Sunday, May 13, 2012

Atlantic City - At a dock

Renovated - Now the Golden Nugget - repainted golden
We left Cape May at 7:00 headed north. The forecast was for increasing wind and waves as the day proceeded so we wanted to reach Atlantic City before the worse of the winds kicked in. We were successful in arriving before noon after we picked up a favorable current allowing us to average 8 kts northward. The trip along the New Jersey coast was uneventful with winds not exceeding 15 kts, not bad.

Atlantic City continues with some major dredging!
We hit the Atlantic City inlet at slack tide so the entrance was without excitement. We chose to anchor off the Coast Guard station in front of the bridge. At first the anchorage was fine. There was a fierce current and winds of 15 kts but the anchor held firm. I put out 85 ft of chain/nylon in 15 ft of water and we never moved an inch. Later in the afternoon, the winds piped up to 20 to 25 kts and we were still secure but the tide had changed and now we were sideways to the incoming waves and the boat took to a severe side to side rocking, about 20 degrees per tilt. That was enough to convince us to retreat to the Golden Nugget Marina (aka previously as Trump Marina)  Weighing the anchor was interesting in the 25 kt gusts and waves. Although we only had 85 ft out, the anchor never moved an inch is all the wind. However, with Ann moving the boat forward, I was able to pull the anchor up vertically with the windlass, no mean task in the pitching of the boat with the waves.

They have a great fleet in town - ought to have lots of fresh fish
We then headed for the marina and pulled into a slip partially shielded by a huge yacht, peace at last. The Golden Nugget took over the Trump Marina complex and poured $150 million into a complete renovation of the resort which we plan on exploring tomorrow. The weather reports for the next few days are not good for moving north. Now it's looking more like the weekend before the weather clears enough for a comfortable trip to the Atlantic Highlands. For us, it's not what the boat can take - it can take a lot - it's only about what we're willing to endure for the next 85 mile leg (not much!) So we'll hang out here, waiting for a "comfortable" weather window.

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