The Big Apple Via The Atlantic

Brenda Egan captains a 42' Sailboat and has extensive sailing experience....from Alaska to the Coastal Waters to the Bahamas and maybe even beyond.  Renee, a friend of hers, also has extensive sailing experience.  Knowing that the New Jersey ICW is noted for shoaling and shallow areas (and hearing at Cape May how a VERY experienced Looper recently got himself into a grounding pickle), when Brenda E mentioned she was thinking about going "outside" onto the Atlantic and doing an "overnight" directly to New York City, we were on board!

We departed Cape May yesterday afternoon at 12:45 pm (near high tide--wanting to ride the tide out of the channel into the Atlantic).  Winds were out of the north, 6-9 mph and increased to 15 mph once we got out about 2 miles.  Later in the evening, the wind switched to the southwest and by the time we got entered New York Harbor, the wind was below 10 mph.  Per Brenda E's suggestion, Mike set a timer to remind himself to recheck the weather as we cruised along throughout the night.  The temperature was in the high 60s, the moon and stars were bright, and we spent our entire time in the flybridge where it was easy to nap when not at the helm.

We arrived at Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island, NY at 9 am.  John and Jim--members and volunteers for Great Kills, met us on the dock and filled us in on how we can enjoy the city from here.  John, a Gold Looper, is responsible for working with the Yacht Club to give Loopers a break in dockage, making it more affordable for Loopers to spend time in the NYC area.

Liz and Steve, Minnesotans on MV "Shingebiss" will anchor near us this evening.  We have plans to get together for dinner, followed by a fierce game of "Pegs and Jokers."  Mark and Lezlie Snider, Texans on MV "Antonia,"  will join the four of us for happy hour on "Velsignet."

This was our sunrise this morning.  As we got closer to NYC, the lights of ships and fishing boats could be seen more frequently.  But it was NOTHING  compared the madness of motorboats and sailboats we encountered cruising on the channels from Utsch's Marina out into the Atlantic.

Gold Loopers suggest to new Loopers to consider cruising during the weekdays and rest off the waters on the busy weekends.  Good advice!  

This is "Lady Rae" with captain Brenda and crew, Renee.  We made the overnight trip touching base by telephone throughout the night.

This is Atlantic City taken from the Atlantic.

Cruising overnight in good weather makes for a relaxing ride.  Other than having to man the helm at all times, it was not a stressful trip.

We had a beautiful sunset to the west. 

The moon and stars were out.  This was the best we could do to capture the light on the water.

Another shot of this morning's sunrise to the east.

The New York City skyline.  We will enter New York Harbor and cruise past the Statue of Liberty on our way to the Hudson River where we will begin our journey towards Canada.