Annapolis to New York City

Kim’s Korner:

We left Annapolis on a cloudy, dreary day and headed to Chesapeake Bay Marina which is located on the C&D Canal – an 18-mile canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware Bay. It was sad to leave the Chesapeake Bay as we had looked forward to being there for so long. We’ll be back! As we entered into Chesapeake City, the dreary day came alive with music and people out having a great time along the waterfront restaurants – what a surprise! We got tied up and met some new loopers, Gail and Bob from The Good Life, just as a light rainfall started. We had docktails and left as the rainfall was now a steady downfall. We never did get to see the town which looked quite promising – next time!
We headed to Delaware Bay Marina the next morning on yet another dreary day – but it wasn’t raining thank goodness… yet. By the time we arrived, it was raining, cold and foggy – glad it was a short travel day. This is the gathering spot (at least for loopers) before they head down the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey. The bay can dish out some very uncomfortable travel so the dockmaster holds a session on the weather and water conditions of the Delaware each night so boaters can make the best-informed decision on whether to go or stay. From Cape May, due to Hurricane Matthew, most boaters choose to go out on the Atlantic to get to New York which is at least two days travel. One problem was the fact that due to the bad weather we’d been having, boats were stuck in Cape May waiting for a weather window to move out. Since we had a good travel day for Delaware Bay, our main problem was finding a marina which could accommodate us. The dockmaster starting calling marinas in Cape May as he wanted us out of his marina because he had boats arriving the next day – things you don’t think about – the “Great Looper Bottleneck” – lol. He was able to locate a marina that could take us so we left our weather meeting and moved onto better things – dinner at “Crabby Dicks”. This town also looked promising but due to the rain, we really didn’t get to do it justice. We did enjoy our dinner!
A group of about ten boats left in the morning and headed down the Delaware Bay. It was yet another dreary, chilly day – but it wasn’t raining and we had a comfortable ride. We arrived in Cape May with no issues and settled in for what turned out to be a 3-night stay due to yucky weather. We headed into Cape May, a town I have never heard of. What a surprise! It was obviously a vacation spot for many people. The houses were all of Victorian or Cape Cod style and were really nice. There were lots of restaurants and gift shops and a nice beach. We ate at The Lobster House which was excellent and a favorite of the locals.
From here, we headed out into the Atlantic Ocean heading for an Atlantic City, NJ anchorage. Ok – this was the rockiest day we’ve had yet on the loop. The inlet getting out of Cape May had us rocking all over! Once we got through the inlet, things settled down and the rest of the day, while not comfortable, was not uncomfortable either. That is until we had to travel the inlet into Atlantic City. Again, we were rocking all over and again, once we got past the inlet, all was good. I took some videos but it was much worse than the videos show. That day was another learning experience for us. It helped us to know what we could handle and what we couldn’t. The question isn’t whether the boat handles it, it’s whether David and I can! We anchored just past the inlet and fell apart.
The alarm went off at 4:00 AM and we pulled the anchor up at 5:00 for a 100 mile trip to New York harbor. This was the longest distance we’ve done in one day and it was a very long day – 13 hours. About 10 other various boats left with us – it was like someone had opened the gates. The inlet was no problem that day and we went out 3 miles from shore. We had rollers but there wasn’t much wind so, for me, it was very relaxing. The sun even came out and it felt so good after all the dreary days we’d had. It was a beautiful day! I’d be on the water every day if they were all like that! We had heard some reports of whale sightings so I was constantly scanning the water. We passed two pods of dolphins who were rounding up the fish for their meal. Later in the day, I finally spotted water from a blowhole! I couldn’t believe it so I kept watching. There is was again – probably about a mile towards shore. David and I both saw the whale breach – either a belly or a back – not much but definitely a whale and very exciting at the least! We spotted NYC about 25 miles out – it was hazy and hard to see but gradually grew bigger as we neared it. I then spotted – all I know how to describe it is – the outline of a mountain in smoke. What was that? I finally guessed an air show and David googled it and learned it was the Air Force Thunderbirds doing an air show. Neat! A whale and the Thunderbirds in one day! We finally pulled into Great Kills Yacht Club which is located on Staten Island. We were exhausted but relieved to be here.
Our good friends, Maurice and Renee from Le Marie Sophie left the next morning. They completed their loop in Vero Beach and plan to be home in Canada soon. We have traveled with them two out of the last three months. They have taught us a lot and helped us learn this Eastern Coast which was intimidating to us with the tides, inlets, and currents. But more than that, they have become good friends and I know that one day we will meet again. It was still sad to see them leave.
New York City is not a place I would choose to visit. Some people LOVE NYC but I’m really not a big city person although I have enjoyed big cities in small doses. Since we were here, David and I decided we should attempt to go. If nothing else, just trying to figure out how to get into Manhattan would be an adventure even if we didn’t make it there. Our new friends, Gail and Bob from The Good Life decided to join us so we talked to some locals and set off for the nearest transit stop. The transit took us to the Staten Island Ferry which gave us a wonderful view of the New York Harbor including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We made it to Manhattan without any rocket science involved! I was in awe of the buildings – just amazing! Old historic ones, some with a huge amount of detail, intermingled with sleek new skyscrapers – really interesting! We visited the 911 Memorial which was very nice. Since this really unique structure was close by, we went in and learned it is the Oculus, a new train station which, when completed, will connect New Jersey’s PATH trains and New York City’s subways. From there we grabbed some lunch and decided to venture into the NYC subway system – yikes! We found our way without too much trouble to Times Square. When we first came up to the streets, I was in total amazement of it all. I mean – it’s exactly what you see in movies and pictures but to witness it first hand was just amazing! It’s a good thing I couldn’t take it all in because I would definitely have internally combusted. We walked down 7th Avenue through all the hubbub of street vendors, police carrying M16s, and tons of tourists just like us. At the end of 7th was Central Park which was really cool. The movie Home Alone II came to mind. The most unexpected surprise were these huge rocks in the park. We people-watched for a while and then made our way back to the subway station to find our way back to the Battery in order to take the ferry back to Stanton Island. We had a little trouble this time and after finally asking a policeman for instructions, we learned we had to take a subway in the wrong direction in order to get on the subway which would take us in the right direction. Once we got to the ferry, we were home free – the ferry, transit, and walk to a recommended restaurant, Cole’s Dock Side, was a piece of cake. Our meal was delicious and we made the short distance back to our boat fully exhausted. What a day! It was so totally worth doing this and I think what made it so good was that we had no expectations - whatever the day brought would be an adventure. We were not disappointed!
Yesterday was a quiet day as the weather was dreary and chilly again. This blog with pictures takes a lot of time and I spent a good part of the day working on it. David spent a good part of the day watching westerns and war movies. I finally needed a break so took a good long walk over to Great Kills Park where I could actually see NYC in the distance although it was very hazy. Maybe it's always hazy for all I know. We ended the day with docktails in the Captains Lounge. There were maybe 25 loopers there and we only knew a few of them. Loopers are starting and completing their loop all the time so there are constantly new faces. And yes, we have met several families who are doing the loop so we even have kids with us at times which helps all of us who are missing grandkids while on the trip.

Pictures!