Maryland to New York Harbor

“Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

We spent a week at Kent Island to get our electrical panel updated. One of the highlights of the trip has been seeing friends and meeting new people. At Kent Island we were thrilled to get together with Stu and Nancy Tripler who are originally from my hometown of Harveys Lake. Stu is the new Camp Director of Camp Wright on Kent Island.

From Kent Island we headed up to the Bohemia River. The weather was calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon. We calculated the time of the storm’s arrival with our estimated time of arrival at the marina and we felt we could make it. Little did we know how close we would call that!

Filling up with diesel for this trip was proving to be difficult. The marina at Kent Island had a broken pump, as did another marina along the way. We found diesel at a marina in Great Oak Landing. By the time we arrived there the wind was picking up pretty strongly. We had a lot of trouble getting into the fuel dock. But we learn fast and what we learned there will come in handy when we arrive in Bohemia.  The dockhand checked the weather for us and the storm was now coming later, good news. We should definitely make our stop in time.

Traveling up the Chesapeake was going well. A look behind us and we could see the storms were probably in Baltimore. I was a little worried that they might catch us but we were traveling into blue skies. Just before the entrance to the Bohemia River the Coast Guard sent an alert to take shelter quickly because the storm was moving quickly. I could only hope that the warning was given early enough to allow time to get to that shelter. The wind was picking up even more and we were worried about being able to dock the boat.

Arriving at the marina just before the storm, four dockhands met us to get our lines. They knew it would be difficult. But, as I said we are quick learners. Because of our experience with wind at the fuel dock I was ready! I tossed the bowline to the first dockhand, quickly moved to the spring line and tossed that, finally to the stern and barely got that line to the dockhand. But, they now had us. We could tie up and set our lines for the storm on its way. This was a big storm. Many at the marina were out with camera’s taking photos of the approaching storm. We were just glad we were in on time. Point scored!

The storm was just the beginning of a pattern of unsettled weather that kept us at Bohemia for several days. We spent our first anniversary there. I was able to ride the bike into Chesapeake city and explore. We contacted Foster and Susan fellow loopers whom we met last summer and gave us invaluable advice before we bought our boat. They were able to meet us and we had a lovely dinner at Schaefer’s Canal House.

Finally a favorable weather window arrived and we were off to Delaware City.

Delaware City Dock is an interesting place. They have a long line of docks along the river and many transient boaters make this their stop before heading down the Delaware to Cape May, NJ. They have docking down to a science.  They are able to turn your boat around on the dock so you are facing in the right direction for leaving the next day. Each evening they give a weather report on the suitability to travel down the Delaware.

On their recommendation to leave at 9 am we took off.  The recommendation was perfect. We picked up a favorable tide into Cape May and had great seas.

At Cape May we stayed at Utsch’s Marina. We got our bikes out and explored Cape May’s beaches. Cape May also has a nice downtown area that is closed off to traffic. We stumbled on to their sidewalk sale day.

With trepidation we left Cape May to make our first Ocean hop. Seas were 2 feet with 8 sec period.  For those who don’t know that means the seas were relatively calm and we had a really nice time travelling to Atlantic City. It was fascinating to see the shore from the ocean.  We were blessed to see a whale and 2 groups of 3 dolphins jumping in the water. It was such a highlight to see that.

The next thing that worried us was getting into the inlet but that too turned out to be no problem.

Atlantic City was a familiar place and it was good to go someplace I knew. We enjoyed riding our bikes on the boardwalk. We had to leave our boat there for 2 days while we went back to Pennsylvania for my son’s graduation and my daughter’s bridal shower. It was so good to see family!

Weather strikes again and it doesn’t look like the Ocean is a safe way to travel to Manasquan. We decide to take the Intracoastal Waterway up. It is a chilly day and the Intracoastal is very calm. We take the advice to leave Atlantic City 2 hours after low tide so we travel on the rising tide and have no problems with water depth.

Thump! What was that? Thump again! We don’t know what that sound meant, but the boat is going ok- until it doesn’t. Suddenly the boat seems to be hesitating. We aren’t sure what is going on and check the charts to see where we might be able to stop and get it looked at. Fortunately, after taking a sharp turn the boat seems to be working again. We figure something must have been stuck between the propellers and the rudders. Being ignorant we continue on to Barnegat Light House NJ.

After doing research, we found out if a fishing line got wrapped around the prop bad things could happen. We found a balloon with string wrapped on the swim platform support and that worried us about what else might be under the boat. We called a diver to come out and check the boat out.   Good news! Yes we hit a piece of wood. There is a small scratch but there is no damage and everything looks great under the boat. Point scored!

Never having been to Barnegat Lighthouse before we took the opportunity to tour it. We witnessed a

couple get engaged at the top of the lighthouse! We rode our bikes to the beach and lounged there for a bit. It was still not my beach day because it was cold and the water even colder.

All the material we read warned about going through the Barnegat Inlet. We watched many boats going in and out of it while we visited the lighthouse. We struck up a conversation with a boater at the dock about the inlet. He said it was no problem, just follow the buoys and go with the tide. So we did.  It was easy.

Seas out in the ocean were a bit bigger than our first hop. It was a bit rough until we got away from the shoreline.  The seas also got smoother as we got closer to Manasquan.

At Manasquan we stayed at Clarks Landing Marina right near the center of town and near the beaches. The weather had decidedly become very summerlike. It was predicted to be in the 80’s the next day.  That means – Beach Day! It was a wonderful day at the beach. Relaxing. Sit was sunny and not too crowded. Perfect!

Off we go to NY Harbor. What an exciting day to be traveling up the ocean to the harbor. We were like little kids as we saw the NYC skyline in front of us. Ships all around. In front of us was the Statue of Liberty and after that Ellis Island. The new World Trade Center towered above the city. Liberty Landing Marina was right in the center of it all. From our dock we could see the back of the Statue of Liberty. The World Trade Center was just across the river from us. The NY skyline lit up at night was a sight to behold.

My friends Dan and Linda, from high school, are back in the states from their missionary work in Japan and it was a pleasure to have them visit us at the marina. It was great to catch up and hear about their work and plans.

We have just completed what we consider a tough section of the loop. We did it well. We successfully watched the weather and made wise decisions. Took the advice of those who had gone before us and as a result had a mostly uneventful safe travel. Point Scored!

Next up - The Hudson River

Boat Handling

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Steering the boat is a learned skill.  My boat handling class teacher suggested going to Home Depot and loading up a cart with long boards and then steering it up and down the aisles without hitting anything.  Just like a boat, the Home Depot cart’s backend does the steering. For instance steering away from a dock will cause the back end of the boat to hit the dock. That is why you will see people pushing the boat away from the dock before leaving. Or you can steer the front of the boat into the dock and that will kick the back end out and then you can safely steer away from the dock.

Controlling the boat in choppy seas is another skill to learn.  I read something last summer about opposing winds in the Chesapeake. At the time I was clueless to what the author was speaking about but on our way to Norfolk I got first hand experience.

Before leaving the dock on your trip you must think about the tides, wind speed and direction and wave heights. Fortunately NOAA puts out a daily bulletin for a given area every day. It is up to you to interpret the report and decide if you want to go out that day.

Being newbies we were making decisions based on wave height alone.

There are sections of the Chesapeake that are very wide. There are sections where rivers such as the Potomac enter the bay. In these sections tide and wind direction are important. If the tide is coming in the Chesapeake Bay the tide will be travelling pretty much north. If the wind is coming from the north we now have the wind pushing the water into the incoming tide making for very uncomfortable seas.

If you are traveling south and the winds are from the east or west and the waves are big then you will have trouble being pushed on the side of the boat and rolling from side to side.

We experienced all of those conditions while traveling to Norfolk, VA for the Spring Rendevous of the Great Loop Association.

Our first mistake was to have a schedule. Because we needed to be in Norfolk in time for the start of the Rendevous we didn’t have the luxury of waiting out weather. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t take unnecessary risks – there were no small craft warnings. But our inexperience combined with having a deadline put us into uncomfortable waters.

Trial by fire is often the best teacher. We quickly learned to read the waves and pick a path that would be smoothest. Once we were rolling so badly because the winds were from the east and we were going south that I suggested we act like a sailboat and tack. It worked. We smoothed out our path by working with the waves instead of against them.

Entering the Norfolk area brought its own challenges. We were concerned about the commercial and military ships in the area but that wasn’t a problem.  Two things caused us trouble. First the waves were high; the tides were changing and pushing the side of the boat causing much rolling side to side. There really was no way to mitigate that problem in the narrow area we were in.  Secondly for an unknown reason I was suddenly unable to steer the boat. Thinking something had happened to the steering gear, Mike went down to the lower helm to check things out. Very quickly I could steer again. We have a big plastic bin that our dog Millie uses to get on and off the boat. We had put that bin on a chair near the lower helm wheel.  The rough conditions pushed that bucket under the steering wheel where it got stuck and caused us to loose the ability to steer. Lesson learned. Put the bucket in a secure place away from the lower helm.

Next up – Biking around on shore