This morning we left Coney Island anchorage in the dark, again taking advantage of outgoing tide and the fact that there would be less traffic as we had to cross 3 channels!!
The anchorage was treacherous in the dark, very tight and hard to see the navigational aids. Aqua Map is awesome as it shows the deptch much better than navionics. We are not using Navionics for depth anymore, just for navigating the route and calculating time.
After about 2 hours in the dark watching for barges , difficult with so many anchored with lights making it hard to spot the ones who are moving, we were free of the NY harbour area. There were no recreational vessels as it was so early- 5:30. We had wind from the NW at about 15km. We turned in and put the sails up. It was a challenge keeping TC into the wind due to bumpiness of the ocean swells. I was feeling fluish with fever and sore throat and had to make sure I stayed warm. David knew it would be him mostly today and we exptected 12 hrs to get to Atlantic City. We had poured over the charts trying to find a safe halfway point but Berganet inlet and Ocean City inlet seemed tight , shallow entrances in times that would be against tide and anchorages were hard to get to and shallow. We didn’t want to take those kind of chances. We decided whatever it took to make Atlantic City. David told Tony that he would motor if he needed to keep up speed to make it before dark. Entering a new anchorage inlet after dark is much more treacherous.
I mostly stayed inside, out of the cold and spray. I was fighting the flu, maybe Covid. David had recovered from it a couple of days before. I started with symptoms later than he. I went out to help him with sails and relieving for bathroom and made him quick meals and tea. He was dressed to the hilt and just plowed through. TC slices the waves and swells like a knife making the ride less bumpy. We stayed a few miles off the shoreline to avoid the breakers hitting shallower areas. The beach went on forever with houses dotting the beach. I thought what a beautiful place to visit.
We lost Tony early on. He was in front of us leaving NY but fell behind. We didn’t want to waste time so we hoped he would catch up. We spotted Atlantic City rising out of the ocean at sunset. it looked like it was floating in the water. We were losing light fast and came in at dusk. The inlet was well marked and deep. As we rounded into the inside of the walls, on the port side, David spotted 2 dolphins! They were feeding off the wall that went down 60ft at that spot. I went below to get the Windlass (anchor control remote ) and then this massive fishing boat turned the corner close to David who almost needed to change his pants. These guys though are amazing and good at avoiding us nuisance sailors who get in their way of making a living.
We anchored easily and marvelled at the light emanating from the casinos all around us. Kind of like Las Vegas on water. The anchorage was calm and David was exhausted. I made us an eggplant dip with nacho chips and a broccoli soup and we crashed. It had taken us 13.5 hrs and David had been out there in the wind and spray. Thank God for our hard dodger that protects us from the worst of the wind and spray. Our first open ocean trip had gone well even with me down for the count.
Tony still was not at the anchorage and he wasn’t answering his phone or texts, so we called him VHF 16 and changed to channel 17. He was good, and almost through the channel of the inlet entrance for Atlantic City. We were relieved as he had told us his engine was failing a few hours before and he was soloing. David gave him some advice on his engine but we had not heard from him for hours. He said David’s advice worked and he was able to get his engine going. The wind had shifted which necessitated the use of the engine to head south. He had spotted a whale breaching. He had sailed solo for 16 hours and no hard dodger, so he must have been frozen and super tired. We were worried.
We will hang out at this anchorage in Atlantic City, for a day, to recover, clean the boat and prepare to rounding Cape May and into the Delaware. We decided now that we will be entering protected waters after Cape May, we will slow things down and maybe even get our Dinghy on the water and get to shore and walk around in places.
