Jersey Shores

We left Delaware City Marina on Friday.  We were worried about the depth leading out of there.  This picture illustrates why we were concerned.  

This photo is taken from the cockpit of our boat, looking across the 6'dock to which we were side tied!

The marina owner, Tim, who has been right on the money with everything so far, assured us that there was plenty of water at the inlet, not to worry.  But, Billy from Godspeed and I wanted to be doubly sure, so we launched my dinghy and did a little RECON.  Billy had a hand held depth finder and I have one in the dinghy as well, so we were sure we were getting accurate readings.  My first mate thought this was hilariously funny for some reason and shot the following two photos.

This guy seemed unimpressed with our technology.



It turns out that Tim was true to form and we had nothing to worry about, there was plenty of depth even at fairly low tide.  So, Once Around departed mid-morning for Cape May, New Jersey, via the Delaware River and Delaware Bay.  Godspeed and several other loopers opted to sit it out for a day, as the wind was predicted to kick up a bit that day and to fall of on Saturday.  It was a little rough on the bay (not bad by California standards).  It reminded me of a normal day on the Suisun Bay.  In short, we got beat up a bit, but nothing too bad.



This is the only photo that gives you some idea of the seas we encountered that day.

We arrived at Cape May Inlet in the late afternoon.  The photo below makes it look really late, but that was due to a setting error on the camera, according to our staff photographer (another of my first mate's duties!).



This is the ferry terminal at the entrance of the inlet; boaters beware, they stop for nothing!

Not sure why I thought you needed to see the Marina from our slip, but here it is.

And, the view in the other direction, towards town.

We were met at Utchs's (OK, you tell me how to pronounce that, it's not a misspelling) Marina by our friends from Algonquin and met another looper couple from the Lady Jane.  We all had dinner together at the Lobster House, a Cape May Landmark.  Both of those boats left early Saturday morning, but Carrie and I wanted to relax...or so I thought.

First we spent an hour doing calisthenics in the engine room.  That's what I call it now.  It seems my back actually likes the abuse.  I wake up feeling all hunkered over, but after crawling around checking engine oil, transmission oil, coolant, sea strainers and whatever else the Admiral orders, I actually feel better once I climb out of there.  Go figure.  Best news of the day, Billy and I (see how I grabbed some of that credit?) did fix the fuel leak and there was no water in the bilge.  Yeehaa!!!  Let's go for a bike ride...WHAT???

Only two short days after the "Tour de Delaware", the Admiral got me back in the saddle, so to speak.  It was only a mile or so to the supermarket, but it sure seemed like a hell of a lot further.  And, that hill...OK, maybe it was only a small bridge, but still...

We stuffed $158 worth of groceries (and that's no meat or booze) into the saddle bags and slowly rode back to the marina.  No sooner had we eaten lunch than she who must be obeyed (I learned that one from my father-in-law) wanted to go back to town!  This time I did call a cab and we enjoyed the afternoon strolling around an absolutely beautiful Victorian town.  We even enjoyed a carriage ride and took some pictures of the outstanding Victorian architecture there.  Cape May is on the very southern part of New Jersey, and the town dates back to the 1700's, when it had it's heyday as a Victorian playground for the rich and famous.  Again, the pictures speak for themselves, although they are a tiny sample of what we saw.



 

 

 

Today's trivia lesson:  Did you know that the full body swimwear that the Victorian women wore was made of wool?  That because of the weight of the wool, they often tied ropes to their waist and to the dock so they would not drown?  That they wore this not only to protect themselves from the prying eyes of gentlemen, but also because tanned skin was considered "common" or "working class" and the lighter your skin the "higher class" you were?  That only their ankles showed, which was considered in itself quite risque?  That some houses had two staircase entries so that women could go up one and men the other to protect men from inadvertantly glancing at the women's bare ankles as they climbed the stairs?  All true...at least according to the carriage driver lady, who seemed honest enough...and sure had great ankles.

Finally, we got back to the boat (by cab again) just in time to see Godspeed arrive.  They had a very calm crossing of Delaware Bay.  What a difference a day makes.

Tonight (Saturday) we dined in; ribs on the Barbie and some other stuff.

We're off to Atlantic City in the morning.  Do you think the Donald will be around?