Atlantic Highlands at anchor

The Freedom Tower is done!

Last night was a lesson in where not to anchor! We had listened to the forecast for calm winds of 8 to 10 kts out of the northwest, perfect for the Hook Mountain anchorage just southwest pf Croton Point. Well, the forecast didn't match reality! Around 5:00 pm the winds started building out of the north and sometime during the evening peaked out at 26 kts! We were anchored in a sea of whitecaps with plenty of rock and roll action. Getting Hoolie ashore was an exercise in whitewater rafting!

Phil and TJ Bowdler hard at work on Fleetwing

After a long night, we were ready to leave in the morning, even without our morning coffee. Phil helped me get Hoolie ashore amid the 2 ft waves and off we went. When the tide turned south, we found calmer water after the George Washington bridge and made the Atlantic Highlands anchorage by 1:30. We found the marina there completely rebuilt. All the docks have been replaced that were damaged by the hurricane. They also had a dinghy dock in second fairway beyond the fuel dock for use by transients and we got ice at the security center nearby.

End to a perfect day

Now it's very calm and we're looking forward to a calm night for catching up on what we missed last night. We'll need it since we plan on  being off the anchor by 6:00 am at the latest on our route to Atlantic City. Phil and TJ Bowder will be leaving us there to rent a car for the trip home. We don't know yet if we'll stay another day or just head out the next day for Cape May, depends on the latest weather report, however unreliable they've been so far!