DAY 38 -- CAPE MAY, NJ TO WARETOWN, NJ

                                     DAY 38 -- CAPE MAY, NJ TO WARETOWN, NJ

            Sue made Dave and I a nice traditional Philly breakfast of eggs and scrapple (look it up) and then we all walked down to the beach, which is just a couple blocks from their condo. The Atlantic looked very calm, so I was anxious to get going. Dave and Sue drove us to our marina in Cape May and waved goodbye as we pulled away from the dock just before noon. 

            We passed the US Coast Guard training station on the way out of Cape May harbor,


and then we were out on the open ocean, which felt great. There was a brisk 10-15 knot wind coming out of the SW on top of gentle swells coming from the east. There was just a light chop on top of the swell when we started, but by the time we finished the day going into Barnegat Inlet the light chop had turned into 2-3 footers. Our ride wasn't uncomfortable, however, as it was a following sea, and we made much better time than if we had run the NJ intracoastal. We ran 80 miles in five hours -- dock to dock -- which is pretty good time. 

            We made it a point to come in close to shore as we passed the beach near Dave and Sue's place in Sea Isle City and were rewarded with this underway photo from Dave:


And in return, here's a picture of their stretch of beach:



It was fun to approach Atlantic City from the water...

and then leave it in our wake.

            Entering Barnegat Inlet was a bit sloppy, but once we were through the jetties it was fine. Barnegat Bay is a few miles wide with lots of shoals but is well-marked. Janet found us a very nice marina in Waretown, on the mainland side of the bay. The owner was very friendly and gave us a ride into town for dinner. He doesn't have any transient docks, but he puts people up when he can, and he had us tie up at the fuel dock since we planned to leave early in the morning. The guy bought the marina 37 years ago and recently turned down an offer to sell it for $10 million because he hopes to pass it on to his grandson. The one downside to our visit to Barnegat Bay is that the famous lighthouse at the inlet was completely hidden with scaffolding. We'll have to come visit another time.



Comments

  1. Tim BrushJuly 1, 2022 at 2:19 PM

    fun to read this--I remember birding at Barnegat Light a few times!

    ReplyDelete

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