky. We have the radar and chart plotter running, so we can avoid most obstacles. Don and I had previously agreed on a route that avoided known obstacles, such as "fish havens" that are delineated by unlit buoys that would really scratch up Tide Hiker if we ran into one.

Deidre and I split up into 2 hours shifts starting before dark so we can bank a little sleep. It gets a bit boring "on watch" at night and it is almost a relief for an unidentified blip to appear on the radar. Both of us sleep pretty well, I find the engine noise and the movement of the boat to be quite relaxing, Deidre not so much.

The sun came up about an hour before we reached the Cape May entrance. We were a bit early so we dropped the anchor and took a nap just off the beach a bit south of the entrance. The marina called back about 9 AM so we recovered the anchor and headed in.

Once settled in the marina we all hit the sack. Early departure up the Delaware tomorrow. This was our first marina for 5 weeks. It felt quite strange to be able to step off the boat and walk around.

Port Washington, NY

Monday September 7, 2015
40 49.724 N
73 42.717 W

Easy 35 NM run to Port Washington, our favorite haven in this part of the world. We were connected to a mooring ball soon after lunch and plan to be here for a week or so. Deidre will look after Tide Hiker and I have a flight early tomorrow.

Sunday September 12, 2015

I arrived back on Tide Hiker late last night. I think Deidre was pleased to see me after 5 long days on Tide Hiker by herself. Other than a couple of minor generator issues, she did fine. There had been lots of rain and the dinghy was pretty full.

We are now looking at the weather for our 120 NM ride down the Atlantic coast from New York harbor to Cape May. Tuesday is looking decent, so we have a couple of days to get organized. Deidre's knee is still bothering here so we are making Orthopedic appointments in Charleston.

Monday September 13, 2015

Sunny but quite windy. Not a nice day to be on the Atlantic. Tuesday forecast has deteriorated a bit, but still do-able.

Port Jefferson

Sunday September 6, 2015
40 57.341 N
73 04.988 W

Another easy day. We did not judge the current as well today and pushed against 1/2 a knot most of the day, but we were tucked into Port Jefferson by 5 PM and enjoyed a quiet night. Tomorrow we will head for Port Washington on Long Island, just a cab ride from LaGuardia. I have some business to attend to and have an early flight on Tuesday.

Interesting house seen from the anchorage

It was what us boat people call "Quite Calm"

Chocomount Cove, (Fishers Island) Anchorage

Saturday September 5, 2015
41 16 992 N
71 58 547 W

No photos today - just water in every direction. But a good day. We were under way by 6 AM, stopped to fill our tanks at the "water barge" and then completed 74 NM in 9 1/2 hours. Somehow managed to "ride the tide" all day, and not quite sure if that is actually possible. The weather has been perfect all day and we are now anchored in the lee of a very mild easterly breeze. All the day boaters have gone home and we are here in total peace and quiet.

Leaving Martha's Vineyard early

I think fishing people  are just a bit strange. 

Edgartown - Martha's Vineyard (Mooring Ball)

Thursday September 3, 2015
41 22 780 N
70 30 305 W

Today we only had about 20 NM to cover, but once again we had a tidal current timing issue, as we needed to pass thru Wood's Hole and then Vineyard Sound. Wood's Hole has quite a reputation - quite strong currents in restricted water, an array of confusing markers and a lot of traffic. Last night I had spent some time making a very thorough route plan and I am pleased to say we made it though Woods Hole without incident, and rode the current in Vineyard Sound, making good time to Edgartown.

We must have seen 1/2 dozen ferries on the way across. Must be a busy place.

The Edgartown mooring/anchorage is simply delightful. It is nestled between the main MV island and Chappaquiddick Island. (I am sure that this name will resonate with any readers over 50 years old. Its where Teddy Kennedy "killed" Mary Joe Kapeckny.) Its a big mooring field and there are a lot of fancy boats here.

Mooring field

View of the town

Nice!

Deidre's knee is still pretty bad so rather than dropping the dinghy we employed the "launch" for a ride to town. My first reaction to town was how different to Provincetown! Its all very pucker, no rainbow coalition here! Very nice all the same.

Downtown - very pucker - not Tee Shirt shops here.

Today has been another one of those "It's good to be alive" days. After I wrap up the blog I plan to grab a beer and the New York Times and veg out on the aft deck. It just does not get any better than this.

We noticed that there is a flooding problem here at hi tide. Bit like Venice?

Friday September 4, 2015

Busy day today. Deidre's knee is still very sore, so we needed a "riding day" and not a "walking day". We took the water taxi into town at about 10:30 and headed for the bus depot. The island has an extensive bus service and an unlimited daily ride ticket for $8.00. There are four small towns on the island and our plan was to visit all of them.

About 2:30 PM at the XXX a bus station the "bus master" pointed out a red biplane overhead and told us we could both take a 30 minute ride for $150! I had just received some birthday money from my favorite mother-in-law and decided this was how I wanted to spend it. We quickly found a phone number to make a reservation and headed to the air field via the #10 and #8 bus.

This is our plane - a 1940 WACO trainer - build in Cleveland!

Red Baron and Snoopy strapped in the front seat

This strip of sand joins the main island to Chappaquiddick Island

This is the "infamous" bridge

Tide Hiker is down there somewhere.

Another view of the anchorage and the town

Penzance Bay (Near Woods Hole) anchorage

Wednesday September 2, 2015
41 31 912 N
70 40 633 W

Another nice day - at least on the north side of the Cape. Today we were planning to transit the Cape Cod Canal into Buzzards Bay and then find an anchorage in the vicinity of Wood's Hole. Cavara was also making their way to the canal, timed to transit in our company, but we expected to part ways on the other side.

The CCC is the largest sea level ship canal in the world - no locks etc - but the result of that was some pretty strong currents. Because of the strong tidal current thru the canal we needed to time our arrival for the "slack before the ebb" at the north end.

The 24 NM run across Cape Cod bay was achieved right on schedule and we entered the canal right at slack with no current. It picked up strongly as we headed south and by the time we reached the only impediment - a lifting railway bridge we were seeing 3 or 4 knots of current. According to the guide "the railway bridge is seldom in the closed position" but as we approached at "light speed" down it came! As we rapidly approached we did notice an Army Corp of Engineers patrol boat flashing its lights and broadcasting a warning on the radio.

Whoa! The railway bridge is down!

There were several pleasure craft of various sizes in the canal. Doing a "U turn" in a 49' boat in a 4 knot current in a 300' wide canal is not that simple, especially if the other boats do not "dance" well with us. We immediately broadcast our intentions to create an anti-clockwise race track pattern and fortunately all the boats fell into step. After only one loop the bridge reopened.

The wind on the north side was a pleasant 5 to 10 kts. On the south side it was blowing at least 20 kts, and created a "wind against tide" situation, resulting in 4' to 6' "square waves" as we entered Buzzards bay, right on our bow. The next 10 miles in these conditions proved to be very rough, with Tide Hiker making lots of spray.

The anchorage we targeted had anticipated these conditions and got us entirely out of the fetch and most of the wind. We anchored in 15' with a solid sandy bottom. Out of the wind and waves it was a very pleasant spot. I barbecued chicken and veges for dinner. We picked up about 30 TV stations but there was nothing worth watching.

Provincetown

Tuesday September 1, 2015
42 02 782 N
70 10 989 W

This place is a hoot!
For those that are not aware, Provincetown is essentially a gay vacation community. Lots of guy couples holding hands and very interesting leather shops. Don't ask me how I know. Sorry that the following photos are from the rear, but I just did not have the gonads to take them from in front. (That "guy" with the bra on looks pretty tough!)

I would not wear boots with those shorts!

What's with the boots? Its summer!

We dropped the mooring ball at about 7:45 AM. Nick came with us for the ride. Our timing was all wrong - the flood tide was very strong and held back our speed  - or that's what I thought. After a couple of hours at 5 knots I realized that the port engine was not in gear - I was running the boat from the flying bridge and the port engine control had not engaged the transmission. Something new to think about.

Once we were running two props our speed reverted to 7 plus knots and we started making good progress. It was a perfect day - about 80 degrees, sunny and a mild breeze. To add to a nice day we saw a couple of "big" whales including a full tail show! We arrived right on schedule at 3 PM and took a mooring ball.

Our plan was to head into town and "take in the sights" for an hour or two, enjoy an early dinner and put Nick on the 7:30 PM fast ferry back to Boston. However Deidre's knee was acting up and she decided to take a break, so Nick and I headed in "alone". Now Provincetown is a very gay community and Nick and I make a fine couple, so I am sure we turned a few heads! We stopped for a beer and a couple of shots and met a very nice couple - just married and on their honeymoon - turned out the groom (huh?) was an IRS agent, so we were extra friendly.

The history books say that Provincetown is where the mayflower settles first set foot in the USA. There is a very impressive monument to that effect. I imaging the Pilgrims would be a bit uncomfortable arriving there today.