Solomon's Island-Sat, Oct 17th

Yes, it's still cold, rainy, and windy but this boat can sail! We left Chesapeake City in a small craft advisory and went to Annapolis where Pete Lawler and Steve toured the town in their foul weather gear. Today we left in high winds and waves to go to Solomon's Island where we are anchored. I am at my limit of bad seas and bad weather....this boat is staying here until the sun shines and the winds are below 25 knots. My nephew Peter, and his wife, Kate, drove two hours to visit us on the boat. It was great to see family. We went to Catamaran's for beer, wings, and oysters and we didn't have to walk-they had a CAR! It was a great time. Thanks Pete!

Miss Washer's 5th Grade Class

When traveling south on a sailboat from Lake Ontario there are many bridges and locks to contend with. Our sailboat has a mast that is 60 feet high so there are some bridges that we can go under and some others that have to lift up so that we can get through. This is a lift bridge that raises up the bridge bed itself. It used to be on the C & D Canal but it has been replaced by a very high bridge. Other kinds of bridges include the swing bridge and the bascule bridge. Both of these bridges must open for a large sailboat to pass through. There is a new railroad lift bridge on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal but it is usually up.

Chesapeake City Anchorage & C-D Canal

Here is Waves of Grace in the Chesapeake City Anchorage. There is lots of spray on our dodger as we leave the Delaware River and enter the much quieter waters of the C & D Canal. In view is the Reedy Point Bridge.

Chesapeake City - Oct. 13-14th, 2009

We left Cape May at 6:00 AM and headed out into the ocean for the long trip around the Cape and into the Delaware River and Bay. It took us two hours before we were in a position to turn up into the river as there were many shoals and shallow areas that we were avoiding. The sun came up and it was quite warm and once we turned up into the river the ocean swells disappeared. The tide was not with us today so it took 12 and one half hours to reach Chesapeake City but that was fine with us as there is really foul weather coming in for the rest of the week. Pete Lawler was on the helm as we came into view of the C & D Canal and it was blowing 28 knots. He loved it! We anchored in the anchorage with three cruisers and some sailboats. The dock is too shallow for Waves of Grace. We are just opposite the Canal museum, park and dinghy dock so Ranger is happy. Wed morning we visited the museum and walked to town. We can look out into the canal and see the monster freighters passing with their tugboats either pushing or pulling them. The canal is 450' wide and 35' deep. The canal reduces the water routes between Philadelphia and Baltimore by nearly 300 miles.

Cape May

Monday, October 12th we decided to sail out of Barnegat Bay to Cape May even though there was a small craft advisory. We left all the other cruisers in the anchorage and headed out into stiff winds and choppy waters. The problem is that there is more nasty weather headed our way with high winds and big waves....oh and that cold weather that we are trying to avoid. We arrive at Cape May around 4:00 and the anchorage north and south of the Coast Guard Station is quite full. We decide to indulge and we get a slip at Utsch's Marina. Steve and Pete can get out to explore, Ranger can run around, and we can all use the great showers. Plus, best of all...diesel is selling for $2.37 here so we fill up. We met some cruisers from Buzzard's Bay and they said they saw a 52' sailboat get knocked over by a 10' wave in an unexpected storm. The boat came back up but that was pretty scary. Oh, NOAA weather had predicted a pretty nice day and there had been no storm alerts. So staying out of storms is our number one priority. Tomorrow we head to the Delaware River.

NYC departure - Sun Oct 11th

We leave 79th Street and head out under the Verrazano Bridge to Barnegat Bay where we spend the night. There are lots of cruising boats at the anchorage. It's sunny, chilly and windy so we sail the whole day. The ocean is quite calm with waves only 2'-3'.

Central Park

We spend part of Friday in Central Park which is truly beautiful. We pass the museum of Natural History with Teddy Roosevelt mounted on his horse with a pigeon on his head. On Saturday Walt, Steve, and Pete spend the afternoon visiting the Intrepid, an aircraft carrier turned museum. All of the admission fees go to help disabled veterans.

New York City

Just before the Tappen Zee Bridge we take a mooring ball in Nyack. The community is very upscale with townhouses, condos, upscale shops and restaurants. We spend the night and then head over to 79th Street Boat Basin where we spend two nights because we have more very windy weather - gusts to 25 knots. The marina is just two blocks from Broadway and five blocks from Central Park. We have a secure dinghy dock, showers and free washer and dryer. It doesn't get better than this! We meet Bev and Rob formerly from Stray Cat. They are headed south again in their new trawler this year. It was good to catch up with boating friends.

West Point

West Point looks like a fortress from the water. It is located just south of Newburgh and Pollepel Island. There are 4,400 cadets at the academy studying for 47 months.

Saugerties and Esopus Creek

There are lots of weather reports indicating very strong winds to arrive this afternoon. I take the dinghy out and check the area over for a spot to bring in our boat. There is already a 38' Catalina at Lynch's Marina so I stop to sign up for a slip from Bart who is taking care of the place. We pull anchor and head over. The weather is sunny and calm until about 1:00 and then the wind gusts are crazy. We start to pull the whole dock away so we re-tie our lines to the dock next to us and to land. It continues to gust all afternoon and anything that's not tied down starts to blow away. So happy that we didn't stay anchored near the rock wall where we spent last night as the holding isn't great there. We walked into Saugerties and checked out the quaint shops and antique stores.