The Jersey Coast

approaching Atlantic City

       Hello readers!  In our last episode, I observed how the New Jersey side of the Delaware River was, shall we say, not very picturesque.  Well, the Atlantic side gives one a whole different perspective!  More details to follow.

      So we continued our journey down the river and out into Delaware Bay.  The wind was up and down all day.  When the wind died, we saw what appeared to be spots where the water was boiling.  It was schools of little fish!  A thousand of them, all congregating at the surface, and even jumping.  Weird.

light house near where we are anchored

      We ended up in the little beachside community of Lewes, Delaware.  Located at the southeastern-most point of the bay, the town was literally at the end of the road.  We anchored in a picturesque little cove with lots of wind protection, along with a handful of other cruising boats.  Kayakers, jet skis, and small sailboats came by all day.  We could hear the surf from the Atlantic right on the other side of the breakwater.

river canal in Lewes

       Wednesday we dinghied into town for provisions and lunch.  We went down a river canal lined with marinas and stately homes.  Lewes is a lovely, quaint, seaside town that caters to tourists, fishermen, and boat owners.  There was a ferry which crossed from here to Cape May, New Jersey, on the other side of the bay.  The town reminded me a lot of Friday Harbor, Washington.

Joanna & Daryl, crew of Requin.

      Back at the anchorage, we hooked up with our boat neighbors aboard S/V Requin.  The boat name is the French word for “shark”.  It was crewed by Daryl and Joanna, from South Africa and Scotland, respectively, the nicest people ever.  Well heck, ALL cruising sailors are nice!  The two of them have been sailing all over the world their entire lives.  We had sundowners and sailor talk in the cockpit late into the night, discussing every topic imaginable.  As I meet people from all over, what never ceases to amaze me is their knowledge and interest in American politics!

view of the bow from my cabin window

      Thursday morning, both we and Requin crew pulled up anchor and headed northbound out into the Atlantic.  We buddy-boated for a while.  The conditions were awesome!  Ten to twelve knots of wind on the beam, clear skies, and a one-knot current off the stern as a bonus.  Oh and an occasional dolphin escort.  The Atlantic was strangely quite calm; in the Gulf of Mexico, we’d be crashing and bashing into six-foot waves by now. 

super yacht

      Once across the mouth of Delaware Bay, the beachfront communities of New Jersey came into view.  Mile after mile after mile of little beach towns, interspersed with amusement parks, water parks, beach cottages, stadiums, and everything.  Every bit of beach was crammed with sun-worshippers.  Lots of powerboat traffic, too, even some pulling parasails up in the air.  Plus super-yachts, tour copters, and airplanes towing advertising banners.  It all reminded me a lot of Galveston – except that nobody was in the water!  Might have something to do with the water temp, which was 23° C, according to our instruments.

amusement park on the beach

      At the helm, I decided to have some fun, and brought Calmer Waters to about 200 yards off the shore.  Here, I had about 10 feet of depth, and a really nice offshore sea-breeze.  I cruised along thusly for many miles.  It gave me an opportunity to check out the beach, and simultaneously show off our magnificent vessel!

      But late in the afternoon, the wind started to really pick up, and with it, the waves got rough.  So we had to abandon the close-in beach cruising and head out to deeper water.  The wind continued to build, all the way up to 18 knots.  Calmer Waters was FLYING, reaching speeds of eight knots!!

Ocean Hotel is tallest building

      The tall buildings of Atlantic City gradually came into view.   There was even an amusement park on a long pier.  Right at sundown, we pulled in and dropped anchor.  The wind was still raging.  We were anchored in a small cove right smack in the middle of all the hotels and casinos and tourist traps.  Tour boats blaring loud music passed us by. 

       It was an awesome day, covering about 50 miles. 

       One perpetual challenge is keeping all our batteries charged up.  Calmer Waters has an impressive array of solar panels, which produce a lot of juice.  But the panels only work when the sun shines, and we have a plethora of battery-powered devices aboard, including of course the boat batteries themselves.  Sometimes we still must run the generator.

dinghy loaded with groceries

      More adventures to come soon!

water fun at our Lewes anchorage

Harrah's Casino, with scrolling marquee on the tall tower.