We have been concerned about the 97 mile trek from Sandy Hook to Atlantic City since we first started getting serious about this trip. This voyage is all “outside” (the chart simply says “North Atlantic Ocean”) are very few places to put in and those places are very difficult to enter in bad weather. Once you commit, you’re committed for the duration.
The weather looked perfect for October 22nd. It was 63 degrees at dawn and the sky was clear with a light westerly wind. We rounded Sandy Hook Point, rode long ocean swells and seven hours later turned into Atlantic City’s Abescon Inlet. The only excitement was hitting 15 knots surfing into the inlet but this time we headed straight and made it to the dock at the Golden Nugget by 2pm, Kathy took a swim in the rooftop pool, we had a dinner at The Chart House and met another couple on their way south.
Nancy & Tom O’Malley left Portsmouth RI aboard their Hunter 42 sailboat, after selling their house and moving aboard full time. They are taking the outside route south, due to the bridges on the ICW and their mast height. We have been in touch and hope to see them again on our travels.
We got a late start leaving Atlantic City on October 23rd after refueling at Kammermans. We headed out towards Cape May at noon and enjoyed glassy seas. Keeping the speed at 10 kn we reached Cape May at 3:45 at we’re greeted at the entrance to the inlet by a pod of dolphins. Bob423 recommends staying at Utsch’s (rhymes with duchess) Marina and this was a great find. The family owned marina met us with dock assistance and a welcome basket. We had take out from the Light House restaurant across the parking lot and planned on spending the next day exploring the town.
Cape May is an old seaport with well preserved colonial houses and lively downtown. They have closed off a street to allow walking, shopping, eating and “touristing”. We were met by an old fashioned Halloween parade with marching bands, swing bands, family floats, fire trucks, high school dancers etc. the whole small town America vibe, including a truck carrying 4 old guys playing guitars, combined ages…at least 350.
At Utsch’s, we also met our south bound mentors, Bob & Sue Xavier. They are on their 5th roundtrip from Gloucester Mass, aboard their Kady Krogen 42 and generously shared detailed information about upcoming ports, restaurants, bridges, locks and navigation hazards. We took a lot of notes!
Your description brought back lots of memories. Years ago I helped a friend move a Columbia 40 from Sandy Hook to the C&D Canal in mid-December. A storm had passed offshore the day or two before, and we came out of Sandy Hook into seas that were running about 8 feet from the East, but eased off a bit over the next 24 hours under the influence of a light west wind. But running into Atlantic City wasn’t a possibility at all, so we went the whole 120 miles to Cape May. I wore my drysuit the whole way, blessed his diesel heater, and have never enjoyed tying up to a piling for a few hours’ nap as much as I did at dawn in Cape May (directly under a sign that said not to tie up there, I admit…)
Have a great remainder of your trip when you make it back down to Charleston!
Thanks for sharing your story John, we were thankful to have such an easy time for this passage.