Atlantic City - ready to leave

TJ Bowdler took this picture of the Captain and First Mate of Fleetwing

In thinking about the trip down the New Jersey coast on Wednesday, the weather forecast needs to be interpreted differently. The forecast was for 3 to 4 ft waves but with 10 kts or so wind. Now 4 ft waves are a little higher than we wanted to spend 11 hours experiencing but we went anyway. The interpretation part was in realizing that the wave action reported was from long period swells of 10 to 12 seconds. They didn't break, just rolled under the boat, hardly noticeable. Since there was very little wind, no wave action was generated from the wind and so the boat rode smoothly. In the future we'll tuck that info in our experience bucket and know better how to read forecasts for a smooth ride down the coast.

Sunset view from Fleetwing at our dock

Phil and TJ Bowdler left today to return to PYC. They found a "Getaway Special" from Hertz for only $56 one way to Poughkeepsie, NY. So we said our goodbyes and they got off in the morning. Meanwhile, we did a needed wash so we would have fresh sheets for the aft cabin, refilled the water tanks and washed down Fleetwing's topsides. The marina here has seen better days. They had said a renewal project for the marina was going to happen last winter but it never did. The docks are rather worn and at the current rate of $3/ft, overpriced. They were supposed to go on winter rates ($2/ft) but this years it's been delayed until the first of October, every year it gets a little later. If that wasn't bad enough, the transient docks are covered with the residue of seagulls digestive output. I spent about an hour washing down our docks so we could walk to shore without messing our shoes. We've been here two days and we've yet to venture inside the Golden Nugget Casino, no attraction for us there. Clearly the casinos here are hurting.

We'll leave early Friday morning for Cape May for an overnight anchorage by the Coast Guard station and look at the weather. So far it looks good for a run up Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake City anchorage on Saturday. The next leg to Annapolis will be either Sunday or Monday, most likely on Monday if the currently weather predictions hold for storms over the weekend. We plan on new crew in the form of Rudy and Alison boarding at Annapolis for the trip south down the Chesapeake and perhaps to Elizabeth City if the weather holds.