NYC to the East River and onto Hell's Gate

Heading out of Atlantic City

We finally are moving up the coast of NJ in dense fog, but the seas were a gentle 3-4' nice rollers, we left Atlantic City on Wed am and travelled a whooping 110 miles through NYC and down the East River through Hells Gate.

The fog was so thick all of a sudden this was in front of us.

And this some heavy duty dredging

This is what the chartplotter looked like entering NYC harbor, you can see SweetPea on the lower right handside of the screen, we took a little different route than we had in the past.  The Tall ships were in the harbor as well as it being Fleet week so there were many military ships in and around the city.  As well as the normal traffic of ferries and sightseeing vessels.

A site to behold! 

Manhattan skyline
To see many photos of our 1st trip through NYC
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-3-atlantic-city-nj.html
This was our trip through NYC and up the Hudson River on the loop
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2011/06/largest-sailboat-in-world-nyc-and.html

Some of the tall ships

NYC Empire State Building
as seen from the East River a little different view of the city from the eastside as all the loopers go up the Hudson River

I have this thing about bridges so here are a few, again from the east river.
The Brooklyn Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge

The Roosevelt Bridge

Sitting at the dock of the Bay

Yes we are still in Atlantic City waiting for the waves to settle down some.  We have decided that once we get moving again if weather permits, we may do an overnight er, we are sooo close, yet sooo far.  But as always the seas are in charge.  We were surprised as to how many boats left this morning heading north that we started second guessing ourselves but then when boats started rolling in the reports of the sea conditions were not pleasant.

Today is Friday and I was also hoping to finalize our slip for our summer back in New England and I am happy to report, we WILL be back at our homeport of Westport MA on the beautiful Westport River after being away for nearly 18 months.  Our second choice was not a bad spot but not where we really wanted to be.  We are now signed up as Harbor Hosts so everyone who has plans to cruise New England this summer e-mail us we would love to welcome you into our harbor.  I will post more about Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island in future entries. We have also become members of MTOA and would like to invite all MTOA members in our area to stop by and grab a mooring ball or $lip.  We may not be on the loop but we will try to stay IN the loop.

We have some cruise plans already in motion for the summer we are hoping to get to Provincetown at the tip of the Cape for fiesta week in August the Tall ships will be in Newport RI on the 7th of July and we are planning a trip to Bristol RI for the 4th of July for the oldest 4th of July parade in the country.  Then there's the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket which are just a hop, skip and a jump away from Westport.  So we will have plenty to entertain us and alot of stuff that needs to get done on our home which I don't even want to think about right now.  And a car that I am sure is dead in the driveway right now.  Wheelsssssssssss that will be something new for us!  And yes Capt Chappy, the lawn mower also has 4 wheels. Yuck enough of that.   

So today I am posting some pictures of our "homeport"....Westport Point Ma.














And the best part fun and Lazy Jamicans with family and friends, digging quahogs (hard shell clams) littlenecks, oysters, and New Englands lobster ......ok maybe I am ready to go home!
But first we need to get out of NJ!

We made it to Atlantic City NJ

The Golden Nugget Marina

We made it!  I got to say the Captain and I were not sure if traveling today was a good idea but we thought we would poke our nose out there and take a looksey.  It really was not bad, well that bad, the worst was probably turning into the inlet for AC, we had been taking it on the nose all day but entering AC it was extremely beamy.  Three boats left with us from Cape May and everyone is here safe and sound.  We heard some chatter going on from a group of boats traveling the NJ ICW among them was OooPik, we traveled the Mississippi River, Ohio River, Cumberland and Tennessee River with Bruce and Karen but when we got to Demopolis he suffered a heart attack and went back to Canada for 3 months, we were so happy to hear from him and to hear he is alive and kickin.  It sounds as though the group doing the inside route are comprised of mostly loopers (gold) from past years and as we listen to them along the way I know the captain is very happy he chose the Atlantic to travel.  We will see what stories they have to tell when they get in here.

The pictures of the day.......

Leaving Cape May

 Hello Atlantic City

This white building is the coast guard station a beautiful old building.
FYI for those coming this way in the next couple of weeks, although not advertised in Skipper Bob or any of the other books, the Golden Nugget is $2/ft until the end of May verses the $4/ft advertised.

Cape May day 4 leaving tomorrow?

Weather is looking better we hope to head out tomorrow morning to Atlantic City but if the seas are good we may go all the way to NYC.
Today is oil change day as it is a bit over due 250 hours.  So its a real good time to get off the boat and go shopping!
We are now just 400 miles (all big water) from home but still have not secured a slip, still waiting on 2 more quotes from marinas.  But we have a back up if need be.  I will let you know where we end up when we find out, as we are planning to sign up as harbor host once we have a harbor!  A decision will be made Friday. 
Jim took a walk over to Utsch's marina to get filters and the "Greatest Loop Boat" was there so he walked over to say hello and wish them well.  He said some women was on the boat who was most unfriendly, I guess she was not really a boater, I hope she isn't PR. for the company.

Read more about our past trips to beautiful Cape May NJ with more photos
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2011/05/cape-may-nj.html
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-5-atlantic-city-to-cape-may.html

5- 7 travel days until we are home? But then.......

Land Ho!

We made it to Cape May the Delaware Bay was very kind to us it was a very nice 58 mile trip across.  So now we sit and wait for good weather to travel up the NJ coast.

Entering the Cape May canal

Here is a look at the marine weather forecast for the next few days......

Well we are here and ready to go when it gets better.  It will not be tomorrow or the next few days unless something changes.  But we will be ready!
Forecast as of 3:40 PM EDT on May 13, 2012

Tonight

S winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft. A slight chance of showers after midnight with vsby 1 to 3 nm.

Mon

S winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft. A chance of showers. Vsby 1 to 3 nm in the morning.

Mon Night

Se winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. A chance of showers.

Tue

Se winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. A chance of showers.

Tue Night

S winds 15 to 20 kt...diminishing to 10 to 15 kt after midnight. Seas 4 to 7 ft. Showers likely.

Wed

SW winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft. A chance of showers and tstms.

Wed Night

SW winds around 10 kt...becoming W after midnight. Seas 4 to 5 ft. A chance of showers and tstms in the evening.

Thu

NE winds 10 to 15 kt...diminishing to 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft.

Fri

E winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Winds and seas higher in and near tstms.

So all you loopers travelling up the Chesapeake Bay enjoy, no need to hurry! 

Shame on us! We should know better.

The only picture I took of the day (how peaceful)

We arrived in Deltaville on a Monday from Norfolk and we were stuck there for 4 days.  UGGGG!  We finally took off for the Solomons 54 miles but were hoping for a longer day to make up some time.  Well it was in the top 3 for OMG days, it was terrible out there.  We should of know when 2 other boats were leaving in the morning and they had one hell of a time just getting off the docks.  Irish Rover was one and he did make it.  The other was Present Moment in front of us he couldn't get off the wall so since we were on the end Jim backed off and powered it up off we went. But it took a great deal of power, glad we had it.  It was one of those days that you sit.  You don't get up to go to the head, you don't get up to make lunch, you just hold on.  The words for the day were ..... Hold on!  Here comes another one!  Other than that not much else was said it was very quiet on the upper helm.  But we made it through and actually made it to the Solomons and very happy to be there.  The last 2 hours of our 7 hour day were wayyyyy better the seas calmed down and we could once again move around.  Since we were not expecting it to be so rough we didn't properly prepare the boat and when Jim came up from below all he said is ....You do not want to go down there!  Of course I did and OMG what a mess.  But we were safely tied to a dock and the clean up began.

*Note to self.....your not on the ICW anymore, pick your days.

Today the only waves we had were from other boats

The next day was very nice and we made up time and travelled almost 100 miles.  A very long day but worth it. 
We are hoping to cross the Delaware Bay tomorrow to spend Mothers Day in Cape May.  I was hoping to spend Mothers Day at home with my daughter but it was not meant to be.  Ashley we love you and will see you in a week or so, hopefully.

Remembering that looper feeling

Hello again from Deltaville VA, yup you got it, we are still here and its looking like a go for tomorrow, the winds are finally starting to subside.  We are hoping to make up some lost time and travel 75 miles tomorrow instead of the 50 we have always travelled in this leg in the past.  So instead of our normal stop in the Solomon Islands which we have visited 2 times before we will shoot across the bay to the east side to the Cambridge, Oxford area.  We shall see what tomorrow throws at us.

I have read a couple blog updates from our newest looper friends who are finishing up at the AGLCA rendezvous, when they leave Norfolk more than likely they will be heading to Deltaville as its one of the next likely stops for them.  It really was nice to stop in for a couple days pre rendezvous in Norfolk to catch that looper fever again.  Remembering back just a year ago when we were starting out and that feeling of bonding and excitement of whats ahead.  I will admit we talked of staying for another day or 2 as we would of loved to hold on to that wonderful feeling but, this time is yours, and we look forward to reliving the loop and all its adventures though your blogs.  You are in for a truly wonderful year, take your time and remember to always stop to smell the roses.  The loop is like a series of funnels,you all start out together then wander off in different directions only to meet up again somewhere along the way, this happens throughout the loop. Remember you will never really be alone, and you will make new friends, some will last a lifetime.

The loop is a funny thing, in that it never really throws anything at you that your not prepared for, even if you may not know it at the time...........................ENJOY! 

We look forward to reading your blogs so blog away!!!!!!

And for the Loopers in the planning stage..WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?