Friday May 1, 2009
Positioned in the perfect anchorage, with no prop for our dinghy, rain and wind we opted to stay on board all day. Not a good choice maybe but there were not many options for going ashore here. Dan had gone to get fuel in his dinghy and we got a good laugh when we heard a motor yacht call to the Marina on the VHF, “ I am a 77 foot yacht who wants to get fuel and there is a dinghy in the way. He's getting fuel sir, and just finishing up. Dan and Cheryl had found a spot to stop and go to a store but had to walk past a few No Trespassing Signs. Whatever their issues are with transient boaters they have pretty much bought up all the water front and turned it into private property. As for the anchorage I still recommend it as a refuge from the nasty seas. Our head is malfunctioning and the skipper says he does not know what is wrong with it. We are out of groceries and I need a shower really bad. We decided to sleep and wake up at midnight and take off while we have south winds. The weather has a new cold front and it is cold and damp on board. I think I will turn in early and read a good book. Captain says we are only leaving at midnight if the wind has slowed down.
Saturday May 2, 2009
Grace C wanted to go home one more time to Barnegat Light
Dick and I woke up at midnight and the wind was still howling. Yes:)
He decided we would leave at first light. We roused ourselves and prepared to take off about 5:30 am.
Dan and Cheryl were pulling anchor so we headed out the channel at the same time. Cheryl radioed to say good bye and wish us a safe passage. We all hope to meet again. The wind had died down but the waves were huge and at the mouth of the harbour very confused. We shot off a wave and the drawer came out and flipped over and broke the wood on the face of it. Once we set the direction of our course we realized that we were going to be taking the waves on the side. They are not choppy but roll up one after another and keep you rocking from side to side. We had gone about 25 miles north and the engine started to sputter and then stall. Dick thought it might be one of the fuel filters so he took it apart and then realized that they were both soiled but not plugged. He worked away for about an hour and finally got it running again. I had been above deck trying to sail with the genoa and no wind. With the wave knocking the boat over I got so frustrated with trying to get the boat moving I turned it into the wind and waves and let the waves push me backwards. :) At least then I was heading for a harbour,
Barnegat Light. Grace C's home harbour where we had come to see her two years ago and fell in love with her, bought her and shipped her to Canada. When Dick came back from the dungeon below we decided to head for Barnegat as we would not have enough daylight hours to make it to New York in day light. It was not an option getting to New York in the dark. Barnegat is famous for requiring local knowledge to navigate safely. The chart shows breakers in the channel and when we got there it was very clear to me what they meant by not coming in there unless you know what you are doing. Fortunately the markers are all there and very helpful. The anchorage is quiet and a respite from the seas. Dick is questioning the last place we purchased diesel which was at Schaeffer's in Chesapeake City. Hopefully this will rectify itself when we finish burning off this tank.
80 Nautical Miles – to the Nyak on the Hudson
Sunday May 3, 2009
Long travel day. We left Barnegat at sunrise and headed north along the Atlantic Ocean. There was no wind and the waves had died down. We picked up the current and just kept going. Clocking off 7-8's all day. The engine would moan a bit but it never cut out on us. We motored into New York in a fog but after we had passed the Statue of Liberty a few sun beams broke through and we were able to see the
City Scape. We were planning to tie up at the Free Dock at Tarrytown but when we got here we realized
there was not enough water, and the Texaco sign is not there and the dock is now a marina. We crossed the river and anchored in Nyak on the Hudson River.
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