Atlantic City to Cape May, NJ.

Sept 17th Atlantic City to Cape May, NJ

OK, last night I left you with some pics of Atlantic City as we entered there at 10PM.
This morning we left under cloudy skies with the wind about 10 knots from the NW. WELL…….. that didn’t last long. Going out through the inlet the seas were up to 3 to 4 feet…… and it was very choppy.

That’s fine, once we would alter course to the south, the seas would be on the quarter…….. and they were…… except that they built to 5-6 feet. Running under a full jib and motor sailing, it was quite comfortable all the way to Cape May, at the bottom end of New Jersey.
Once arriving at the inlet entrance, the large swell followed us right up the inlet and to the harbour mouth.

Oh yeah, half way into the inlet there was a ship that looked like it had run aground on the 13 foot patch. It was right down to the gunnels under water and broadside to the wind. As we approached, it started to move and we discovered that it was a work ship for the US Army, Corps of Engineers, and not in trouble at all.

We rounded the turn into the harbour and headed for an anchorage on the port side where numerous other sailboats were anchored. The channel here is very narrow so you kind of just drop your anchor along the outer edge…… but not too far because the rest of the harbour is only 1-2 feet deep. Guess you could walk home if you had to.

Our plan was to leave here tomorrow for the treck up the Delaware Bay, however, we just listened to the forecast and it’s suppose to blow NE 25/30 and gusting to 35 knots. Looks like we’re swinging from the hook all day tomorrow again.
Well, here’s a few pics of Atlantic City during the daylight.

Sept 18th, At anchor in a storm in Cape May, NJ

Ok, so we expected a bit of wind here and there but not like this. This is two very severe wind storms in three nights. Tonight we’re anchored in 10 feet of water just north of the Coast Guard Base in Cape May and it’s blowing from the NE at 35 and gusting to 40 knots. The waves in here are only about 1 foot but I’ve learned a few things so far about wind storms.

• 1. We take the mainsheets off the boom and just tie a single line to the traveler and leave it slack. That way the boom is allowed to swing freely and stay pointing into the wind rather than trying to sail the boat up over the anchor. We sit quite calmly.


• 2. BRAD…… thank you so much for trading anchors with me. The 45 is very good for us and is holding extremely well.


• 3. Bob C. at DYC……. He talked me into buying the new electric anchor windlass from him. Works great and it sure makes it easy to get the anchor back.


• 4. Ted Haight……. You told me that I needed at least a 15 ft bridle on the anchor chain as a snubber….. You were so correct. Ours is working well, although in wind like this I’m thinking of making them even longer as we still get the occasional “BANG” when the anchor chain tightens up. We need a little more elastic.

Like I said, it blew like hell all night and I saw 3 boats on my watch decide to drag across the harbour before being brought under control.
This poor couple in the 30 ft catamaran held well all night beside us until about 5am when the anchor decided to go for a walk. It’s now 7:30am and they still can’t get the dam thing to set.

Thanks again for the heavy anchor tackle guys.

Today, it’s supposed to keep on blowing so I think it’ll be a long day. The seas outside are forecast at 8ft so we’re just going to stay put. I sure wish they made that bridge over the canal about 5 feet higher so we could take the short cut to Delaware Bay.