We departed from the city docks at Atlantic City at 0845 hours and due to the winds we would take the inside passage and not attempt the Atlantic today. During the evening hours the winds had picked up blowing 30-35 knots most of the evening with a lot of rain. The forecast was for 15-20 knot winds out of the North with gusts to 25 knots... not good at all. It was definitely traveling inside.

We had done the inside from Cape May to Atlantic City a few years ago but the water depths were a little skinny and we scrapped bottom a few times. The maintenance to this route is pretty much non existent as far as I know and it could of only gotten worse but we had an incoming tide which would give us the maximum water depth for the trip.

We had traveled maybe two miles when we came to the Absecon Boulevard Bridge... clearance on the sign boards stated 18 feet... we require 21 feet so I hailed the bridge as we approached... no response... hailed several times with no response... I could see construction taking pace at the bridge and thought to myself they must be on a restricted opening and sometimes bridge tenders are not the nicest people and do not respond to hails when they think you are suppose to be aware of what is taking place at their bridge... We came right up to within 100 yards of the bridge and I could see a small sign using the binoculars that stated the bridge was closed for maintenance from Sept 16, 2011 till Jan 21, 2012.... UGGGG!

It was close to high tide and this area has almost a 6 foot rise and fall so we would be able to clear the bridge at low tide... but then we would have problems with water depth as we traveled south. We decided to return to the City docks and wait till low tide and then return to the bridge... clear it and stop some place below the bridge for the night and wait for the incoming tide on Saturday morning and make our way south then.

We had no choice but to take the inside route as the forecast for offshore in the Atlantic was only getting worse in the upcoming days.

At approximately 1000 hours we were again safely docked at the City docks adjacent to the Aquarium in Atlantic City, NJ. We had traveled for 1 hours and 15 minutes covering 6.83 nautical miles averaging 5.46 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 258.43 nautical miles
Hours: 41 hours 36 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.21 knots

We departed from Manasquan, NJ at 0830 hours and our plans were to travel to Atlantic City, NJ today. The forecast was for 10-15 knot winds out of the west and rain... the wind from the west would allow us to hug the coast and not have a lot of wave action. Well, that is what I had planned for... :)

We exited the inlet and things looked good... small rollers from the Southeast and the 10-15 knot winds were non existent... winds were 4-6 knots... BUT they were not coming out of the west as predicted... instead they were out of the south almost directly on our nose.

As the day progressed we started seeing other boats traveling south... most were larger SeaRay type cruiser moving along at a good pace... we did pass ne sailboat just before Barnegat Light Inlet... 25-26 foot... we heard them on the radio later asking about Barnegat Light Inlet... the winds had increased to the 10-15 knots as predicted but not out of the west... they were directly out of the south and they were helping the rollers to increase in size... soon we had 4-6 foot rollers... they had about a 6-7 second period which smoothed the ride slightly and we were not pounding as we had in Long Island Sound.

We had gone several miles past Barnegat Light Inlet when we heard the small sailing vessel we had passed hailing the Coast Guard... they were hailing for assistance and were in trouble in the inlet... we tried to listen to see what had happened but the communication between the Coast Guard and the small sailboat stopped... so not sure what happened... that's just a bad inlet to attempt in rough seas... hopefully, they were ok... never heard anything more about it.

The conditions continued to get worse and worse and soon the ride was uncomfortable. We still had about 3.5 hours to go and we continued on passing only fishing boats running what appeared to be nets.

As we approached Atlantic City the gray skies started to change to blue in front of and we could see the large casinos looming up into sky on the horizon. They appeared as if they were just moments away but we still had 10 miles to go... and at the speed we were making that was equating to 1.5 hours... :(

At approximately 1720 hours we were safely docked at the City docks adjacent to the Aquarium in Atlantic City, NJ. We had traveled for 8 hours and 50 minutes covering 53.0 nautical miles averaging 6.0 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 251.6 nautical miles
Hours: 40 hours 21 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.23 knots

We departed from City Island, NY at 0700 hours just as the sun was rising… the forecast was for 10-15 knots winds out of the SW with late morning and afternoon rain. We had to go down the East River through New York City and new York Harbor and out into the Atlantic Ocean… there is not really any inside passage for the Jersey shore… we had to go to at least Manasquan before we could bail from the Atlantic and take and inside route. But with the SW winds we should be ok if we stayed close to the shoreline and in the lee of the wind.

The East River can pretty intense with current and you want to try and transit it with a following current… as the currents can be 4-5 knots in places… when your boat cruises at best 7.5 knots you really do not want to have a 4-5 knot current against you… but today we would… the worst area is called Hell Gate and is where the Harlem and East Rivers meet,,, the slack current was predicted for 1000 hours and it would only take us about an hour and a half to make it to Hell Gate and we would still have 3 plus against us… but it was either wait until 0900 to leave, go really really slow from City Island to Hell Gate or just go for it… we chose to go for it… ?

We experienced 3.5 knots against us just before Hell Gate and all the way through it past Roosevelt Island… then the river widens and the current velocity decreases… but we made it unscathed and soon the tide had switched from flood to ebb and we were flying along between 8 and 10 knots… YEP… 10 knots… as we passed under the Verrazano Bridge we were doing 10.2 knots… it was awesome… ? We maintained a good boost from the ebb current to well outside New York Harbor and it’s approaches and down the Jersey shoreline… it was after noon before we lost our boost.

The seas were not bad with the SW winds… we hugged the shoreline and had a few places where it was a little bouncy but there were no 4-6 breaking waves as we had seen the day before… thank goodness… really did not want another rough ride. We decided to stop early today and set our goal as Manasquan, NJ… coming north this spring this inlet had been closed due to a capsized 70 foot fishing vessel and Susan was a little concerned that the inlet would be a challenge… especially after our experience with Barnegat Light Inlet on the trip north… I assured her it would be fine and it was… smooth as silk… could not have asked for a better passage through the inlet.

One of the biggest differences about today’s leg fo the trip was that we saw a lot of other boat traffic… the minute we entered the East River we started seeing tugs with barges, fast ferrys, water taxis, a large motor yacht that passed us and sent a 4 foot wake our way… not very considerate boater… and of course New York harbor was filled with traffic of all types… mostly commercial… a huge ship passed us we were approaching the Verrazano Bridge… and one of the Stanton Island Ferry’s was being escorted by two US Coast Guard boats… must have been someone important on board…

And as always one of the best things is seeing the Statue of Liberty… so beautiful!!!

At approximately 1550 hours we were safely docked at the Shrimp Box Restaurant at Manasquan, NY. We had traveled for 8 hours and 50 minutes covering 55.33 nautical miles averaging 6.28 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 191.07 nautical miles
Hours: 31 hours 31 minures
Avg Spd: 6.06 knots