Day 380 - 381 July 5 - 6, 2023

 Day 380 Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Farley State Marina, Atlantic City to Great Kills Yacht Club, Staten Island, NY

We left the marina at 6am.  We had traveled to the fuel dock yesterday so we were all set to travel on the outside.    It was going to be an 11 hour day so we were hoping the Atlantic would be our friend.  It was very rolly as we passed through Absecon Inlet.  It was strange to see the lighthouse surrounded by big buildings and casinos.  Our ETA was 5:15.

 Sunrise 

Once through the inlet it was more comfortable with waves 2-3 foot but about 8 seconds apart.  Call Me Curly left the marina later (they can go faster) and caught up with us at 7:35.  We traveled with them, AnnaDee and Hey Schlu!.

It was VERY HOT, VERY HAZY, and VERY HUMID.  It was 95 degrees yesterday and again today. You could really see and feel the effects of the Canadian wildfires.  One year ago today we were beat up by Lake Ontario crossing from Oswego to Clayton, NY.

  

 

We saw lots of dolphins as we passed Long Beach Island; we were only a few miles from shore the entire way.   The best, we saw a WHALE!! It was absolutely amazing.  So much time in the Gulf and our crossings to and from the Bahamas and this was a first.  We were both screaming --- "did you see it?".  Just magic.

 Gong buoy 

Hurricane damage

Great Kills is in Sandy Hook Bay.  You can definitely see the hook created by the land.  We had to be wary of the freighters and wove our way through the narrow and shallow channel.  I talked to the harbor host, John, who helped us.  Call Me Curly arrived an hour before us and helped us tie at the dock. 

 

 

Up to the Yacht Club, we enjoyed 2 Tangs for $7.50 and then headed for delicious Italian at Fiore de Mare.  It was recommended by our friends on Awelon Y Mor.

Mushroom ravioli

 Bolognaise

We suffered a bit in the eat -- our air conditioner could not handle the low voltage power at the marina and kept kicking off.  We only read 87 volts; we should get 120.  It was a very sticky night.

Tomorrow on to an anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty!!

Day 381 Thursday, July 6, 2023

We left the marina late since we only had a 2 hour trip today,  We waited for Call Me Curly to fuel up and then set off.  We dealt with freighters in the shipping channel and dodged all the floating debris.  I'm not sure if high tide had anything to do with it but it was big stuff floating by.  

 

AnnaDee spent the night in Manasquan and reported that their was heavy fog approaching Sandy Hook.  They had their radar on.   We were hearing fog horn bells and gong buoys. Some of the haze could have been attributed to a cargo ship fire in Port Newark.  The fire burned for days, and 2 firefighters lost their lives.

We passed under the Verrazano Bridge, the official mark for the New York Harbor.   Lots of ferry and commercial traffic didn't stop us from making our way to the Statue of Liberty.

  

We took turns with Call Me Curly and took each others pictures in front of the statue.  We  have done this in the past with our other boats but it never gets old! 

 

 

Call Me Curly

 Eric's Inheritance 

We found an anchorage behind the statue, with only 2 other boats there.  There are underground cables that you need to worry about but we didn't have a problem.   AnnaDee would cross their wake at the Statue; we planned to celebrate with them on Call Me Curly.  

 Eric's Inheritance at anchor

Two Harbors was one on the other boats in the anchorage.  They are Loopers.  We invited them to the wake crossing party -- they are actually the new owners of Phil-N-Wild!  Susan and Danny sold their boat when they crossed their wake in Stuart, Florida.  They told us to keep an eye out for Two Harbors.  Deb and Tom were very excited to join us for the celebration.  It was quite rocky in the anchorage; Grant played Uber driver and dinghied everyone to their boat.  

 AnnaDee --their boat is just like ours!

It was so much fun to celebrate with M.E and Tommy for their wake crossing.  Soon it will be our turn.  Hard to believe.  AnnaDee will head home tomorrow.

Front row: Grant, Tommy, Sharon, Peg, Jerry and Deb

Back Row: Tom (Two Harbors) and M.E.

Grant ferrying everyone back to their boats.

We have chosen to travel on to Croton-On-Hudson.  From there we can catch the train to NYC, travel to West Point and visit the Culinary Institute of America.

View of Lady Liberty from our anchorage that night.

Spoiler Alert:  We will cross our wake TODAY, July 20, 2023!

Subsequent posts will fill in the last 2 weeks of our adventure.  Stay tuned.....

Day 375 - 379 June 30 - July 4, 2023

Day 375 Friday, June 30, 2023

Utsch’s Marina Cape May, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ

We had to maneuver to get out of our slip because of the narrow fairway and past the tugboat docked next to us.  Underway at 7am, it was promising to be grey and hazy.    The inlet was rough as we made our way out to the Atlantic Ocean.  We hoped that the ocean would be more comfortable.    A few minutes later we were settling in with swells that were far apart; we were grateful. 

It remained hazy all day.  Was it smoke from the Canadian wildfires?  We traveled 2 to 3 miles off shore all day and were lucky enough to see multiple dolphins and big fish along the way. 

 

  Hazy New Jersey shore.

We arrived at Farley State Marina at The Golden Nugget Casino at 12noon.  We were placed on “H” dock but moved to “E” dock when they didn’t have 50 amp power – a much better spot, next to other Loopers. 

 Abescon Lighthouse at Abescon Inlet from the ocean to the marina.

  

Coast Guard are at the Abescon Inlet

Boaters are allowed to use the casino and hotel pool.  Sharon won $127 in 10minutes on a slot   machine while Jerry didn’t play and still collected $1.20 of unclaimed winnings!  

We had some yummy appetizers at Vic & Anthony’s and dinner at the Deck bar. 

 Eric's Inheritance docked at Farley State Park Marina, The Golden Nugget Casino.  Check out the size of the boats around us!.

Day 376 Saturday, July 1, 2023

We tried to take a walk around the marina area but found it lacking sidewalks and full of highway traffic.  We did discover that Atlantic City has a Jitney service that connects visitors to all the Casinos -- how handy for them!  For $2.50 each Jerry and I hopped on and found our way to church.  St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church was beautiful.  The Jitney is popular; the first 2 were full but we finally made it back to the boat. 

 

  

Day 377 Sunday, July 2, 2023

We introduced Grant and Sharon to the Jitney.  We rode to the Ocean Resort and Casino located right on the Boardwalk.  Lots of people checking out the sights with us and enjoying the beach.  We didn't go in the water.  It was definitely inviting in the 90 degree heat.  Great people watching but poor service when we stopped at Bally's on the Boardwalk for a refresher.  So hot, we rode back to Ocean on the boardwalk trolley.

 

 

 

View of the ocean from inside Oceans Resort.

Marina and Casino at night.

Day 378 Monday, July 3, 2023

Today was grocery day.  We Ubered to ACME grocery in Brigantine.  It was nice to be in a real store with an actual selection.  Doesn't take much to get us excited.... Our driver back was also a 22 year employee at Harrah's Casino in the cash office.  She was very friendly and professional; not always the case.

Groceries taken care of it was time for laundry. One each washer and dryer weren't  working, but I didn't discover that until after I had already put my money in them.   I had to move dripping wet clothes from one washer to another.  Ugh.  I am looking forward to doing laundry at home.  The one good note was that the laundry was air conditioned, very welcome in the 90 degree weather.

 

So much power.....

 Docked behind us.

Day 379 Tuesday, July 4, 2023

So warm, we spent the day in the air conditioned boat.  We decorated the boat with bunting but there wasn't much going on for the holiday nearby.  We did enjoy happy hour with Call Me Curly and M.E. and Tommy from AnnaDee.  They had gone home for a wedding and returned today to finish their loop.  We first met them when we crossed with them to the Bahamas.  We planned for our travel together the next day then went back to the boat for taco dinner.

We had a nice visit with family celebrating the 4th together at Dad's, caught a few fireworks (meh, definitely better at home) and then early to bed for our 6am departure tomorrow.

Tomorrow - Great Kills Yacht Club, Staten Island New York --- the FINAL state!!!