The Atlantic Ocean
Leaving Delaware City, DE, early on Mon., June 2 …
… we made it to Utsch’s Marina in the historic town of Cape May, our first stop on the coast of NJ.
The town has preserved its Victorian architecture and is the oldest seaside resort in the country; the entire town has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.
It was a pretty good walk to town with our wagon for provisions. The main area downtown is a pedestrian mall and a popular tourist spot, and many cottages on side streets appear to be vacation rentals.
While downtown, we saw a bus from Siena College (former place of employment in the Albany, NY, area) as well as an interesting bike lock (look under seat) on a police bike.
Back at the marina, we were surprised and very excited to see Pat and John Clare (“Patti Anne”) arrive! Pat, Kim, and I used teamwork to snap this photo.
John and Pat left FL and made it here in two weeks! Each year, they take their boat back and forth from FL to Long Island, NY. Later, we went to dinner with Pat and John (“Patti Anne”), Chuck and Kim (“Til You Can’t”), Donna and Rob (“Bitter End”), and Tiffany and Gerry (“Bobbin Along”), the latter two couples whom we’d seen in Delaware City.
John and Pat related the story of how while they were in the Norfolk, VA, harbor, they rescued a father and two sons from a capsized sailboat in high waves. What a story, and thank God they were out there at that time.
Tues., June 3, was another early morning departure (“Til You Can’t” pictured below), as we would be heading out onto the Atlantic Ocean and wanted to make as much progress as possible along the coast that day.
While there is technically an intracoastal waterway in NJ, it is not maintained, so most boats choose to travel outside (on the ocean) in order to avoid running into shoals. Below is a picture of us leaving the harbor at Cape May followed by a picture with the Atlantic Ocean as a background.
It was pretty strange to look at the chart plotter and see Atlantic Ocean in print.
Fairly early on, we passed Morey’s Piers Amusement Park in Wildwood.
We could see the outline of Atlantic City from quite a distance before finally passing it.
A good deal of the NJ shore appeared to be heavily developed until we reached Barnegat Bay where we started to see expanses of beaches. Interestingly, most allowed cars on them. We also saw a few shrimp boats (one pictured below) that were out working that day. And, while underway, the Captain was able to take some breaks from the helm to enjoy the amazing feeling of being on the beautiful and vast Atlantic Ocean.
Reaching Manasquan (83 miles from Cape May!), we first got fuel at a dock where fishermen had just come in to weigh their impressive catch of tilefish. One fish pictured below weighed 42 pounds while the other weighed 46 pounds!
This is a fishing village – so much so that on the point of the inlet there is a Fishermen’s Memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives, including plaques for two coast guard cutters.
Our dock was right behind a lobster restaurant that was mercifully closed on Tuesdays, the day we were there, as we would have been too close for comfort!
After supper on the boat, others walked on the boardwalk, but we had to sit that out given that dogs were not permitted. We were able to find an ice cream store where Nelson was not only welcome but was given a treat! He turned up his nose at the pup cup but did like the bone that garnished the top.
Various fishing boats, including charters, as well as Coast Guard boats lined the waterway where we docked. You can spot the hopeful fishermen on the charter boat, “Voyager,” pictured as they were leaving early on Wed. , June 4, right before we departed hoping to reach NYC -our next blog update site!
