The following morning, with somewhat dreary skies, we all moved north, passing through various swing bridges and the Great Bridge Lock. Bulldog Sally pulled off at ICW mile marker 0 in Norfolk to spend the night at the newly refurbished Norfolk Waterside, and we proceeded on to Hampton, VA on the north side of Hampton Roads. We have stayed here before, and enjoy the old downtown area. Weather was messy and quite cool...I suppose it is still not summertime this far north!
After a couple of nights, there was forecasted to be a small weather window of relatively calm seas before the return of the every-other-day cold fronts. We hopped out at Norfolk, and ran overnight up the Delmarva coast to Atlantic City, NJ. The weather was not rough, but seas were just sloppy and on the nose instead of from behind as the forecast had predicted. It wasn't a bad trip--it just wasn't fun. We arrived in Atlantic City, another location we have passed by several times previously without stopping, and docked at the 600-slip Farley State Marina. One highlight was a great visit with our friend and fellow Krogen owner Bruce. He lives part of the year in Ocean City, just a few miles south, and we visited his beautiful beachfront abode before going to dinner. The following day we toured Atlantic City, wandered through a couple of casinos (nothing ventured, nothing lost), and walked the Boardwalk.
With another one-day weather window, we awoke before 0500 to the sound of boats departing the marina, and we were away from the dock by 0520. While this sounds brutal, especially to night-people, we are far east in the time zone, and now in high latitudes. Sunrise was at 0535, so it was actually plenty light enough to travel when we awoke. We had a beautiful calm ride up the Jersey coast, rounded Sandy Hook with the New York City skyline visible in the distance, and headed west across Raritan Bay for a stop at Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island. This is a bit west of the straight path into NYC, but is a sheltered spot and a good place to get "off the water" for the Memorial Day weekend. We are actually just east of the south departure flight path for Newark airport, so to our west we see a constant flow of large jets ascending to their cruising altitudes and turning west. Folks on the docks are friendly, and somewhat stunned to see a boat from Texas in their midst. In a few days we will venture through New York harbor again, and up the East River to Long Island Sound.
We have come about 1200 nautical miles from our winter stay in Marathon, FL.
Atlantic City Boardwalk |
Atlantic City Boardwalk |
Home of Miss America Pageants |
Great Kills Harbor
Staten Island, NY
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