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Pirate Themed Playground
Who wouldn't want to play here? Today, we leave behind the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean as we pass through New York City and head into the Hudson River.
I can honestly say, if we did not have our optimism and faith, this week could have been a tough one. But we tend to try and see events as, not problems, but challenges. They are opportunities for us to learn flexibility and adaptability, to use our creativity and innovation, and to faithfully believe all things will work out to good.
Here is a quick run down of our weeks events (and their outcomes):
A drained starting battery : Last week at anchor, we went to start the engine and, chug, chug…nothing. So we waited a few moments and tried again. No go. Lukus checked the starting battery levels and they were super low. Fortunately, we have our house bank batteries, and so he was able to switch the power source and get our motor started. His thoughts were that perhaps there was a loose connection or a bad cell in the battery. However, since that day, it has started up each time, lickety split. No problem!
The New Jersey ICW: We started
out on the New Jersey stretch of the ICW last Friday. We were blissfully unaware that it was a long weekend when we started out that morning, but we soon figured it out. Memorial Day. Busy, busy boat weekend. When you hear the expression, “busy beehive”, that is exactly what it was like. Boats of every size were zipping past us, tossing us around in their wake. It seemed like everyone was moving double, triple, even quadruple the speed of us, but I guess if you only have weekends on the water, you don’t have time for dilly dallying.
Beyond just steering clear of passing traffic, you need to be cautious where you steer clear to. The channel in the New Jersey ICW is skinny. Both narrow and shallow. In fact, there were a couple of times we scrubbed bottom right in the channel. It is a little heart-pumping when you watch the depth sounder drop to 6, 5, then 4 feet (especially when your boat water depth is 4 feet!).
Now add to that, the boaters in New Jersey don’t seem to understand the concept of a channel. Literally hundreds of small boats (everything from Whalers and
skiffs to pontoons, canoes and kayaks) were stopped right in the middle of the channel with their fishing rods in. That’s like stopping your bike in the middle of the street to pick up roadkill (well, maybe not exactly the same – but you get the idea).
All in all, when you are in a high intensity situation, slow and steady is often the best way to go (ok, the only way we can go in this boat…lol). Things can seem more stressful and intense if join in the race. It is a lot easier to avoid collisions and move around obstacles in a small space when you aren’t moving at breakneck speed. And so, we made it through without incident. No problem!
Swimmer in the ICW: Day two into the ICW, in a particularly narrow part of the channel, surrounded by houses, we see something swimming across the channel. What is it? It is a dog?? Sure enough, that is exactly what it was. At first, we were concerned he had fallen off a boat, but we soon heard him being called to from a backyard along the water’s edge. Fortunately, the boats around had all spotted
him and so everyone stopped while he paddled back across the channel to home. No rescue necessary, just someone’s furry friend, going for a leisurely dip. No problem!
Heater: As I mentioned in our last post, it has been chilly here. We have seen a number of cloudy, stormy days in a row. And as a result, we have had our heater on quite a bit. A few days ago, Lukus went to turn on the heater and smoke began pouring into the cabin. For some reason, the smoke was being blocked from traveling through the stack (chimney). Of course, Lukus turned it off right away, and began reasoning it through. It didn’t take him long to discover that the top of the stack, which is shaped like a “T”, had collapsed on itself when the spot welds broke apart (and no, they were not his welds, they were factory welds). Within a short time, Lukus had used his ingenuity to temporarily repair it using a hose clamp. And so, we have heat again…yeah!! No problem!
You know, now that I write this out, it doesn’t even seem to be as big a list as it seemed in
Coming into Ventnor City
the ICW became quite narrow and winding, lined with houses all along. my head. All it really does is add a little more excitement to the adventure!
Moving on...
Close to the end of the New Jersey ICW (the ICW runs 112 miles from Cape May to Manasquan Inlet, where you then have to go out into the Atlantic for the last 25 mile stretch to New York), we finally were reunited with our friends Andrew and Jack on Tranquility 2. If you recall, we had met and traveled with them quite a bit in the river systems back in the fall. While we crossed over to the Bahamas, they had taken the time to explore Florida and the east coast, but have stayed in touch to try and coordinate a meet up.
On Monday, we had anchored at Mantoloking, a mere 5 miles south of where Jack and Andrew were docked at a marina. We were there to wait for a good weather window to head out into the ocean. Tuesday dawned with little promise for a nice cruise and so, we decided to just lay low and wait. Later in the afternoon, after moving from the marina to an anchorage, Andrew decided to pay us a visit
Ventnor City
It amazed us how many BIG houses we saw. How can so many people have so much money?? Most of the homes were 3 stories! in his dinghy.
Although we had thought to stay where we were anchored, after a couple hours of visiting, in true “Abigail” style, we had changed plans and were pulling anchor. Lukus had decided that rather than making Andrew dinghy back in the chilly drizzle, we were going to deliver him back to his boat in style. A short hour later, we were rafted up to Tranquility 2 and sharing dinner with Jack and Andrew both.
The following morning, after waiting for tides and current, we all headed out of the anchorage and into the Atlantic for the last time. The winds and waves were moderate (much better than some we have had), although I still ended up having to lay down for most of it. The waves were on the beam, which always sends us rolling. We also ended up fighting through some fog, but with our radar, we avoided any collisions (no problem!). After 4 ½ hours at sea, we arrived in Sandy Hook just south of New York and dropped the hook. Tranquility 2 and another boat, Bucket List, joined us a short while later in the anchorage.
Today, after waiting until 10:30am for
fog to lift, we heaved anchor and headed up into the Hudson River, passing New York City along the way. We have elected not to stop; the traffic and fast pace is just a little too much. Maybe we are still adjusting to “industrialized” society, but it just didn’t hold a lot of appeal to us this time around.
We plan to stop though in the next few days. It has been almost two weeks since we have been at a marina, so we are running low on fresh foods and piling up on garbage. But we still have plenty of “gourmet goodies” such as mac and cheese and soup on board, so we won’t starve. And the garbage isn’t stinking yet. So, no problem!!
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Sheri Knott
non-member comment
Garbage
As long as the stuff does not stink you are good to go!