Waiting for the Wind

Today we stayed at Beach Haven, NJ, waiting for the wind to die down.  We were hearing from the locals that the winds this week have pulled the water out of the bays, and that's why so many people are running aground.  This talk made us nervous about moving north.  We have been the only boat in sight a few times on the ICW this week.  When we don't see the NJ fishermen, we are nervous:  glad that they are not waking us, but wondering why they are not out here.  Should we be home too?

Instead of moving the boat, we made phone calls, got a pump out and topped off our tanks with diesel fuel, visited with other loopers, walked to the beach, went to the grocery store, tightened the bolts holding our antenna, and pumped up the dinghy.

Cool colors and window 

This plaque on the side of a deli says, "Sandy Oct 2012."

It was about 3 feet above the ground.

The NJ shore is just recovering, and Beach Haven has

lots of new or renovated housing.

Looking down the beach.

I had some reading time too.  Just getting in to Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I appreciate her buying spree at REI.  When I go to REI, I also feel much more adventurous and skilled than I am.  I can just imagine buying a huge amount of equipment and then realizing that it was too heavy to carry.  What saves me is that I am cheap.  However, I suffer even on short hikes because I like to drink lots of water, and water is heavy.

Headed to happy hour and dinner with Blue Willow.  We have a big day tomorrow.  We plan to leave here at 6:00 am and travel on the inside to the Manasquan Inlet.  Then we will go outside to the Atlantic Ocean and make a left turn, headed for New York City.  Woohoo!  It will be a ten hour trip.
The weather window is the best in days, and most loopers will be on the move tomorrow.