We left Liberty Landing at 8 am with Serenity and headed out of the New York harbor. Skies were clear and we had an 8-10 knot westerly breeze in the forecast for the next 3 days. Perfect conditions for a night cruise (Neala's first - Yikes!) down the New Jersey coastline to Cape May. We buddy boated with Serenity and Bentana, a ketch owned by friends of friends who were heading in the same direction. The harbor was not so busy as when we arrived as it was Sunday; however, the ships were much bigger as you can see below.
Northern Lights Departing NYC
Serenity Hoisting Sails Against New Tower
Grady At Statue of Liberty
Jeff and Grady Against NYC Skyline
Jeff & Neala Against NYC Skyline
Container Ship in NYC Harbor
Sailing out Verrazano Narrows Bridge
Container Ship Entering NYC Channel
The winds held true to forecast as we reached down the coastline, staying a steady 10-15 until nightfall. After that, they built to 15-20 but kept from the west. As darkness fell we reefed the jib and eventually dropped the main so that we would not arrive at Cape May to negotiate its channels and shoals in the middle of the night. It was a beautiful starlit night and, once the moon fell around midnight, the stars were spectacular. We saw several shooting stars and Atlantic City lit up the coastline for miles.
Off Atlantic City after Dark
As the sun rose and our eyelids began to droop, we all decided that a visit to Cape May Harbor was in order to recharge our (human) batteries. We got a slip at Utsch's Marina. Serenity went into the marina first and we saw them slowly back out. They had grounded on the minus tide and wanted to give us a chance to get to our slip first. Of course, we really grounded as well and had to get some help from the marina's push boat. Once plowing a furrow into our slips we tied up and promptly went to sleep. Neala decided that night trips were not for her!
Sunrise off Cape May While Heading into Harbor
Coast Guard Station Cape May
Northern Lights at Utsch's Marina
After resting until after lunch the three of us walked into town in search of a grocery store. After wandering for a bit among the picturesque Victorian homes of Cape May we found a store and picked up a few needed items.
Grady & Neala in Cape May
We had another nice dinner at the Lobster House with Ted & Shirl then made plans to head up the Delaware Bay the following morning. We had heard horror stories from several people about the big ship traffic in the main channel, heavy seas during westerly winds, and the many shoals. We had gotten some local knowledge from fishermen we had met at the marina that the inside passage around the point was clear and easily navigable in calm conditions with a good chart plotter so we made that our plan. They also recommended we enter the channel at mid-ebb tide so that, by the time we got to the really narrow parts of the bay, we would pick up the flood and would avoid the large ebb currents there. Consulting our tide tables and charts, we planned to leave at sunrise.
Tuesday, October 23 - Passage of Deleware Bay.
We left Utsch's Marina at daybreak in calm conditions to motor out and around the tip of New Jersey. Here we are departing Cape May Harbor. Beautiful sunrise, calm waters and a new day.
Northern Lights Leaving Cape May Harbor at Sunrise. Thanks Shirl!
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