New Jersey ICW

This is our newest grandson, Asa.  He is 5 months old today!

We had to hang around Cape May today until 12:30 to wait for the mid-rising tide.  The ICW in NJ is notorious for being shallow, narrow, and poorly marked.  We had copious notes from the dock master at South Jersey Marina + our Active Captain warning signals to help us through the rough spots.  We traveled with Blue Willow.  We had a good day, but there was shallow water as predicted.

The wind was mighty.  We were being pushed around at times in the channel.  The biggest trouble was when we tried to dock.  We decided against anchoring out because the wind was so rough.  Both Mark from Blue Willow and I admitted that we would not be able to sleep in this wind.  So we found All Seasons Marina near Ocean City, NJ.  They said we could tie up at the fuel dock and then come inside to make a plan.

Asa and big brother Louie nap together in San Francisco.

At 4:30 pm we spotted the marina.  No dock hands were coming out to help us.  The wind was pushing us.  Another trawler was tied up at the dock.  We were in front of Blue Willow, and we pulled over to the dock.  The captain of the other trawler was on the dock, talking on his phone.  He came up and took my midship line.  Thank you!  He tied us, and he went back to his boat.  Aunt Aggie's stern was 6 feet from the dock.  I could not lasso the cleat from there.  George used the bow thruster and pulled our stern in, and I tied the stern line.  He cut off the boat and got off to tie the bow.  Yahoo!  We were secure.

Blue Willow circled around and came in against the wind, which was smart.  We were out there to grab their lines.  Success!  We were ready to sign in at the office.  The other trawler captain said it was too shallow at the slips.  They were leaving to go to another marina.  Oh no!  We helped them cast off.  But George and Mark went inside to ask if we could just stay at the fuel dock tonight.

Vicki and Daisy (their lab) and I waited.  Finally, it was settled:  We can stay here tonight.  We do not have electricity, but that's ok.  We both have generators.  We will sleep fine here.

A bigger worry is that the wind will be stronger tomorrow.  Working with the tide is really tough.  High tide here is at 4:10 am and 5:00 pm.  Can we sit at this fuel dock until 2:00 pm tomorrow and then travel 5.5 hours?  That means arriving at 7:30 pm.  Will a marina take us then?  We think we will leave at 5:30 am and travel 2.5 hours to Atlantic City.  Explore and wait til 2:00 pm and then go the rest of the way, arriving at marina tomorrow night at 5:30 pm.  It is tiring to think of that day.

After tomorrow the wind will die down.  We did not take any photos today, so that's why you get to see the latest pictures of our grandchildren:  Asa, Louie, Addie, and Zoe.

Sweet sisters, Addie and Zoe, live in Atlanta.