Day 5, Year 11: Passage to Little River, SC—Stalled
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Weather: Overcast and Windy, Wind E 15 (in the harbor)
Latitude: 38 57.005 N
Longitude: 074 53.177 W
Location: Anchored Off Coast Guard Station, Cape May, NJ
Total Miles Traveled: 306 Nautical Miles
The decision was made early this morning to stop in Cape May until the weather is more favorable for moving on to Norfolk. We decided against going into the Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake, so our trek south is stalled here until Thursday evening or Friday morning. Today was fine for moving on but we just didn’t have quite enough hours to safely make it into Norfolk tomorrow (Wed) morning before the strong SE winds start to blow in the wee hours of tomorrow (Wed) morning. Tomorrow offshore Cape May the winds are predicted to be 30 from the SE with gusts to 40 or 50 later in the day. Norfolk is supposed to have 30 knots with squalls packing 35-40 knot winds. That much wind and rain just didn’t sound like fun, so we will sit here. We’ll do some boat chores and spend time just relaxing and reading.
The seas were a little rough last night and Mark and James stayed on watch from 2:30 am until we got into Cape May. That means I got extra sleep, but I am not the one who needs it! James was a little sea sick again, so when we take off from here for Norfolk, we’ll put another scopolamine patch on him. That seemed to work wonders when we left Cape Cod and he had no ill effects. With seasickness, I think it is better to be proactive. But back to this morning, Mark and James stayed up to make the entry into Cape May. I couldn’t have done that by myself, so that is why they just stayed up. We all napped once we arrived and then this afternoon we made the long dinghy ride and then long walk into town. But before we took off, Mark and James put a new prop on the dinghy motor. The old one has been slipping since we were in the Bahamas last winter, so it was long overdue for a change. It is probably a little over a mile from here to a marina in town where we could leave the dinghy and in the rough waters with strong winds, we didn’t want to take the chance that we might have to row back. We made it in without getting too soaked with spray, but it was low tide and we actually hit bottom once. Sure glad it was a sandy bottom and there was no damage to the new prop. We went into Utsch’s Marina and were told we could leave the dinghy and drop off our garbage and recycling. Quite different from our reception in Great Kills. We walked the mile and a quarter into town admiring the old Victorian homes along the way. Many were decorated for Halloween and looked like haunted houses. We made it to the walking mall and then to the grocery store where we bought milk and fresh fruit and veggies. Thankfully James carried the heavy backpack on the walk back to Utsch’s and then we started our slightly wet ride home. While I fixed dinner, Mark and James took showers and both declared they felt like new men. For our anniversary dinner we took full advantage of being in port and had a big meal of broiled wild Alaska Sockeye salmon smothered in dill, mashed sweet potatoes, broccoli, and a salad. For desert we had brownies with lots of fresh strawberries. So we might be stalled for a few days but we are not going to starve.
 |
| 151027 Day 5 Passage to SC–Cape May |
