May 31 Atlantic City casinos!Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Day 302
Greetings from a one night stay in Norrie Point State Park, New York. Currently Freedom's Turn is traveling the beautiful Hudson River about forty miles south of Albany, New York. She is joined by her buddy boat Queen Ann's Revenge. About a week from today the two boats will be going through the locks on the Erie Canal! Yesterday the two boats entered the New York City harbor and both sets of crews had breathtaking views with plenty of oohs and ahs and photo taking. Charlie and I are eager to get the photos ready in a few days and send them in the blog to everyone!
This blog will begin with leaving Baltimore, Maryland through Mannasquan, New Jersey. This leg of the trip was traveled in six days for a total of 237 statue miles.
May 27 Chesapeake City, Maryland, the western end of the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal(C&D)
May 28 Delaware City, Delaware, at the eastern end of the C & D canal and north two miles
May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey
May 31 Atlantic City, New Jersey
June 1 Mannasquan, New Jersey
The map below shows the route to Cape May from Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay, going through the C & D Canal and the Delaware Bay out to the Atlantic Ocean.
May 27, Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City is a city on both sides of the C & D Canal. It is a small village with a story to tell in their wonderful museum, about the building of the canal, which we visited. The tourist part of the town is on south side of the canal where we stayed at a marina and the regular business of the city is on the northern side.
It was interesting to tour the C & D Canal Museum. In the early 1800's this man made canal began being dug and by 1829 there was a four lock system in place to better handle the changes in elevation. This waterway provided boats to take a short cut from Baltimore to the Atlantic Ocean and Philadelphia, or the other way around. In 1927 the canal was converted to a sea level waterway and the locks were removed.
Notice the name of the old time tug in the wording below the photo.
Here is the way the C & D canal looks today. It was a pleasant passageway of about 18 miles.
We were glad to have had our current sticker displayed on our port side. This sticker shows them that we have invited them on board already this year and have voluntarily been inspected and approved. So now they are more apt to go on by with just a wave. We have always had the current sticker displayed and have never been stopped to date. (if they see something questionable or just feel like they want to stop you, however, they have every right on the world to stop you and request to come aboard, sticker or no sticker)
Chesapeake City is a quaint city. It was a bright and warm afternoon by the time we got on land to walk about. Here is Ma and Pa.
Here, Ann and Hank and Linda walk to an old home converted to a B & B. Charlie is taking the photo. Below, Ann and Linda sit on the steps and pretend we are charming guests staying here with our afternoon sun hats on like ladies do.
Coming off a day of looking mostly at water scenes, there were colorful flowers galore for our boater's eyes to delight in.
This man is a long time resident here and gave Ann and I several tidbits of information about the town. He and his son have a business here. "What do you sell?" we asked. "Everything," he said. Notice the sign indicating the name of his business. It was not the same as his name. How weird would that have been?
When we woke up to leave the next morning, we noticed a boat being towed into our marina. It is being towed by a tow boat designed to help boats about our size. This boat's batteries were dead.
This towing service is from Boat U.S. which is the towing insurance we have. Boat U.S is the main towing service for the Great Lakes.
May 28 Delaware City, Delaware
Freedom's Turn along with Queen Ann's Revenge and Izzy R arrived in the early PM at Delaware City Marina. Above, you can see the tip of our pulpit and the AGLCA flag showing. Our traveling boats were tied at long dock wall for the night.
Ernie, the harbormaster of Utch's Marina is on the right and is Ernie the III. His father, Ernie, (or Poppy as he is affectionately known) is on the left. Poppy and his father, Ernest, started the marina in 1951. Ernie was kind enough to offer a ride for Ann and I into the downtown of Cape May for a little shopping, groceries, and lunch. We split some fish tacos, a first for me, and they were delicious. We took the taxi back.
Ann and I enjoying the little shops and water fountain in downtown Cape May, New Jersey.
Greetings from a one night stay in Norrie Point State Park, New York. Currently Freedom's Turn is traveling the beautiful Hudson River about forty miles south of Albany, New York. She is joined by her buddy boat Queen Ann's Revenge. About a week from today the two boats will be going through the locks on the Erie Canal! Yesterday the two boats entered the New York City harbor and both sets of crews had breathtaking views with plenty of oohs and ahs and photo taking. Charlie and I are eager to get the photos ready in a few days and send them in the blog to everyone!
This blog will begin with leaving Baltimore, Maryland through Mannasquan, New Jersey. This leg of the trip was traveled in six days for a total of 237 statue miles.
May 27 Chesapeake City, Maryland, the western end of the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal(C&D)
May 28 Delaware City, Delaware, at the eastern end of the C & D canal and north two miles
May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey
May 31 Atlantic City, New Jersey
June 1 Mannasquan, New Jersey
The map below shows the route to Cape May from Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay, going through the C & D Canal and the Delaware Bay out to the Atlantic Ocean.
May 27, Chesapeake City, Maryland
Chesapeake City is a city on both sides of the C & D Canal. It is a small village with a story to tell in their wonderful museum, about the building of the canal, which we visited. The tourist part of the town is on south side of the canal where we stayed at a marina and the regular business of the city is on the northern side.
It was interesting to tour the C & D Canal Museum. In the early 1800's this man made canal began being dug and by 1829 there was a four lock system in place to better handle the changes in elevation. This waterway provided boats to take a short cut from Baltimore to the Atlantic Ocean and Philadelphia, or the other way around. In 1927 the canal was converted to a sea level waterway and the locks were removed.
Below is a old time photo showing the making of the "deep cut"canal as it was originally named.
Notice the name of the old time tug in the wording below the photo.
Here is the way the C & D canal looks today. It was a pleasant passageway of about 18 miles.Many boats were coming and going both little and big. When a U.S. Coast Guard boat passed us we sat up a little higher in our seats smiled and waved, acting like we had everything under control.
We were glad to have had our current sticker displayed on our port side. This sticker shows them that we have invited them on board already this year and have voluntarily been inspected and approved. So now they are more apt to go on by with just a wave. We have always had the current sticker displayed and have never been stopped to date. (if they see something questionable or just feel like they want to stop you, however, they have every right on the world to stop you and request to come aboard, sticker or no sticker)
Chesapeake City is a quaint city. It was a bright and warm afternoon by the time we got on land to walk about. Here is Ma and Pa.
Here, Ann and Hank and Linda walk to an old home converted to a B & B. Charlie is taking the photo. Below, Ann and Linda sit on the steps and pretend we are charming guests staying here with our afternoon sun hats on like ladies do.
Coming off a day of looking mostly at water scenes, there were colorful flowers galore for our boater's eyes to delight in.
This man is a long time resident here and gave Ann and I several tidbits of information about the town. He and his son have a business here. "What do you sell?" we asked. "Everything," he said. Notice the sign indicating the name of his business. It was not the same as his name. How weird would that have been?
When we woke up to leave the next morning, we noticed a boat being towed into our marina. It is being towed by a tow boat designed to help boats about our size. This boat's batteries were dead.
This towing service is from Boat U.S. which is the towing insurance we have. Boat U.S is the main towing service for the Great Lakes. The marina we stayed at here was called the Chesapeake Marina and Inn. It was a bit costly for what they had to offer. We met up the boat Izzy R who we first met in Annapolis and later saw in Baltimore. While tying Izzy R up, first mate Izzy fell into the water head first and the dock hand pulled her out. "Glad you are OK and welcome to my club," I said after recalling my fall off the dock at St. Pete Beach back in December.
May 28 Delaware City, DelawareFreedom's Turn along with Queen Ann's Revenge and Izzy R arrived in the early PM at Delaware City Marina. Above, you can see the tip of our pulpit and the AGLCA flag showing. Our traveling boats were tied at long dock wall for the night.
We all can't say enough about this wonderful marina. It has a ship's store, nice laundry, clean restrooms and showers and is a short walking distance from the shops and restaurants of the town. The owner, Jim, and his dock master, Charles greeted us as they helped us tie up in a swift current that was bringing us in rather quickly. We were given a welcome packet with much enthusiasm and Jim even offered to give us a ride in a golf cart if we would like a quick tour of the town. I recall it was a hot day. While Ann and I did laundry Jim brought a fan for us to cool down the room a bit. When I told him I was writing a blog, he went and copied an article about the area for me to read. He was proud of his facility and it showed on his face. Charlie walked on his own to look around. I know he secretly was looking for the ice cream places.
Going out to dinner was definitely an option for all of us so upon a recommendation from Jim, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Crabby Dicks downtown Delaware City. Jim and the manager of the marina, Steve, went there also for dinner and came over to our outdoor table to say hi. It was a lovely evening.
Beginning on the left: Hank and Ann, Queen Ann's Revenge; Izzy from Izzy R; Jim, owner of the marina; a Izzy R guest, Jeff; manager of the marina, Steve: Jeff from Izzy R; and us!
Going out to dinner was definitely an option for all of us so upon a recommendation from Jim, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Crabby Dicks downtown Delaware City. Jim and the manager of the marina, Steve, went there also for dinner and came over to our outdoor table to say hi. It was a lovely evening.
Beginning on the left: Hank and Ann, Queen Ann's Revenge; Izzy from Izzy R; Jim, owner of the marina; a Izzy R guest, Jeff; manager of the marina, Steve: Jeff from Izzy R; and us! The next morning, we all wanted to leave with the tide going out so the three boats left at 5:30 AM!
Delaware City is off the C & D canal by two miles but it was well worth it to take a few extra minutes and stop and enjoy a terrific marina in a very nice town. Good ice cream store, too, Charlie added.
May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey
May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey After careful planning from all, we took the Delaware Bay waters with no big surprises. Our run was 55 miles out in fairly calm seas of 10-15 k and waves 2 ft. Our main goal was accomplished by timing our trip for the right day and time to go out to sea to the point at Cape May. We wanted the current and the winds to not fight each other. We had ebb tides; the water approaching low tide going out to the ocean which gave us a boost. In addition to the tide, we got our preferred winds coming out of the north and west and not the worst, which would have been the east and south.
Our stay at the Utsch Marina in Cape May was extended for an extra day so we all could rest, do chores and some provisioning. The facility and the people who own and run the facility is first rate. The dock master, Ernie, made us a reservation for dinner for the well known Lobster House Restaurant. The folks from the boats Theresa and Frankly Terryfic, and a man named Morris traveling solo on a 21 ft tug; all doing the Great Loop, joined us. There were eleven of us in total that night eating together and sharing our boating stories. We had lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels, crabs and clams. What a feast!
Ernie, the harbormaster of Utch's Marina is on the right and is Ernie the III. His father, Ernie, (or Poppy as he is affectionately known) is on the left. Poppy and his father, Ernest, started the marina in 1951. Ernie was kind enough to offer a ride for Ann and I into the downtown of Cape May for a little shopping, groceries, and lunch. We split some fish tacos, a first for me, and they were delicious. We took the taxi back.
Ann and I enjoying the little shops and water fountain in downtown Cape May, New Jersey.
This is the dock post we had to tie up one of our stern lines to at the Brielle Marina in Mannasquan, New Jersey. It was ridiculous. Someone had nailed fish tails into it which made it almost impossible to wrap a line around because it got caught every time. Finally, Charlie got it done.
When we left Cape May on May 31 there were eight boats heading out at the same time going the same direction; three traveling with us. We all took the outside route up the New Jersey Coastline. The inside on the NJ ICW was an option but the outside was more compatible for our boats and less congested from the smaller pleasure boats. Also many inconsiderate sport fisher boats throwing big wakes inhabit this part of the ICW. A fellow Looper had their radar mast broken by the wake of one of these large boats and it cost over $1000 to repair!
Extra careful planning was needed again as we went on the outside into the Atlantic Ocean. Our 50 miles trip was choppier than we had planned and by the time we arrived in Atlantic City, Charlie and I did not feel like getting a ferry to the casinos. He and I were really beat. We had actually gone to the Atlantic city casinos for our 25 wedding anniversary more than 10 years before!
The winds that next day were predicted to be 10-15 knots and gusts to 20 with winds out of the NE in the AM and to more favorable 5-10 k and out of SE in the early afternoon. It was our best day in several to get out there and so we did. Even though we could begin to see a slight change by noon, it was a extreme challenge for the first mate to get our noon time cereal with bananas to the upper helm that day. We were hungry so I told my captain, "sure thing, I can do."
Thinking that I am very efficient as first mate, I prepared to do the cereal. Hanging on with one hand on the galley counter, I open the refrigerator with the other hand and held it open so that the door did not bang open for the eggs spill out as I pulled the milk out. Of course everything shifts in the frig whenever I pull anything out and in this case, a red pepper falls out. My legs are in an open stance for balance. I put the red pepper back in and a lime falls out. The boat takes the 3 -4 ft rolling waves up and down and side to side very well as I scramble to unlatch the drawers containing the bowls and spoons. I get the cereal ready and take one bowl up at a time keeping both feet firmly planted and one hand holding on. Surprisingly we can tolerate the waves OK to eat. One small example of the crazy day.
June 1, Mannasquan, NewJersey, Brielle Marina
We needed to get to our marina to unwind after 50 miles of rolling waves. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge split up from the other boats and the two of us cruised into a private yacht club offering us a good price but when we got into our slips, we discovered there was not enough water depth when low tide came, so we moved on.
We then headed over to nearby Brielle Marina. We did not get clear information as to where and how to tie up from the woman in the office on our radio. Luckily we got help from Izzy R and Theresa who were already there. Then we have that crazy fish dock post to tie up. The dock hands were just standing around. We don't think they spoke any English from the way they were looking at us. Upon check in we were handed a list of 'thou shall nots.' Our showers required putting quarters in to work and I ran out of water with the creme rinse still on and no more quarters. Charlie had extra quarters for his and said to me afterwards, HA HA, told you so. And to top it off, the cost to stay here there was very expensive. We were beat so we stayed. Needless to say, we left early the next day.
The next day, June 2, we finally made it to New York Waters!
It is time to give the computer over to Charlie. We want everyone to know we are doing just fine. Charlie seems to have a knack for getting scrapes on his knuckles and knees (boat bites we call them) and Linda's knees get stiff from little walking to stretch out the legs.
We are going to have a little happy hour now and then some stir-fry shrimp in a red pepper sauce over pasta and a spinach salad.
Thinking about you all and hope all is good.
This week is being spent going up the calm waters of NewYork's Hudson River. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge must be thankful to be off the ocean and it's rolling waves. And no more salt water.
Sincerely, Linda and Charlie
