Month: April 2019

I left early in the morning and headed around past Perth Amboy and up the west side of Staten Island. Lots of industry.

Then into the Lower Harbor, past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and up the Hudson. I wasn’t really tempted to venture into the East River. I had a fair current as well so just kept on.

The Tappan Zee Bridge was pretty cool. They built a new one beside the old and were in the process of demolishing/dismantling the original

Then on up the river

It was starting to rain as I stopped for the day near Peekskill. Right next to the nuclear power plant, in a little inlet off the river, here. About 5 feet of water, snug and protected.

I’ve been anchored here in Great Kills Harbor for 48 hours. Here’s the view as I write in the cockpit in shorts.

Pretty nice, huh? I love this place. Went to the S side of the harbor yesterday in my dinghy, easy docking and several very good restaurants right there. Today I went over to the boat ramp and biked to a nice grocery store. If I wanted to go to Manhatten there are buses within a block or two. And it’s free! My kind of place.

As an alternative, the cheapest transient dock in NYC would cost about $100/night in season, and there are places where it’d be $300 for my boat.

In the summer of course the harbor would be full of boats and have more people ashore. Might not be a great place. But it’s lovely right now.

That got me thinking about my trip up the ICW, and timing of the trip, and the trade offs that go with doing it at different times of year. Think that’ll be another entry.

Tomorrow I haul anchor and go exploring. I’m going to go over to the Jersey side and around Staten Island, and see where that takes me. Maybe come back here, or to another harbour at 78th St on the Upper West Side.

This is the only picture I took today. You can see the city on the horizon.

Unfortunately shortly after I took it the rain started, and visibility went down.

I’m anchored here in a big man-made yacht harbour on Staten Island. Nice spot, secure and quiet. I can get ashore in the dinghy, and am ready to.

Nothing remarkable about today’s travels. I got close to a humpback whale just off Sandy Hook. I was in about 25 ft of water and it was sort of lounging around on the surface. Not much traffic in the Lower Bay, but a big catamaran crossed behind me at close to 40 knots. Maybe a fast ferry.

Weather looks nice for the next couple of days. I’m going to spend a couple of days exploring before heading up the Hudson.

I’m anchored here. Not the greatest spot, but it’ll work. It’s calm now, first time in about a week. The reversing tidal current runs at about 2 knots. And no traffic. Most of the boats here are still shrink wrapped.

I slept in a bit this morning, then headed up to Tom’s River. Went right up to the top and tied up at a nice little park and had lunch ashore.

After Tom’s River I didn’t see anywhere I wanted to explore, and headed up the bay. I liked the clouds in this shot.

Eventually we got to the canal running between the top of Barnegat Bay and the Manasquan River. The tide was favourable and we had a 4-5 mph tail current.

Tomorrow it’s NYC! Lower Bay is about 25 miles away. Out the inlet, turn left and follow the shore.

I was first planning to steam right through, but I’ve been reading and looking at maps, and I think I might stay a few days. I’m a week ahead of schedule. There’s a mooring field at 78th St that looks great. Tomorrow I’m going to Great Kills on Staten Island, which also looks like a good stop.

Wow. I’m not sure I’ve seen this many boats in one place. They’re mostly ashore right now. I remember seeing this boat (Paquet) some time in the past. Nice old McCurdy & Rhodes design.

Had a nice trip across the bay. When I went into the mud I was overheating a bit trying to drive through the mud before I stopped to wait for the tide. Cleaned out the strainer basket and all is good. Floated free after about 2 hours.

I just anchored here for the night.

Pics coming across the bay

Wind is forecast to drop tomorrow. Monday is rain. Looks like Tuesday will be the trip around Sandy Hook and into NY. I’m happy to noodle my way north to Manasquan over the next two days. That’s the jumping off spot for the open water run to NY.

New Jersey can only get better.

It’s Saturday afternoon, and I’m aground in what I guess is called Barnegat Harbor, right here.

It’s no big deal. I routinely hit bottom, and have been stuck a few times. In this case I went into the mud at almost dead low tide. Range here is a little over 3 feet today, so I’ll be floating in a couple of hours. Have the anchor dropped from the bow.

I may stay here tonight, but more likely I’ll head across to Forked River.

I got ashore earlier for a stretch and lunch. Tied up to a public dock – the first one I’ve seen in three days. 78th St in Harvey Cedars.

Last night I anchored here. It was a bit exposed last night, but not bad. Rode out 20+ knot S wind and lots of rain last night. I got underway about 1030 after the rain stopped. Fog limited visibility to about 1/4 mile but it was gone by the time I came in here.

Yesterday I came through Atlantic City. I spent the night before in Ventnor City, here. Good spot, with marsh on one side.

I’ve taken lots of pictures. Interesting area. I’m going to post them here in order, south to north. There are a lot, but I had reasons for taking each. Maybe I’ll annotate later.

I’m anchored here on a wide section of the ICW. No traffic.

Today was smooth sailing. Cooler and overcast. I started out about 9:30 in order to hit the tides. Flew down the Delaware Bay and came into the Cape May Canal around 4:30, then north for a couple of hours on the ICW.

Saw a few ships and pleasure boats, but stayed out of the main channel. Mostly just me.

I had a 10-15 knot headwind and a 1-2 knot tailwind. Hit some choppy patches and took spray for a little while

Not a bad day.

Nothing particularly appealing about this segment. Most people choose to go ‘outside’ up the coast from here to NYC. But since it’s supposed to blow hard from the SE for the next 4 days I’m going to noodle me way north inside. Looks like Monday should be OK for the open water segment into New York Harbour.

Here are some shots on the ICW.

I’ve always wanted to go through here. Not sure why, except that it’s got lots of historical and commercial significance. Baltimore and Philadelphia were big ports and cities before NYC took over in the 19th century.

I’m tied up for the night in Chesapeake City. Cute spot, and the price is right.

I had planned to anchor in the basin, but tied up and had a nice meal ashore.

Annapolis was OK. The harbour is not well protected and was pretty rough at times. This boat rolls pretty easily at rest, probably my least favorite thing about it. But yesterday the wind boomed in from the west as forecast and things settled there.

I left there today around noon after fuelling up and getting a few groceries. Had a beautiful trip up here with a tail current all the way. Just dumb luck. The current is strong and I am planning tomorrow’s travel to take advantage of it.

Very quiet around here. Apparently it’s still winter season. I was in shorts and bare feet and a fleecy. My kind of weather. Glad to stay ahead of the crowds.

There’s a lot of wind forecast for the weekend, starting late Thursday. But tomorrow looks fine for a run down Delaware Bay to Cape May NJ. It’s about 75 miles.

I’ve been watching the weather, as I’m back out in relatively open water for the first time in months. Had a nice window yesterday with rainy and foggy weather but no wind, and did a straight line up the bay from Norfolk to Annapolis, about 125 miles. There’s a front coming through tonight and tomorrow, so I’m going to stay here until Tuesday morning.

I left Norfolk around 9 am, and tied up to a mooring in Annapolis harbour around 3 am. Heavy rain in the morning ended mid day but then there was fog for most of the rest of the trip. Calm the whole way. I was dodging ship and barge traffic a bit, but am comfortable with my radar and other navigation instruments.

Not much to see, but there were a couple of hours when I could not find the horizon. It seemed like the water and fog were the same colour.

Off to explore. I’ve been here before, but not recently and never by boat.

I’m anchored here, tucked in out of a moderate S – SE wind. I had about 6″ of water under the keel at low tide.

Today I came up through the Dismal Swamp from just north of Elizabeth City. The last couple of days have been very relaxed and fun. Weather has been near perfect. Here are some pictures from today. I was traveling with three sailboats, and we were the only vessels to go through the canal today.

I’ve been hearing birds, and there are a few bugs. Saw a spider on board for the second time since I left the Great Lakes.

Last night was lovely. tied up for the night at an old overgrown industrial dock. Just below the first lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal. Here.

I had come into the free municipal dock at Elizabeth City on Wednesday afternoon and stayed there for about 24 hours. Nice stop. Changed the oil, washed down the boat and had a couple of meals ashore, filled my water tanks. Met the boats I was to travel with there on Thursday, then moved up the river for the night and met them at the lock this morning.

The wind is supposed to die off somewhat by morning, so I’m going to get up early and head up the Chesapeake Bay. I haven’t spent any time in the Chesapeake or Delaware. Not sure how much I’ll stop or explore, it will depend on weather and mood. I’m feeling confident that I can get up to the Hudson River Valley in the next three weeks, where I’ll leave the boat.