There are lots of pictures today, as I try to explain several things in our trip from Baltimore to Cape May, NJ...the first of which is a crusise ship coming into the harbor as we left about 6:15 am.
It had rained overnight, so all the ropes were soaked. Deb laid them on the bow to dry.
This is a picture of the small town of Chesapeake City...located at the west end of the C&D canal.
The C&D canal connects the Chesapeake with the Deleware Bay, and is a little over 15 miles long. This picture is on the C&D, looking due east...out at the Delaware Bay.
Out on Delaware Bay, there are several light houses...this one is under repair. You can also see how calm the water was for our trip to Cape May.
We left a little after 6 am...and arrived at Utsch's Marina in Cape May about 1 pm. A distance of 125 miles
Not long after arriving, we heard a loud "pop" and we discovered we had a short in our boat's power cord. Here Billy is telling me he is certain it is our issue...not the marina's.
So...I tell Billy, to cut the end off our cord, and put a new end on it
After the repairs are done, Deb thanks Billy (on the right) and Charlie...one of the marina's owners
On Friday morning, I decided I would try to get the plastic bag out of our intake...instead of paying the marina to hall the boat
The log tells all the details, but you can see the rope I am using to get under...and out from under...the boat.
You can see here the plastic bag I took out of the A/C intake...and the ladder that broke as I climbed out of the water
Later that day, we rode the bikes to Cape May and toured the area
In Cape May there are LOTS of homes like this one
On our quest of the perfect cheeseburger, we stop at the Ugly Mug...great burger.
At the Ugly Mug they have a "suds blowing" contest...an annual tradition, started in the 20"s
They have several pictures of the event over the years
This was a cool lunch stop
One of many quaint streets in Cape May
This is the boardwalk area in Cape May...the Atlantic is in the right side of this picture.
Log 158Day 437
Saturday, August 01, 2009
7:30 AM EDT
Location: Utsch’s Marina, Cape May, NJ.
Weather: 75 with calm winds, and a cloudless sky
It’s a beautiful morning in Cape May, NJ. It stormed hard yesterday afternoon, but overnight the front moved through, and it is a calm and wonderful Saturday.
Getting here...from Baltimore was a longer trip than I had thought. I had figured it was about 100 miles, but it ended up being 125 miles. From a difficulty perspective, it was no issue, but we did run hard all the way (which we do not like to do) because we wanted to stay with the wind and the tide. The wind on the Delaware Bay was out of the west, and that was great when the tide was going out, but when the tide changed, it would have been tough, because the tide and the wind were in opposite directions. Because we ran hard (21 knots...24 mph) we got to Cape May just as the tide was changing, and the waves were starting to get choppy. By 2 pm we had fueled up ($2.37 @ gallon) and were in our slip. The winds continued to pick up, and it also rained later in the evening.
We had two maintenance issues arriving at Cape May. First of all, on Wednesday afternoon, before we left Baltimore, we sucked up a bag in our A/C intake (under the boat). I tried everything I could do to get the bag out, but could not fix it, so I changed the main A/C intake hose, with the intake for the helm area (they have two separate systems, and two separate intakes, and the helm area intake was working fine) that meant we would have A/C for the salon, and bedroom, but not for the helm. But, I knew somehow I had to get that bag out, and I had hoped that going fast over to Cape May, it would have dislodged itself...no such luck. Also...while I was washing down the boat, I heard a loud “pop” and Deb came out to say we had lost all power. I went to the power box, and saw that the end of our power cord was all black...which means the cord has shorted out, somehow. I was hoping that the issue was at the power box at the marina, so I went and told them we did not have power, and asked them to fix it. They called a guy named Billy, who did electrical work for the marina (he was 79 years old...and (supposedly) a direct decedent of Billy the Kid??). He was a retired electrical worker, and a good guy. It took him 2 minutes to figure out the marina power was fine, and he announced “the trouble is with the boat’s power cord...it’s shot”. So...the short version of the story is that Billy (although he was not supposed to work on boats) helped us, and ended up putting a new end on our cord, and in about 90 minutes we were back in business. We still had an issue with our A/C intake, but I decided to wait until Friday, and pull the boat, and pull out whatever was in there. But...when I woke up early on Friday morning, I decided there was a way I could dive under the boat, and at least check to see if I could pull the debris out (and save the cost of pulling the boat...$250). My plan was simple. I would take a long rope (two dock lines tied together) and throw it over the front of the boat, and work it backwards until it was under the boat in the exact area where the thru-hulls were located. I would then tie the ends on each side, to be sure the line was (fairly) tight. Then I would jump in the water...grab the rope...pull myself under the boat...find the thru-hull fittings...pull out whatever was there...use the rope to pull myself back up. Bottom line...it worked...just as I planned (hoped), and in less that 15 minutes the entire job was done. The only issue I had was when I tried to climb out of the water the ladder I was using broke. But, even that is good news, because the ladder was our emergency ladder we have on board in case someone falls over board, and if there was a time for it to break, it was when I was climbing on it. So...again, everything on the boat is working properly...including the ladder which I fixed.
Later that morning we took the bikes out, and rode about 1 1/2 miles into the town of Cape May. We were both very impressed. It was like you see in the movies. Old quaint east coast houses; a boardwalk along the ocean; a main street full of shops and restaurants; and everyone walking around enjoying the summertime. Real cool. After splitting a cheeseburger at the Ugly Mug, I rode back to the boat, and Deb spent the next 3 hours exploring. Late that afternoon another big storm came through...which is happening about every day now.
Today...we plan to leave the marina about 9 am, and head 40 miles north to Atlantic City. Hopefully we will only be there 1 night, because they charge $4 a foot per night (ouch), so we hope to leave on Sunday and go to Manasquan, NJ.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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