Thursday August 18: Atlantic City, NJ

Once again it was an early morning leave time due to the currents. Since the current under the Verizzano Bridge can reach 2.5 mph, it was definitely worth getting up early to catch it! As we left there were some great looks at Manhattan in the sunrise.

Even at this early hour, the harbor is a busy place. A large container ship came in and there were two tugs waiting for it's arrival. A second large freighter came in next - we definitely stayed clear of it! Numerous high speed ferries completed the busy harbor. The trip itself (one of the last open water we have to make) was unbelievable! Smooth, little wind, a few large rolling waves. A perfect trip for the 30 miles to the Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey.

Skipper Bob says to give the fishing boats a wide berth when entering a harbor because they will travel with their stabilizer arms out to the side (remember the huge metal thing that crashed in the window of the boat in the Perfect Storm??) so when we entered the harbor, sure enough there was a fishing boat leaving - taking up lots of the entrance! From there we continued another 30 or so miles to Barnaget Bay. Crazy large body of water that is either 8 feet deep or 2 feet deep. We thought the anchorage Steve had picked out would be quiet and isolated because it was a Wednesday night, right? Nope. Must have been a hundred or so boats there by the time we arrived at 3 pm. Most of course left by dusk so in the end there were about 20 of us that anchored for the night. The wind was supposed to die down but it didn't so 10 mph winds most of the night. No problem with the anchor though - plus it was only 5 feet deep and a sand bottom. Perfect for a good night's sleep :-)

Somehow, this boat is getting smaller. This is the 5th day of anchoring out so we haven't been off of the boat in 5 days. Good thing we're headed for a marina tonight - I get pretty grouchy without my allotted amount of alone time :-) So Atlantic City was the destination. Again Steve found and made reservations at a great marina and we watch the city approach at a very slow rate of speed! Not only were we traveling along at 8 mph, we were zig-zagging all over the place! But we finally arrived and settled in.

Bikes off and we were headed for the Boardwalk!! We first found the Absecon Inlet lighthouse with a museum. Interesting. Steve climbed to the top of the lighthouse while I checked out the museum. This lighthouse was one of the first built by the new government agency in charge of lighthouses after in an 8 year period, 64 ships were sunk while trying to get into the Absecon Inlet. It was originally right on the ocean but land was added, buildings were built taller and pretty soon, the lighthouse was not even able to be seen from the ocean! It is no longer a working lighthouse but it's still pretty fun.

The boardwalk is huge and long. We weren't allowed to ride our bikes (only between 6 and 10 am) so we stopped at a couple of the casinos, had a sausage sandwich at one of the shops, walked briefly on the beach and called it a day. Again, it was very warm (why are we going south again??) - tomorrow more of the same is predicted. We'll head out after breakfast for Cape May and then up the Delaware Bay when the weather permits - hopefully Saturday as we are looking to meet our friend Ian on Sunday. More later ...