October 17, 2005
N39.2 W74.3 Atlantic City, New Jersey
We had been stuck in New York waiting for weather. First, the flooding rains for 8 days. Then the gale warnings. Then Chis’ cold. Finally, a weather window. Northwest winds 20-25 knots, shifting to the west in the late afternoon. Without getting technical, west winds are not good for sailing southwest. We had to go soon, and we had to make good progress with the wind we would have.
We left the dock in New York at 6am. Still dark. The sun finally rose around the time we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. A somewhat poetic moment.
We made it out of New York Harbour and found the wind to be absolutely perfect. We set the sails, steered our course, and FLEW along at an invigorating pace.
We decided that it was the best, most spectacular sail since we began our journey. Lots of wind, lots of sun, and relatively flat seas.
Our first nighttime docking, we arrived in Atlantic City just before 8pm. We quickly cleaned ourselves up and went to a local restaurant for a lovely dinner. A perfect end to the perfect sail and a perfect day.
Life IS beautiful!
Posted by dave at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
Day Trip to New York
There are just some things that must be done. Sailing into New York is one of those things, but taking video footage is quite another. With our journey into New York Harbour approaching, we realized we were out of tapes for the video camera. So we decided to take the ferry from Atlantic Highlands to New York City to find them. This is a photo of the Statue of Libery from the ferry. We hope to get a better photo on Wednesday from much closer.
New York is great. It is a toss between New York, Chicago, London or Paris for our favourite city. We walked and walked and walked. Found the video tapes, had lunch at Saks, checked out the marina, bought more minutes for our cell phone, got Chis’ hair cut at Rockefeller Plaza, and had a drink at Mad 28 before heading back on the ferry. A long day, but fruitful and enjoyable.
Tomorrow, a long run along Ocean Blvd, then email/weather/website update in town, then back to the boat for our final preparations for Wednesday’s journey into New York City.
Posted by dave at 01:22 PM | Comments (1)
August 26, 2005
N40.3 W74.0 Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
We are learning how to interpret US weather forecasts. No matter what direction you are heading, that is where the winds blow from. Going NE, the winds will blow from the NE. If they predict 5-10 knots, add them together. So, 15 knots.
We left Atlantic City at 5am with no wind and gentle seas. And a spectacular sunrise. The wind slowly started to pick up. Forecast SE 5-10 knots. Actual wind NW less than 5 knots. We motorsailed north, trying to make the Lower Bay of New York harbour, to a place called Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
Cruising up the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, the winds shifted and started to increase. Now, we were sailing downwind with south winds blowing 25 knots. Forget the forecasts. No interpretation needed. The most remarkable thing appeared in the haze – Manhattan. We could make out the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the Empire State Building, etc.
We pulled around Sandy Hook, and headed south into the harbour to pick up a mooring. We made it just before sunset, and fell asleep.
My brother and my sister-in-law are spending their wedding anniversary with us in Manhattan for the Labour Day weekend. I called Jeff to say that we were now within eye-sight of our destination. He was excited. This is the furthest north we will take Platina. We will head south on September 27th, after a much-needed break. 8,000 nautical miles, and counting.
We are very excited about seeing NYC from a totally different perspective. It is one of our favourite places, that we will enjoy with Jeff and Heather (who have never been before), and with our best friends, Jim and Luc, with whom we have enjoyed it immensely in the past.
Posted by dave at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2005
Our First Abort
We decided to leave Trump Marina and continue heading north. We met a wonderful couple on Ten-X that gave us some good suggestions, and met three brothers trying to make Boston by the end of the weekend. All were leaving. We felt it was time. The forecast was NE winds 5-10 knots. We left right behind the brothers on Rhapsodie at 7:30am. The depth sounder read 0.2 metres. We slid out of the mud and got underway.
Once out of the inlet, we discovered 25 knot winds. We would sail straight into the wind, under motor, for 14 hours. Problem was, we were only doing 3 knots, and it was very rough. We decided to sail, tacking into the wind, and lost even more headway. I got nervous, expecting a LONG and ROUGH passage, and persuaded Chis to turn back to Atlantic City. We heard several people on the radio losing their dinghies, trying to enter inlets unsuccessfully, and figured we had done the right thing.
Back to the DONALD we went, tail between our legs. Beaten, for the first time, by the elements.
Posted by dave at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2005
N39.2 W74.3 Atlantic City, New Jersey
We pulled up anchor early morning at Cape Henlopen, and made our way across the Delaware Bay toward Cape May against incredible tidal currents. We were headed for the tacky gambling centre of the universe, Atlantic City. Not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was a break in our northward trek. Sum totaled, we bet US$5 and lost it. No thrill, no adrenalin rush, no nothing.
We rented a car and drove to Cape May. We had arranged for a part to be delivered to the post office there, but could not get into a marina there because of some stupid fishing tournament. We got the part. Got groceries. Went back to Atlantic City.
We went for dinner at the newest, slickest, casino – Borgata. That’s Italian for mafia. We found a restaurant we liked. An hour’s wait, unless we would sit at the “Chef’s Bar”. SHHHURRRR. We sat at the CB. I watched my $25 Caeser salad being made from a monster plastic container of dressing. The croutons came out of a box. Chis had tuna sashimi. Surprisingly, the wasabi was flavourless. Then, his steak arrived – tender but flavourless. My seafood pasta arrived and was delicious, all 45 pounds of it. We took it home in a gold lamė plastic bag. Best part of the meal… the wine and the tap water.
We stayed at the Trump. Yah, the guy with the bad hair. The DONALD. I guess that his financial difficulties have influenced his barber budget. The marina was expensive with bad service. No internet service. Not even in the hotel. They told us to go to another casino to check our email. Another time. We walked the famous boardwalk, expecting cool bistros, beach bars, and live music. We got tattoo parlours, tarot card readers, dollar stores, and junky bars. Too bad. We could tell that, in its day, Atlantic City must have been pretty amazing.
As for us, non-gambling, good-service-expecting Canadians, it was time for us to go.
Posted by dave at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)