Leg #6 -- 4/8/14 to 4/18/14 -- Baltimore, MD to Port Washington, NY

This leg of our Loop is a bit more challenging both with weather/seas and scheduling--that dirty word.  Ken got to Baltimore early and starting getting the boat ready to travel for the summer.  I came on Tuesday morning.  I didn't have to do much except go to get some provisions and do the usual walk, eat and drink.  We left Baltimore, our boat's winter home, on 4/9.  We both loved Fell's Point and Henderson's Marina with all of the historic properties, restaurants and bars easily available.  Henderson's Marina staff couldn't have been more helpful and Peterson's Marine worked hard to get us ready to take off this Spring.  Richard, our neighbor boater, kept a good eye on our boat all winter !
We left early and headed North on the Chesapeake to the C&D canal to end the day at Delaware City.  The canal was easy with little current.  There was absolutely no traffic on the canal.  We only encountered a few boats while cruising up the Chesapeake as we are really early in the season.  Delaware City was a pleasant stop with their boardwalk and historic building tour.  We were the first Looper of the 2014 season !!
We left Delaware City early and headed South to Cape May on a glass-like Delaware Bay.  This water can be very rough so we were amazed when it was so smooth.  Part of the way down, the water started to get a little rougher but still within our comfort zone.

We got into Cape May and Ultch Marina around noon and proceeded to find out that they didn't have water yet (too early in the winter season)......oh well, we were their first Looper also.  After a nice long walk into town, having lunch, walking around and seeing all of the spectacular houses with Victorian architecture which included a large number of B & B's, we hiked back to the marina.  We hung around the boat, except for dinner next door, trying to figure out the best way to proceed north--NJICW or ocean--neither sounding great at the moment.  The NJICW has always been rather difficult but now even more so after Hurrican Sandy with more shoaling and debris in the waters.  The weather is making going outside not quite what we'd like today.  Tomorrow should be a better weather day.  Cape May is a beautiful coastal town so it makes for a pleasant stay.Well, we didn't stay.  After talking to the Coast Guard, SeaTow, the Coast Guard, some locals and fishermen, we decided to stick our nose out and see if we could handle the waves.  My issue is taking the waves on the beam.  I can stand the bucking effect from the bow or stern--but the leaning over on the water thing gets me thinking we all might roll over.  When we got out there, we decided it wasn't too bad so we headed north.  Ken did almost all of the driving since I was trying to distract myself with other thoughts.  We made it into Atlantic City right after noon to the Golden Nugget (Farley) Marina.  After settling in, we went over to the casino for lunch.  We took the shuttle that takes you around town and headed over to the boardwalk.  The wind on the ocean had kicked up severely.  We walked the boardwalk for a little while and then headed back to the boat.  We ended up taking a cab with two other people back to the casino.  We had dinner again at the casino.  The marina manager had made it pretty clear that we would be safe in the casinos but to not go walking around downtown even in the daytime.  That didn't make us want to wander anywhere at night.  We left Atlantic City around 7:00am heading to Manansquan Inlet and Hoffman's Marina.  The swells were similar to yesterday at around 4 to 6 ft. but not choppy at all.  It just makes you feel like a bobber out in the middle of the water.  We got into the marina at around noon after going through the crazy mouth of the inlet.  We've had a lot of boating experiences and some really rough waters but we were both surprised at how wild the water was for about a half mile coming in.  We refueled and then tied up to extremely high docks with outside pylons.  This is the first time we've had to get off the boat from the upper deck. After checking in we, took a walk to check out the location and find lunch.  Brielle, NJ is a cute little town on the river with Manansquan to the North and Point Pleasant, NJ to the South--both beach communities. To avoid the churning waters tomorrow morning, we are planning on leaving at 8:25am--slack time.

Great location at North Cove Marina.

Plans changed--just a little.  In the morning, the webcam showed calm waters in the channel and the owner of the marina came over to help us off.  His advice was appreciated as there was quite a current and our nose was directed at a railway bridge.  We backed off of the T, turned around and headed out into the Atlantic for another day of ocean travel.  The day was calm and the waters were great.  We came straight north to Sandy Hook, headed east into Raritan Bay and then north up to Manhattan and North Cove Marina.  We had been trying to decide if we would go straight to Port Washington and take the train into Manhattan or try to stay closer.  We were a day ahead of schedule so we decided on downtown.  The wind started to pick up as we came up to the Statue of Liberty. 

We hung around a bit and took pictures but had to work to stay out of the way of the many tourist boats.  We got into the marina, and since it was a Sunday, no one was around.  We had been told to go ahead and tie up and get with the Dockmaster in the morning.

We headed out to "tour".  The 911 Memorial was very close but the long lines and the fact that we hadn't bought tickets ahead of time sent us off in another direction.  We had never visited Ellis Island so that was our goal for the day.  First, we ate breakfast at a nice cafe near the boat.  Then we started walking, down Broadway, over through the Financial District and down Wall Street, over to the various ferry piers on the east side of the island and then south to Battery Park where the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferries are located.  We both enjoyed the history and architecture at Ellis Island.  The whole area is crowded but comfortably safe feeling.  The marina is in a very residential area with lots of condo's/apartments where everyone is out walking the dog or running all of the time.  The location was very enjoyable.

Our second day was spent primarily on the Hop On/Hop Off bus.  We were tourists !!!  We've learned to like using these buses because it give a great overview of an area.  We took both the Downtown and Uptown tours so now we know were everything is !  We got off at Central Park and ate lunch at The Plaza Mall--a neat concept of small eateries at the Plaza Hotel.  There is so much to explore that it is almost overwhelming.  So many beautiful buildings, churches, museums and a zillion places to eat.  We touched on all of the multitude of neighborhoods with their special charms.  It was lively everywhere we went and only an area or two that looked like we wouldn't want to "hop off" and look around.  We ended around 4:00pm and then headed back to the boat for a rest.  The Dockmaster was there waiting for us--the sole boat in the marina.  We filled out the paperwork and paid for our water room at the inn.  A lot of people don't like to stay at the marinas that are close to downtown because the wake from the river and ferries is so strong.  We both love the easy access of these kind of locations and are willing to sacrifice the constant movement--and sometimes it's quite comforting to roll to sleep.  We had dinner at a nice restaurant close to the marina, took a walk around and found Ken something sweet to take back to the boat.  People are still walking the dogs and jogging at 11:00 at night.  We are really pleasantly surprised how much we liked the area.

Ice on our steps in Port Washington !

A very cold and rainy trip up the East River.

We left downtown early Tuesday morning to head to our lay-over marina in Port Washington.  There was a little confusion about the weather.....  We knew that there was a large storming coming toward us and the plan was to stay in front of it.  Somehow, a little round blue cloud of rain and wind followed us once we got out of the marina and headed over to the East River.  On the NOAA map, you could see this little bit of storm out ahead of the other huge front.  It rained and the wind blew quite severely all of the way.  Luckily, there wasn't a lot of traffic once we passed the ferry terminals at the bottom of Manhattan.  A few barges loomed in the fog on occasion, some anchored and a few moving.  We were met at Brewer Capri Marina and were helped in tying up in the rain.  It was nice to get warm, dry and settled in for a couple of days.  Ken took a cab to LaGuardia to pick up a rental car so that we could get chores taken care of on the boat.  A few trips to the hardware, West Marine, grocery, etc. and numerous eating adventures before we headed for home on Friday.  The best food experience was the Mediterranean Restaurant in Port Washington for breakfast and a exceptional dinner at Le P'tite Framboise.