TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

The sail from Delaware City to the Sasafras River was pretty much uneventful, except for the fact that we grounded ourselves once and ran into the dock  at the Skipjack Cove Yachting Resort.  It is a good thing the  bottom is sandy.  During the course of our docking our dinghy briddle got caught in our motor propeller.  As I got into the dinghy and prepared to un coil it, I prepared for a shock when I touched the water, ( being from Maine, land of COLDWATER!!!) and found the water to be like bath water.  

The next morning we set out for the nine mile hike it took to find our way in and start towards Baltimore.  The sail to the harbor was short, it was the sail to the inner harbor which took us a long time.  After what seemed a million hours we sailed past the Francis Scott Key Buoy and into Henderson’s Wharf.  The people at Henderson were very friendly and helpful while helping us to dock.

Baltimore appears to be our home for the moment!

June 11th, 2010

While sailing in the Delaware bay, we noticed (I, noticed), four dolphins and Spruce only saw one.  By the time 1:39 PM came around the bay decided that it would give us a run for our money and threw everything at us, high seas, wind and a current to buck.  We were becoming very concerned when 3:00 PM had rolled around and we still had miles to before we slept.  Once we reached the power plant and turned towards the C and D Canal, the Delaware river calmed down and the current turned in our favor.  We ended up arriving at Delaware City around sunset and staying at Delaware City Marina for two days.  Delaware City was a small quiet town with a Civil War Fort across the way from us. The fort was very large and had actual people reenacting in the different areas of the fort.  If you visit Delaware City, eat at Kathy’s and Crabby Dick’s, YUm!!

June 10th, 2010

After the glitz and glamor and gaudiness of Atlantic City, we anchored off the coast guard base in Cape May.  It was a peaceful night except for the new recruits drilling and the wind kicking up in the middle of the night.  The stars were beautiful and the wind and recruits were finally quiet.

June 8th, 2010

Cruising down the Jersey Coast again and finally we could see something on the distant horizon.  Spruce was not sure what it was, but I had a hunch that it was Atlantic City.  After hours on the boat we made it to Atlantic City and boy if you have any doubt who is top dog, the buildings will set you straight.  Atlantic City is the home of The Don himself.  We stayed at Sen. Farley State Marina which is now owned by Donald Trump.  Due to the weather turning on us again we stayed at Mr. Trumps for two days. My one dream was to see the boardwalk, the only problem was that we had to walk through the hood in order to get there, ( we decided this was the last walk in the hood for us) .  The boardwalk was not what I thought it would be, I had a more romantic view of it with the freak shows and the venders of days gone by.  The boardwalk of today has casinos and shops, it did have rickshaws, which were fun.  If you go, go on the weekend, because the rides will be open then and take a taxi or car there.

June 7th, 2010 

We were amazed that our old friend was not as angry as we had left it.  The North Atlantic had finally decided to play nice with us this time around.  The thing that we can tell you about the Jersey coast is that it is flat and there is not a lot to look at, (Well, we are from Maine after all). The wind was very fickler and we had to drop our sails and motor. As we motored up the Manasquan Inlet we notice something very odd, we were the only sailboats in a sea of motor boats (Brad would be happy), the only place we could tie up was the fuel dock.  With a 4 foot tide we had to literally climb down a pole in and out of our boat.  The following morning a 6:00 AM we had to leave because the fisherman were coming in for their fuel.  So we untied ourselves from the dock and headed back out the inlet towards Atlantic City.

June 2nd through June 7th, 2010

As we left New York harbor the winds started to kick up and the seas reminded us that the easy flow of the sound and the east river were no more.  Spending most of the day on the east river and in the harbor left us dangerously close to loosing our light and no safe harbor set for the evening.  After almost exhausting our possibilities we tried Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club.  They agreed to let us moor there for the evening.  They were safely tucked behind a rock jetty with deep water.  With our girl safe, we turned our focus onto the weather, which had taken a turn for the worst.  We were in for strong winds and thunder showers.  Atlantic Highlands was to be our home for a few days.  While we stayed at Atlantic Highlands we took in a movie, car show (Spruce, thought he had died and gone to heaven) and a small street festival.  The people at Atlantic Highlands Yacht treated us very well and even provided a launch to ferry us from our boat to their docks, but all good things must end and on June 7th we head back toward the North Atlantic again after months away from it and it’s fury.

June 2nd, 2010

We left Mamaroneck, Ny. around 7:30 A.M. with a calm sea and a sky that even the most experienced painter could not recreate.  The traffic on the sound was next to none except for a small cluster of fishing boats.  The city could be seen for miles before we actual arrived at the East River.  While going down the East River we could see La Guardia on our port side and hear it’s many planes as they flew over us.  To all of you Law and Order fans, we also sailed by Riker’s Island. When we were preparing for Hell’s Gate, we had to double back twice, due to the ferry traffic on the river.  For all the bad press we received about Hell’s Gate, we had only on incident and Spruce handled the boat magnificently. After Hell’s Gate we continued towards New York Harbor while taking in the amazing sky line of New York City.  I must have taken hundreds of pictures and yet I was still restless.  I wanted to see the Our Lady in the Harbor.  Spruce sensing my restlessness laughed and suggested that I get the binoculars and look for her.  As I fumbled for the he said “Look at the past the last bridge, I see a statue”.  I scrambled to my feet and pointed the glasses in the direction and sure enough, there she was, “Small of course” (Nod to Titanic). We kept our course and dodged the wakes and traffic of New York Harbor.  When I say traffic, I mean every type of boat and ship imaginable.   As we circled the Statue of Liberty, (Behind the security buoys of course), we could understand what our relatives and the many others who came to this country felt when they saw the Statue.  Seeing her close up and from our boat, is truly a once in a life time event and it nearly brought tears to my eyes.  As we prepared to leave Our Lady in the Harbor, we took one last look at her and the New York sky line, pausing a moment to remember the men, women and children who died on September 11th in the Twin Towers and then we changed our course and headed towards Sandy Hook, NJ. 

June 1st, 2010

       We left New Haven, CT on sunday, May 30th with high winds and white caps. Spruce decided with a little gleam in his eye, that we would in fact put up both our sails.  As he turned the boat in the roaring wind, I scrambled up the deck as it pitched up and down. After the jib and main were hoisted, I scrambled back to the cock-pit and Spruce swung the boat around and we set sail.  The wind ripped past us heeling us over 20 degrees while the seas splashed angrily into the cock-pit.  After sailing for at least an hour and fifteen minutes, we decided to take the sails down and motor.  So, once again, I scrambled up the deck and took the jib and the main down, (Spruce often wonders how I can scramble across the deck in high winds and take the sails down and not flinch while being in the cock-pit heeled over at 10 to 20 degrees makes me nervous.) While attempting to control the boat, Spruce’s beloved hat flew off and we were forced to preform a rescue at sea, (Spruce did several donuts and I leaned over the life rail with the boat hook,as the seas pitched, but we rescued his hat.) After the daring rescue at sea, we were treated to an air show with Corsair and Hellcats.  They did mock strafing runs and Spruce was in his glory.   Later that day we decided to spend the evening in Bridgeport, CT for the evening.  The place looked like something from out of the town that time forgot.  Around 9:30 PM, thumping hiphop music began blaring from the Dolphin Cove Marina Restaurant. The music continued until 12:45 AM.  

       The following day we set sail again for New York, along the way we heard at least 3 distress calls on the radio.  One of the calls was about a mile away from our position. Long Island Sound is sure a busy place.

      Well, after spending the last evening in a barebones marina, (they had water and an expensive restaurant, nothing else), we decided to stay in a place with at least a toilet and possibly a shower.  We went through our list of marinas and ended up in the Brewer Post Road Boatyard in Mamaroneck, NY.  We will be spending two nights here because of heavy thundershowers in the East River area.  

May 25th, we arrived in New Haven, CT. The approached was rather uneventful, no, strike that, the engine decided to get fluid and would not work for a few minutes.  The other issues we had were, our first choice Marina of had been torn down  and the other one would not answer our hails on the radio or our phone calls.  We decided that we would go to the last location of our Marina and take a mooring for the night and settle up in the morning.  That evening we watched boater after boater leave this marina and none of them could tell us the name of the place.  In the mooring an older gentleman putted by us and Spruce gleaned from the man, that the marina we were looking for was sold and his yacht club could possibly help us.  We dewatered the dinghy (a dinghy full of water is a happy on) and rowed to shore.  The head of the yacht club arranged for us to stay for four days.  We are planning on leaving Sunday, weather permitting.  

While in New Haven, we have found the library, which turned out to be a mile away from the marina.  Spruce’s son’s house another mile away.  We intend to walk to Long Wharf and see the venders for food and pictures. Spruce’s son’s girlfriend’s father has been also been feeding us, and I think the walking will help us just about break even on our seefood diet.

    May 25th we left Mystic, CT after having the hardest time finding Ford’s to pay for the mooring.  It so happens that the place was right in back of our mooring, but, in our defense it was foggy for two days and we really could not see it. While we were on our way to Westbrook, CT, the ocean decided to become as flat as a lake and the wind all but stopped.  We again became a motorboat, (The fall gave us more wind then we could handle and the Spring gave us hardly any.) 

    As we approached Westbrook Harbor, we noticed that the Marina was in deep water, but, the shore was rather close and I feared we would beach ourselves, (How embarrassing, that would be) Spruce gently guided us in and I helped with the dock lines.  After our gear was stowed, we walked into town and ate a rather enjoyable dinner at Billy’s Seafood, while listening to swing music on the patio.  The following morning we set out for New Haven CT.