From The Big Apple to Long Island's Gold Coast

Monday morning, July 18^th – There were two reasons we wanted to make an early departure from Lincoln Harbor Yacht Center.  First, the choppy water within the marina would turn even choppier once the commuter-filled high speed ferries began crisscrossing the Hudson River.  And second, the infamous water of Hell Gate stood between us and our destination for the day, the Long Island Sound.

Hell Gate is where the strong currents of the East River meet the waters of the Harlem River near Mill Rock.  Its reputation for strong, reversing currents (4 to 5 knots), large waves, and heavy commercial traffic is well-deserved.  Timing your safest, least harrowing passage through the area is dependent on the tidal currents.  After consulting Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book, Frank determined that an early departure from LHYC would be prudent.

Lazy W’s engines were purring; by 6AM we had thrown off the lines and were ready to go.  While I stowed the fenders and tidied up the lines, Frank put Lazy W in reverse.  No movement!  I wondered if we had lost reverse gear.  Frank wondered if we had forgotten to undo all the lines.  Neither one of us was correct.  Lazy W’s bow was sitting in mud!  Even though there was 40+ feet of water in the Hudson River, there was less than 4 feet in the marina.  We tied up again waiting for the incoming tide to release the bow.  A half hour later the bow was swaying in the water so we made a second attempt to leave.  We extricated Lazy W from the slip and dredged our way through the fairway to the Hudson River.

Numerous NY Waterway taxis were already traversing the Hudson and speeding up and down the East River.  It was a gorgeous morning for a cruise past the South Street Seaport...

...and under the Brooklyn Bridge...

 

...and up the East River passing the Chrysler Building.

 

 

Our timing through Hell Gate was just about perfect.  There was no on-coming commercial traffic to intimidate us and the current was running in our favor.  Before long we were approaching the Throgs Neck Bridge, the demarcation line between the East River and the Long Island Sound.  Under the bridge at Fort Schuyler is Frank’s alma mater, SUNY Maritime College.  

Manhasset Bay is on the south shore of the Long Island Sound about 5 miles east of the Throgs Neck Bridge.  The town of Port Washington manages a mooring field of 10 yellow balls that are available to cruisers for two nights free of charge.  Amazingly there were several mooring balls available just off green buoy 3A and we snagged one for Lazy W.  We spent several days here bobbing amidst the hundreds of sailboats, occasionally taking the dinghy into town where we stuffed ourselves with calamari and clams oreganata during happy hour at Louie’s Oyster Bar and Grille or feasted on incomparable NY pizza at any of the pizzerias along Shore Drive.  We made time to dinghy around the bay to gawk at the surrounding pricey real estate.

 

 

After dinner one evening we had some unexpected visitors to the boat.

The heat wave gripping the eastern seaboard was getting a bit unbearable.  Lazy W has air conditioning but in order to use it at anchor we need to run the generator.  Since there is little insulation on Lazy W to keep the cool air in and the heat out, as soon as the generator and A/C are turned off the temperature aboard begins its upward climb.  We needed to spend some time in a marina where we could plug in and run the A/C 24/7.  Brewer’s Yacht Yard in Glen Cove, here we come!

Glen Cove’s location on the North Shore of Long Island seemed like a good place to rent a car and do some touring to sites that we would find hard to access by boat, bike or foot.  Sagamore Hill, the Cold Spring Whaling Museum and the Vanderbilt Mansion were on our list of must sees.

On the hottest day of the record breaking heat wave we visited Sagamore Hill, the un-air-conditioned home of Theodore Roosevelt.    TR, our 26^th president, was born in New York City in 1858.  He served the country in many capacities – Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War, Governor of New York, and Vice President under William McKinley.  He became the youngest president of the United States upon McKinley’s assassination in 1901.  Sagamore Hill, his estate at Oyster Bay, became the “Summer White House” from 1902-1909, hosting many leaders and dignitaries from around the world.

The 23 rooms of Sagamore Hill are filled with the original furnishings of the Roosevelt family.  The personality and spirit of Roosevelt fill the house – 6,000 books fill his library shelves, bear skin rugs cover the floors and, most disturbingly, heads of enormous water buffalo and deer from his many hunting expeditions and safaris peer down from the walls.  His Rough Rider hat and sword hang precariously from the antlers of one such head.

An avid sportsman and hunter, Theodore Roosevelt was also a staunch conservationist.  During his presidential term he doubled the number of national parks, set aside 100 million acres of national forests, and signed into law the Antiquities Act which enabled him and his successors to proclaim historic landmarks and structures as national monuments.

The stuffed bear of our childhood that we all know as Teddy Bear was named after Theodore Roosevelt.  The story goes that in 1902 he refused to shoot a sickly bear on a hunting trip.  That moment was immortalized in political cartoons.  The founders of the Ideal Toy Corporation seized this as a great marketing opportunity and asked Roosevelt’s permission to give his name to a new stuffed bear that they were getting ready to sell.  The rest is history...

Cold Spring Harbor was one of Long Island’s leading whaling ports from 1836-1860.  The Whaling Museum on Main Street is filled with fine examples of scrimshaw, ship models, and photographs from that time period.  A fully equipped whale boat dominates the exhibits.  When a lookout perched high atop the whale ship’s rigging spotted a whale, a six man crew would launch one of several whale boats and row out to the whale.  The harpooner would spear it and the crew would eventually row back to the whale ship with the whale in tow.  Here the whale would be processed into whale oil for illumination, lubricating oil for machinery, and whalebone, the flexible plastic of that time period.   The museum also houses an exhibit ‘From Prey to Protection’ which explores the changing attitudes towards whaling.

At the turn of the last century, Long Island’s north shore was home to such extravagant wealth and style it became known as the “Gold Coast.”  America’s wealthy industrialists amassed great fortunes in a time before there existed any sort of federal regulation or taxes on acquired wealth.  Families such as the Vanderbilts, the Fricks, the Pratts, and the Guggenheims built the American equivalent of castles and chateaus.  More than 500 mansions graced Long Island in the early decades of the 20th century.  Although many of these homes proved to be too large and inefficient to maintain and were demolished, some still exist today, though in another capacity – as a college, a museum, a planetarium, a religious institute, a conference center or state and county parks.

The summer home of William K. Vanderbilt II, great grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, overlooks Northport Harbor in the town of Centerport.  Cornelius built his wealth in shipping and railroads.  Willie reaped the benefits of the family wealth.  As a young man his passion was motor car racing and he and his wealthy friends went so far as to build the 45-mile Vanderbilt Motor Parkway from Flushing in Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma to host the Vanderbilt Cup races!  The first section of the parkway opened in 1908.  He was also an avid sailor; he owned many yachts and circled the globe numerous times. 

Vanderbilt’s 24-room, Spanish Revival mansion was built in stages between 1910 and 1936 and reflects the eclectic tastes and collecting interests of Mr. Vanderbilt.  You can’t name your estate ‘Eagle’s Nest’ and not have some eagles present.  The two large eagles flanking the entrance to the estate were taken from the original Grand Central Station.  Just beyond is a grassy area that has columns taken from the ancient ruins of Carthage.  A pathway of Belgian blocks winds through the grounds.  The entrance to the house features a bell tower with a spiked gate overhead to mimic a castle’s portcullis.

 The bell tower topped entrance to the Vanderbilt mansion

The shopping malls of the wealthy were the monasteries and cathedrals of Europe.  As was typical of many of the grand estates of the Gold Coast, the Vanderbilt mansion is filled with fixtures, tapestries, art works and antiquities from around the world.  There is an excess of taxidermy throughout the house with an entire wing dedicated to birds, butterflies, and large land animals.   It is hard to believe that while the country was in the throes of the Great Depression the Vanderbilts were having bath tubs carved from single slabs of marble and living in such grand surroundings!  Such uninhibited wealth and opulence of this era have been forever immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. 

The Big Apple

July 13, 2011 – After 37 years of marriage the most romantic way to celebrate was a ten hour, 90-mile run up the coast of New Jersey?!?! 

Bringing up 125 feet of mud-caked anchor chain took longer than anticipated especially since the anchor was fouled with a large flap of maroon boat canvas.  We still managed to get underway by 6AM from Atlantic City.  The Atlantic Ocean was good to us – gentle swells and sunny skies all the way to Asbury Park where, despite the chances of precipitation being only 20%, it rained hard enough for us to button up the canvas at the helm.  The rain was short-lived.

We have come to expect conditions at Sandy Hook to be less than comfortable so we were not surprised by the gusty north winds and rolling seas here.  And unlike an infamous day in Spring 2002, there was no fog to contend with so the Admiral did not feel an overwhelming need to down several Margaritas at the end of the cruise!

Rounding Sandy Hook we decided to forego a stop at Atlantic Highlands and pointed Lazy W across Lower Bay to Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island.  This protected, tree-lined cove was bespeckled with mooring balls and sailboats.  We gingerly picked our way through them before dropping anchor, breaking out the Margaritas, and celebrating our uneventful trek up the coast – oh yeah, and our anniversary too!  Love ya, Captain!

We spent another day in Great Kills Harbor and not because the folks at Richmond County Yacht Club were warm and welcoming – they were not!  RCYC manages the field of mooring balls and since we could not raise them on arrival via the VHF to secure one, we were not greeted warmly at their ‘for guests only’ dinghy dock.  We quickly ran in for a bag of ice and headed across the harbor to Gateway National Recreation Area run by the U.S. National Park Service for ice cream and Italian ice – exactly as Frank remembered it from his childhood days in Brooklyn (except for the price!).

Wanting to get an early start to ride the favorable currents in New York Harbor, we were up with the sun.  The anchor chain was muddy and littered with fishing lines and hooks.  No sooner had I secured the anchor on the roller at the bow pulpit when the starboard engine sputtered and stalled.  The anchor was put out once more while Frank scrambled below to change the fuel filter.   He has become quite adept at this task and we were ready to go in no time – except that now the engine would not start.  Despite repeated efforts by the Captain and the Admiral, she refused to turn over.  Finally Frank concluded that the solenoid was faulty but he managed to jump start her and we left Great Kills Harbor 90 minutes after our original attempt.

Wind and weather were great!  We encountered some impressive commercial traffic on the move at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

 

Nordrhine southbound under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge

which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn

New York Harbor lived up to its reputation as one of the world’s busiest!  Numerous Staten Island ferries and New York Waterway taxies spewing great fantails of water, plenty of go-faster boats kicking up huge wakes, dozens of anchored barges, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour boats, Celebrity and Holland America cruise ships, fireboats, Coast Guard vessels – it’s all here to ratchet up the anxiety levels of newly arrived pleasure boaters, Us!

The Staten Island ferry, John F. Kennedy

To our starboard side the Wallenius Wilhelmsen was keeping pace with Lazy W until its captain radioed a request that we slow down so he could turn to port ahead of us and make way to Bayonne.  Who could argue with that behemoth?
 

And then you pass the Statue of Liberty, an awesome sight with her torch rising 300 feet above the water as a beacon of entry into the free world. 

Across the river, the Freedom Tower is finally rising over the tightly packed skyscrapers of lower Manhattan.

We continued north along the Hudson River to Weehawken, New Jersey and the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Center.  On previous visits here we found the wakes from all the commercial traffic bounced so frequently through the marina that you felt seasick while tied up at your slip!  But a recent advertisement in a cruising guide proclaimed that ‘we’ve tamed the Hudson’ with a new seawall designed by Stevens Institute of Technology and that LHYC was now ‘calm and quiet.’  Well, it wasn’t!  New rubber collars around the pilings had quieted the shrill noises that had accompanied the rise and fall of the floating docks but boats still bobbed and quaked viciously throughout the marina.  But the view across the Hudson of midtown Manhattan is priceless.  We stayed three days!

 

Frank did a great job (as usual) fighting the currents in the marina and getting Lazy W into a narrow slip.  He was still quite miffed by our GPS issues, our engine starter problem, our fuel problem, and a faulty knee joint.  The updated chip for our GPS was waiting for us at the marina office – too bad that it was already outdated and, though it solved its startup problem, it created a host of others.  A revision was on its way!  Further troubleshooting determined that the engine starter problem was most likely due to operator error and a finicky key that sometimes slips from its required position thus preventing the engine from starting.  The fuel problem may be due to lack of marine grade hoses that may need replacement.  The faulty knee joint is due to old age and will have to be tolerated for now.

We were glad to spend our first evening near the Big Apple in the company of our friend, Jim Rich.  Dinner at the Chart House, cocktails on Lazy W – a great night.  As requested Jim arrived with a grease gun so that the next morning the Captain could grease the Admiral’s creaky anchor windlass.  Jim took us for provisions in Hoboken before he left for Long Island.  Thanks Jim!

Our chores somewhat completed, it was time for some sightseeing.  We hopped on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Newport/Pavonia (near where Jon and Nancy lived before their move to Thailand) where we switched to the Path train to the World Trade Center stop.  Nearly ten years after 9/11, Freedom Tower is rising from the WTC site.  It now has steel reaching to the 72^nd floor and glass wall panels reaching to the 44^th floor.  When completed the tower will have 104 floors and will be 1,776 feet high, including the 400-foot spire.  Publishing giant Condé Nast has already signed a 25-year lease to occupy a third of the commercial space – the 21^st through 40^th floors.

 

 There is plenty of history to be appreciated in Lower Manhattan.  We paused at the New York Stock Exchange.  On this site in 1792, twenty-four brokers began trading shares on the sidewalk on Wall Street.  The present building was constructed in 1903.

 

At the corner of Pearl Street and Broad Street sits Fraunces Tavern, the oldest surviving structure in Manhattan.  George Washington and the officers of the Continental Army spent a lot of time conferring in this building which is not only home to a restaurant and tavern but also houses two floors of Revolutionary War artifacts, paintings and antiques.  In 1783, George Washington bade farewell to his officers in the tavern’s ‘long room.’  We joined a tour and spent a few hours relearning our American history.

From 1892-1924, the immigration station on Ellis Island processed over 12 million immigrants seeking entry and a new life in America.  In 1954, Ellis Island was abandoned and fell into disrepair.  Fundraising efforts in the 1980’s by Chrysler’s Lee Iacocca, himself a son of Italian immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, helped fuel its restoration.  Today the minaret-topped, castle-like structure has been restored to its 1900’s appearance to give the visitor a sense of what greeted the hopeful immigrants who reached our shore after long and arduous journeys aboard crowded steamships.

A visit to Ellis Island had been on my bucket list for years so we boarded a ferry from Liberty State Park early on Sunday morning.  A park ranger led a tour through Registry Hall giving us a step-by-step overview of the entry process – the medical review, the legal questions, the money exchange.  One poignant exhibit, Treasures from Home, displays some of the possessions that the immigrants deemed necessary to bring from their homeland – everything from linens to rolling pins, tools of their trade to teddy bears, china, photographs and sewing machines.

Ellis Island

The ferry to Ellis Island also stops at Liberty Island where the 151-foot Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) stands.  Given to the United States by France to honor the American ideals of freedom and liberty, she has been standing watch over New York Harbor since 1886.  Millions of tourists visit her each year.

Another packed tour boat arrives at Liberty Island

Whenever we plan for an extra early departure something inevitably happens to thwart our plan.  July 18th would prove to be no exception...

Cape May to Atlantic City

Cape May has always been a favorite stopover of mine on our way north/south along the New Jersey coast.  From our slip at Utsch’s Marina it is just a short stroll to the Lobster House to pickup fresh scallops and the homemade soup of the day for preparation on Lazy W.  A leisurely bike ride down Lafayette Street brings you to Beach Avenue which follows the line of dunes fronting the shoreline.  All along the way are the grand ‘painted ladies’ from the late nineteenth century lovingly restored into B&B’s, guest houses and private homes.  The city of Cape May has more of these Victorian structures than any other place in the country and in 1976 the city was designated a National Historic Landmark District.

Along Beach Avenue

The beach promenade was hosting a small art fair and we perused the photographs and watercolors before crossing the walkway over the dunes to the beach.  And we were able to do this without purchasing a ‘beach tag’ which was needed later on that morning when ‘beach tag enforcers’ controlled access to the beach.

We departed Cape May Harbor on July 11^th.  Just as we reached the Atlantic Ocean we were surprised to see a lone female paddleboarder about one mile offshore – not another soul around her and we thought, how dangerous is that?  Later on while reading The Press of Atlantic City we realized that she was Margo Pellegrino, a 44-year-old mother of two, who is an expert stand-up paddleboarder.   We saw her getting started on her quest to become the first person to do a non-stop paddleboard excursion from Cape May to Sandy Hook – 127 miles!  Why? To raise money for Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.  She expects to arrive in Sandy Hook sometime tomorrow afternoon, 30 hours after leaving Cape May.  And we thought we were adventurous!!

There is not much happening out in the Atlantic off the Jersey coast.  We followed the long white ribbon of sand from about two miles out.  A few pods of dolphin, several parasailers off Wildwood and an occasional fishing excursion boat were all that kept us company until the casino towers of Atlantic City came into view.  It was time to brace ourselves for entry into busy Absecon Inlet.

Atlantic City Coast Guard Station

Rather than pay exorbitant marina fees at the Trump-managed Farley State Marina we returned to a favorite anchorage in a basin just off Rum Point.  The only problem with this anchorage is getting there – the water leading to it is very shallow.  As we entered I could see fishermen standing in waist-deep water just a few feet off Lazy W’s starboard side but Frank bravely hugged the portside muddy flats.  There were no other boats anchored in the basin and we picked a choice spot in twelve feet of water.  A nice refreshing breeze kept us comfortable but would later prove to be a BIG problem.

Borgata’s, The Water Club and Harrah’s from our Atlantic City anchorage

(note the wind turbines to the right)

As darkness enveloped the anchorage, the entire wavy-top building behind Harrah’s transformed into a huge, garish electronic billboard! 

WORLD SERIES OF POKER!

HANGOVER SLOTS!

CASH SPIN!

HOLY GUACOMOLE

 AUTHENTIC MEXICAN CUISINE AND TEQUILA!

HANG OUT AT THE RED DOOR SPA!

And then the gentle breeze turned on us and blew at 20-25 knots with gusts of 30 knots.  By midnight we were dragging anchor and drifting perilously close to some small boat piers.  With adrenaline pumping, we sprang into action with a plan to reset the hook.  I donned a life jacket and fought my way (literally) through the wind to reach the bow pulpit while Frank started the engines.  I undid the bridle and raised the muddy anchor as Frank motored Lazy W further out into the basin where we let out 125 feet of anchor chain.  More than an hour later we convinced ourselves that the wind was calming down and the anchor was holding.  Too keyed up to sleep we made breakfast and wondered aloud how Margo Pellegrino, the paddleboarder, was faring in these conditions.

The same blustery winds that caused us to drag anchor forced Margo Pellegrino ashore at 3AM at Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island.  She had paddled beyond Atlantic City!  While she had planned to continue her trek up the Jersey coast at sunup, weather conditions were not ideal.  However, she managed to paddle as far as Seaside Heights (north of Barnegat Inlet) before abandoning her quest to reach Sandy Hook.  She told a reporter, “At best we would have been a Coast Guard rescue, and at worst we would have been dead.”  Undaunted, Margo plans to attempt the 127-mile paddle again someday.  Her current effort raised $2,300 for childhood cancer research. 

While Margo was paddling toward Seaside Heights, we listened to marine forecasts and decided to stay at anchor for another day awaiting more favorable seas for the remaining 90 mile cruise to Sandy Hook.  We dinghied across Absecon Inlet and stopped in at the Farley State Marina for ice.  The dock hand there informed us that docking fees were now half the price we remembered them being in 2002!  We could have been tied securely to a dock instead of dragging anchor halfway across the Rum Point basin!!  “And what fun would that have been?” asked the Captain.

On to Cape May, New Jersey

Baltimore’s Waterfront Promenade is a seven mile long sidewalk that connects the historic communities of Canton, Fells Point and Federal Hill to the Inner Harbor.  Future plans call for an extension that will reach to Fort McHenry.  The wide brick path zigzags along the waterfront over what were once crumbling piers and rotting warehouses, replaced now by open green spaces and modern condos.  Anchorage Marina sits on the Canton end of the promenade and if the weather had not been so hazy, hot and humid we most likely would have walked or biked our way to the Inner Harbor; we walked the path into Fells Point before turning back to the air conditioned comfort of Lazy W where we awaited the start of the 4^th of July fireworks.

As showtime neared, a sprinkling of rain drops began to fall but that did not dampen the spirits of the many partiers on the marina docks.  The fireworks display got underway at 9:30 and 18 minutes later the grand finale brought cheers and horn blasts from the flotilla of boats idling in the Patapsco River.  While Baltimore was purported to have the biggest fireworks display in the mid-Atlantic region, I for one thought that previous Norfolk displays over the Elizabeth River had this one beat!

We unexpectedly spent another day in Baltimore after Frank’s routine check of the engine room detected a leak in the air conditioner fittings.  The plastic connectors that screw into the copper fittings had hairline cracks and were allowing water to drip into the bilge.  With a gleam in his eyes, Frank scrambled into action, removed the fittings, pried out the plastic stuff and headed off to the nearby West Marine to purchase replacement parts.  The repair itself did not take that long but the cleanup of the bilge turned into an all day affair.

 

The weather continued its hazy, hot and humid streak; the haze was so thick that it obscured the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge as we made our way back to the Chesapeake Bay bound for Georgetown, eight miles up the Sassafras River.  The guidebooks tout the river, named for the sassafras trees along its banks, for its scenic beauty and the villages of Georgetown and Fredericktown for their vibrant charm.  While the river is beautiful, there is not much to the villages except marina after marina after marina.  The dockmaster at Sailing Associates pointed us over the Route 213 bascule bridge, up the hill and, after a mile-plus hike, he assured us we would arrive in the town of Galena.  With temperatures already nearing 90° I was pretty sure I did not need an ice cream cone so badly that I was willing to trek to Galena, so we had an enjoyable lunch in the only café open for business in Fredericktown – one of only two businesses we saw in the village!

 

By now we had spent over three weeks cruising up the Chesapeake Bay from Portsmouth - it was time to move Lazy W on up to the C&D Canal.  We pulled up the hook on July 8^th and prepared to leave the Sassafras River behind.  At the northern end of the mouth of the Sassafras as we rounded Grove Point a mammoth southbound commercial vessel, the roll-on/roll-off Miraculous Ace, loomed ahead.  We gave it plenty of room in the channel to safely pass us.

 

A canal linking the Chesapeake and Delaware bays was first envisioned by Auguste Hermann in the 17^th century.  But it wasn’t until 1829 that the canal opened to ship traffic.  It took seven years and the backbreaking labor of 2,600 men to build the original canal which was ten feet deep and sixty-six feet wide.  There have been several expansions since 1919 when the United States government purchased the canal.  Its current depth is maintained at thirty-five feet and its width is four hundred feet.  Six bridges span its 14-mile length and bulky riprap lines its bank.

 

The traffic light at Town Point Neck, the western entrance of the C&D Canal along the Elk River was green, signaling that the canal was open to traffic.  This would be our fourth time traversing the canal and we are convinced that the sun never shines here!  Gloomy skies, sweltering heat and oppressive humidity were once more the order of the day.  While the canal is typically busy with tankers and barges, on this day pleasure boats definitely outnumbered commercial vessels.

 Approaching Chesapeake City Bridge under gloomy skies

 

We typically make an overnight stop at the docks in Chesapeake City but earlier arrivals there and in the anchorage basin crowded us out.  I pled my case for power and full A/C; the Captain agreed that a cool night in a marina would be preferable to a night on the hook so we continued east on the canal to Summit North Marina in Bear, Delaware.  The marina, on the north shore of the canal tucked in a basin that was dug in 1966 in an attempt to straighten the canal (that plan was later abandoned), still bears the scars from 2003’s Hurricane Isabel – grotesquely twisted floating finger piers!  Lazy W was assigned a slip with a relatively flat finger pier and we were quite satisfied to plug in, crank up the A/C and cool off – AAH!  But alas, around 2:30 thunder boomers rolled overhead, torrential rain fell and the power throughout the marina went out.  Luckily the outage was short-lived...

The rain did eventually stop but not before causing major headaches for many portions of the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  We woke to hazy, calm conditions and finished transiting the C&D Canal shortly after 7AM.  There was very little traffic along the way – one eastbound sailboat and one westbound tug/barge combination – between Summit North Marina and the end of the canal on the Delaware Bay.

It was now time to face the long southbound trek down the wide open water of the Delaware Bay. Frank had skillfully timed our arrival on the bay so that we could take full advantage of the tidal currents (as much as 4 knots) for at least the first half of the 46-mile trip to Cape May, NJ.  He did such a great job that we reached a speed of 10.7 knots as we approached Ship John Shoal Light – woo hoo!  No trip down the bay is complete without taking a picture of the impressive Salem Nuclear Power Plant where Frank spent so much time in the early 1990’s.

Salem Nuclear Power Plant on the Delaware Bay

Many deep-draft commercial vessels were plying the shipping channels of the Delaware Bay; small fishing boats were bobbing in the ensuing wakes.  And the sun was shining! 

 

 Commercial traffic along the Delaware Bay

As we neared the entrance to the Cape May Canal, the Cape May-Lewes ferries were on the move – one going out and one coming in.  We politely let them finish their maneuvers before entering the canal.  Just on the other end of the canal is the very friendly and welcoming Utsch’s Marina where we took on 270 gallons of diesel fuel (ouch!) – no wonder the staff was so friendly!  We had arrived safely at one of my favorite places – Cape May, NJ.

4th of July in Baltimore

Leeds Creek is only a short two mile dinghy ride across the Miles River from the St. Michaels harbor but it seems like a world away.  The harbor is ringed by waterfront seafood restaurants and marinas hosting all manner of vessels, from the well-worn workboats of the crabbers to trawlers and luxury yachts to the American Cruise Line’s American Glory.  Leeds Creek, on the other hand, is home to osprey and great blue heron and a few ostentatious mini-mansions peeking out from behind the wooded shoreline.  While we enjoyed the amenities of St. Michaels – happy hour at Characters Café, wine tasting at St. Michaels Winery, and the ease of provisioning at the local Acme Supermarket – we certainly appreciated the serenity of Leeds Creek from which we could watch the Wednesday night sailboat races and gaze at the star-studded evening sky.  The lights of Norfolk and Portsmouth obscure the night sky so it was a real treat to observe the dazzling array of stars and constellations here; the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia (aka Lazy W) were clearly visible overhead.  The occasional splashes of leaping fish slapping the water were the only sounds in the night.

After five days (yes, 5 days!) in Leeds Creek it was time to move on.  We somewhat reluctantly pulled up anchor and were underway at 5:45AM on July 2^nd bound for Baltimore.  The sun was just clearing the treetops but the watermen were already hard at work.

We arrived at Kent Narrows near high tide and had trouble contacting the bridge tender for the bascule bridge on the VHF.  We strained to locate the telephone number on the bridge house; we finally reached the sleepy-sounding tender and he let us through the bridge at the 7:30 opening.  The Narrows is a well-marked channel but the north end is very, very narrow and very, very shallow.  Frank expertly guided us through the passage as I snapped this osprey couple tending their new family atop the day marker.
 

What better place to spend the 4^th of July holiday weekend than Baltimore!  After all, this is the place where Francis Scott Key penned the words to The Star Spangled Banner during the War of 1812.  There is even a very unique buoy in the harbor just past the Key Memorial bridge marking the spot where Key watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 13, 1814. At dawn he was able to see the American flag still fluttering above the fort and he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience.  This poem was later adopted as our national anthem.  The red, white and blue buoy is the only one of its kind and has been put in place by the United States Coast Guard each boating season since 1972.  It is removed each fall to protect it from ice damage and for refurbishment for the next year.

Shortly after passing the Francis Scott Key buoy we found the Anchorage Marina and were tied up to the outer dock by 11:30.  We took care of several chores and shopped at the nearby Safeway in anticipation of the arrival of our son and grandson, Brian and Cameron.  The marina is located outside the Inner Harbor and the guys were unwittingly faced with a 25-minute walk in the heat and humidity from their parking spot to the boat!

Next morning Cameron convinced Grandpa that it would be more fun to take the dinghy to the Inner Harbor than to hop aboard the water taxi.  The Wiegand guys are big fellas and with all of us aboard the dinghy we were just under her posted weight limit capacity.  We bravely made our way through the Inner Harbor avoiding the Urban Pirates aboard Fearless who threatened to blast us with their mighty water cannons.  The dinghy dock near the USS Constellation was full so we found docking space near the Seadog speed boats.

Since Cameron played  baseball this season we thought a tour of Orioles Park at Camden Yards would be a nice way to spend an afternoon in Baltimore.  Our tour guide regaled the adults with historical facts about the history and renovation of the B&O Warehouse, sports trivia and anecdotes while ushering us through the many behind-the-scenes areas that few fans get to see – VIP lounges and club level suites, media rooms, and the scoreboard control room – before finally arriving at the Orioles dugout.  By now, Cameron had tired of the long talkathon tour (the adults thought it was great) but he perked up when the tour guide recruited his assistance in passing out post cards and key chains.  Ice cream at the Inner Harbor was his well-earned reward!

Anyone who has spent any time on the Chesapeake Bay knows that the blue crab rules!  Its likeness is embroidered on T-shirts and aprons, painted on mugs and Christmas ornaments, displayed on packaging for everything from spices to teas.  We even saw bags of little chocolates labeled crab poop!  This sign in a shop in Harborplace caught our eye.

Across Boston Street from the Anchorage Marina is a very nice shopping center with several eateries.  We all agreed that pizza sounded like a good dinner choice and Pasticcio Italian Kitchen was the place to go.  We were amazed to meet Beth and Jonathan Cho having dinner there!  We knew they lived somewhere in Baltimore but what were the odds that of all the restaurants in this city we would all be dining in Pasticcio’s!!!  We had not seen Beth and Jonathan since their 2009 wedding in Connecticut but Frank and Beth’s dad (Rich Wills) are good friends from college days and always keep in touch with each other.

Sadly, it was almost time for Brian and Cameron to head back home to northern Virginia.  They hailed a cab on Boston Street for a ride back to the Inner Harbor where they had parked their car.  And the Captain and the Admiral walked the dock back to Lazy W and both agreed that, even though the visit was short, it was great to see the guys!