As we leave the inlet to Atlantic City we get our first dolphin (or is it porpoise) sighting. We pass a pod of them cavorting with two or three of them swimming and doing that dolphin thing together. They came over to us but decided we were no fun and went off elsewhere. Of course by the time we had the camera out they were gone.
The last part of the trip to Cape May started with very calm seas but ended with strong winds 'on the nose', with waves to match and getting in through the inlet at Cape May was hard to keep the boat pointed in the right direction.
However, we arrived safe and sound and after anchoring near the Coast Guard Station we were picked up by a couple (in their dinghy) we had talked with on the radio on the passage from Atlantic City. Bill and Barbara Madsen aboard Highborne Lady have done this trip 58 times. He's 84 and as she said 'not far behind'. They took us to the Lobster House in Cape May which is a must for anyone visiting by boat or any other means of transport.
They have the most wonderful crab bisque and every kind of seafood at reasonable prices and of course alcohol is available from at least two bars.Bill and Barbara are a fund of information and stories as you might imagine and have met many famous names in the boating world.
Thursday 9th October
When we looked out in the morning, Highborne Lady and most of the other boats had left, but on the way down I had ordered a couple of things from West Marine in Cape May - a crane to make lifting the outboard on to it's mount on the back of Incognita less of a trial plus a satellite radio antenna to receive weather on our Garmin Chartplotter. This meant waiting around until at least Friday and thus miss the good wind for going up the Delaware Bay. However, hanging out for a few days seems like a good idea to get a few jobs done.
One thing was to get our jammed halyard (rope that goes to the top of the mast and back) fixed. This entailed checking into Utsch's Marina which we don't regret at all. The price is reasonable at $2/ft (higher in season I think) and you get a gift bag with all sorts of goodies including a bottle of New Jersey wine plus it's a very well run place with outstanding facilities.
This gave us a chance to go shopping for provisions, unfortunately over a mile away. Cape May is boats, boats boats; most of them for fishing.
Loaded down with more than we could carry, I asked about public transportation at a real estate office. A very nice lady, Patricia Piacentine, offered us a lift back to the marina which we gratefully accepted.After dumping the groceries at the boat we headed to the Lobster House for some more of that crab bisque.
and some fresh fish.Friday 10th October
After having a guy go up the mast and determine my jammed pulley is not really fixable - broken sheave - and doing some laundry we headed off to Sunset Lakes to anchor out.
Saturday 11th October
Took a bumpy dinghy ride back to Cape May to visit West Marine and pickup our ordered stuff and get another shot of that crab bisque, then back to the anchorage to BBQ some fresh Wahoo.
Sunday 12th October
A day on the boat working on stuff - installation of high output alternator.
