The Down East Circle Route: 10 - 15 June 2011 Solomons, MD to Brielle, NJ

10 June 2011 D-Day (Departure Day)
As we got underway this morning, we passed our neighbor, John Pilcicki, coming back in on his boat. He shot this photo of Aloha Friday on her way out!

Aloha Friday's Departure

It was an absolutely outstanding day on the Chesapeake Bay! What does that mean? Light winds and little to no sea - just the way I like it. As we approached Annapolis, there were quite a few merchant ships anchored, waiting to take on cargo.

Annapolis - Merchant ships at anchor

Not long afterward we passed under the twin spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The traffic headed east (to the beach) was already heavy. I remember when there was only one span. My parents used to tell stores about taking the ferry to the other side before there was a bridge.

Looking East - Chesapeake Bay Bridge

We ended the day at anchor in the Magothy River behind Gibson Island - just north of Annapolis and the Bridge. Lots of crab pots on either side of the channel going in. Few to none once we were inside.

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Here's Clyde and Ted after our first day.

Ted & Clyde

Clyde - 18 years old

11 June 2011 Magothy River to Bohemia River, MD
Foggy when we left and foggy all day long. One of the new "toys" on our boat is a "receive-only" Automatic Identification System (AIS). It helps us identify and track large vessels. Here's a snapshot of the display on my PC. We are the green vessel. The downbound ship is the blue triangle just above us to the right. You'll need to see the full size photo to see us on the chart. Note the red block on the top left hand side of the screen. The information on a ship turns bright red when we are close.

We made our way up to the Bohemia River to Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbor to connect with MTOA friends, Bill & Jean Ahern. We stayed in a friend's slip for the night. Nice to plug in so we could turn on the AC! As you can see this area is pretty rural.

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Here's a preview of part of tomorrow's run through the C&D Canal and out the Delaware Bay.

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12 June 2011 Bohemia Bay, MD to Cape May, NJ
Another foggy morning...no complaints as it is cooler. Up at 0515 (ugh) to catch a fair current down the Delaware Bay. Several sailboats and one other trawler had the same idea. We're all running through the C&D Canal toward the Bay. This is only our second run out the Delaware Bay and we hit pay dirt with the weather. Light, west winds as we head east. Very nice!

The tug, Beaufort Sea, with her tow....

Ship John Shoal on the east side of Delaware Bay - named after the Ship "John" - wrecked in 1787 near the site of the present structure.

As we approached max ebb on the Bay we found ourselves traveling well over 9 kts; as high as 9.7kts. What a nice ride. By noon the sun had broken out and we're surrounded by blue skies.

We anchored just off the U.S. Coast Guard Base in Cape May. The anchorage area is in a No Wake Zone but not everyone seems to know this. All and all, it was a pretty good anchorage with a few wakes.

USCG Ship, Defever 44+5, New Zealand sailboat

This CG 47' motor life boat is self righting - no thanks I'll pass on a demonstration!

USCG 47' Motor Life Boat

A look at the anchorage....

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13 June 2011 Cape May to Atlantic City, NJ
Our first run offshore today was just an "OK" ride. I tried out my scopalamine patches and they worked like a charm. As the seas picked up closer to noon we decided to duck in at Atlantic City. At one point during the day I put polartec socks on the wine glasses to keep them from clinking.

Socks on wine glasses

The anchorage...

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14 June 2011 Atlantic City to Barnegat, NJ

A few shots of Atlantic City as we departed Absecon Inlet.

Harrah's

The Water Club

Downtown Atlantic City

We had intended to cruise all the way to Manasquan but as we approached Barnegat the sea state changed. With 3-4 more hours to go to get to Manasquan we opted out and cruised into Barnegat Inlet and anchored around the corner from Barnegat Light. Carolina, a 49' Motor cockpit, opted out not long after we did.

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15 June 2011 Barnegat to Manasquan Inlet, NJ
We've pretty much had all north winds on this offshore portion of the trip. Sometimes we can find a smoother ride a little farther out in deeper water. We considered picking up the NJ ICW from Barnegat but passed on that as well. We have the play the tides if we want to run the ICW from Barnegat to Manasquan. After Manasquan you have no choice but to run the last leg to Sandy Hook or NY on the outside.

Stopping in Manasquan gives us the opportunity to visit a long time friend of ours that we haven't seen in 2 years. We took on fuel at Hoffman's Marina ($3.79/gal) before we moving into the slip. As the current runs pretty fast in this area, the owner asked if he could move our boat into the slip. Ted didn't have a problem with that. Before we departed the fuel dock, I got out more lines. The finger piers are short - I don't like short, narrow finger piers. That evening, as the full moon approached, we had 6" of water on the finger piers. Did I mention that the NJ transit commuter trains passed right behind the marina?