Saturday Nov 8

Saturday Nov. 8, 14

Today we saw dolphins!!! We were half way between Atlantic City and Cape May and they were playing about 100 yards off the boat. Of course it’s impossible to get pictures of them.

It was pretty chilly this morning. In fact, we had ice in the corner of the dodger but the sum was up at 6:00 am and melted it right away.  Before we left I went up t the washroom and rescued a tiny bird that was caught between the lobby doors and the outside doors. Not the brightest but it finally figure out I was trying to help!

We were off the dock by 7:15 am and heading out of the Marina.  It was gorgeous! The waves were small,  the wind was almost non-existent but we threw out the jib anyway and picked up a knot of speed. A few sailboats that pulled out behind us passed us and were tearing off across the water but didn’t bother putting out any sails. I get that everyone is in a hurry to get south, but I’ll bet they didn’t see the dolphins!

As we turned to head down the coast, Rick noticed that we had a stowaway. A little yellow warbler was sitting on the back deck. We don’t know if he slept there last night or landed by chance as we were going close to shore. There was also a robin on the side deck. The robin left early but the warbler stayed there half way down and at one point moved himself from the back deck to the cabin top looking for a place in the sun out of the wind. We couldn’t convince him to come into the cockpit. When he got comfortable looking at us through the window, a fly caught his attention and he started to chase it up the window and over the dodger. The wind blew him away. I was worried that he was too small to make it back to shore but later on a nuthatch flew in and landed on my shoulder so I guess the warbler could make it.

It was a beautiful day on the ocean. We saw a second pod of what we hoped were dolphins, but mostly only fins showed so they could have been sharks. Didn’t see any jumpers like the first pod.

Rick spent most of the day puttering and I drove. With my MP3 player and headphones I’m good! I can still hear the VHF radio but the MP3t blocks some of the engine noise so I could sit there all day. Oh yeah.. I did! Rick is already deaf so he can’t wear them.

When we got to Cape May Inlet, the tide was going in and the swells were from the south east. The waves were about 8 feet high and crossing. The fishing tug that pulled in, in front of me had to cut a sharp right turn so he wouldn’t roll over. I’d like to think he did that so I’d have an idea of what I was up against!  What a rush! We surfed in at 7 knots with almost no control! Rick was busy taking pictures so he was no help... not that there was anything he could have done!

So rather than look for the anchorage in the dark, we pulled into Miss Chris Marina.  Of course we were late but the guy was there to help us dock. Tomorrow he will drive us over to the propane refill station and then we can start through the Cape May Canal. We are docked next to the Sea Star, a fishing/ tour boat. Huge boats in here [again] but this is not neary as classy as the Golden Nugget was!

So we are beat! It was a long day in the wind and sun. Cold is relative. I was in a fleece today and sometimes only a sweater. We have power tonight so we can plug in the heater and be warm again. I think I will just do the dishes and go to bed and read for about ...5 minutes?... before I crash. I know its Saturday night but there’s only a couple of channels here and I’m too tired to care!

We left our little friend Ben in Atlantic City. Not sure what time he surfaces but I doubt we’ll see him again.

Derek...we talked to a guy who had just taken delivery of a brand new 46 ft Viking hours earlier. It was SO white you need sunglasses! And it had a pair of snow white rubber boots sitting in the cockpit! The guy was beside himself with glee and he was taking it to St. Thomas. I have never seen anything that WHITE! But it had very cool blue underwater lights under the swim platform. But really, it was small compared to the rest of the boats hanging out there!

 Tomorrow we are going to travel up Delaware Bay to the C& Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware) then down the Chesapeake to Virginia and the start of the ICW. We won’t be going back out onto the ocean (sadly) until we get to Florida. But the ICW is awesome and the east coast of the States is flat, shallow and rough. Been there, done that! So we’re going to explore a different route this time. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventure!

This morning sun on bldg, moon behind

Stowaway

Visitor

Checking my heading

Coming into Cape May Inlet