From Manhattan to Delaware City

We stayed at anchor in Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island the 17 -20th of September to relax.
We were at the edge of a mooring field associated with the Richmond County Yacht Club. We were near our friends, Laura and Tom, that were moored. There was a great park for Oliver to walk in and a ramp which provided easy access for him. The 18th had horrible storms blowing through the area with 20-25 knot sustained winds and gusts in the 40ish range.The anchor held and we could try to relax. Oliver was a trooper once more, waiting for the calmest moment for us to dinghy him ashore. The 19th we dinghied to the yacht club and had a walk into town which made up for it. I actually pulled out some knitting to work on during the "stuck on the boat" time and thank goodness for book exchanges I am finding along the way.

our anchorage in Great kill Harbor

Look for the high tide line on the rocks

 We left early the 20th for our run down the Jersey Coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The weather called for 3-4 footers. We passed Sandy Hook and my goodness the waves increased. We had to take a deep breath and continue on. The waves were different than Lake Michigan. We would go up and up and then settle down and down. We estimated the waves to be 4-6 and one buoy reading we saw had them at 4 1/2 feet. You finally got into the motion and we were cruising right along.

Ollie handled the waves OKAY

instruments showing where we are, depth and speed.

night is fast approaching

 It was about 10:00 and we saw Atlantic City. Oliver was severely in need of a "business break", so we pulled in. We were rocking and rolling, but made it. We pulled into a slip and Oliver just charged for some grass. Then we all crashed until the sun came up.

Atlantic City at night.

The next morning, the 21st

Bye-bye Atlantic City

 The weather the 21st was sunnier. The waves and winds were the same. We plowed on to Cape May. We can only go into certain inlets due to our draft, or how low the keel is or we would hit bottom. We stayed 2 nights at Utsch's Marina to get land legs back. Had a wonderful dinner at the Lobster House of shrimp, scallops and lobster. I was happy, Oliver was happy with land and Dale was happy his crew was happy.

The Lobster House

Anchored out by Coast Guard Station the 23rd. 

 The 24th we headed up the Delaware Bay. There was a north wind which caused us to bang into 2-3 footers the whole way, so we zigzagged back and forth. It is a busy place. We caught up with Cool Hand and continued the journey to Delaware City marina with them. Pulling in at night to a creek and dealing with tides and currents has really been an eye opener. The harbormaster gave us step by step directions on the subject and was so helpful. We stayed in Delaware City for 3 nights. New blog coming for that.

"Don't hit the rocks" lighthouse

One of many freighters 

Again, don't hit the rocks.