June 1 we still sit in Cape May waiting for a propeller. Note in the pic that the tide rolls thru here so strong that loads of seagrass gets caught at the dock. They rake it up and set it free on outgoing tide.
Rent a car and go into Cape May for lunch at the Mad Batter. See pics for how pretty Cape May is. Whole town is bed and breakfasts and little shops on ocean. Shop for stuff to work on boat and buy our sixth tomato plant. If we ever grow one it will be a reeeeeeal treat. Go to see the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – sorta weird, what was that? Went to Lobster House for our 39th anniversary dinner. Good food but waitress said she was too busy to take our picture so Wright wrote her a note instead of a tip.
June 2, still waiting for propeller. Still have rental car so gave a lift to West Marine to a couple from Canada who bought Dawn Treader in Elizabeth City, NC and are taking it home. They were towed in yesterday after losing power in 6-10 foot seas. Visited the Cold Springs Museum in Cape May. They have moved many 1700-1800 buildings to one spot where a Cold Spring brought visitors at the turn of the century. Nice cause we went on the free day. Drove up thru Wildwood, NJ and saw a real NJ Boardwalk – lots of food and rides and arcades. Kinda run-down and we would not go there after dark. Very wide beaches but you have to pay to go on any NJ beach.
June 3 is an ugly stormy day – rain and very strong wind. Still no propeller. UPS does not get the meaning of "overnight". Drove up to Atlantic City. Played penny slots and Wright won. I was up about $40 but came away losing $3.00. Had 2 hours of fun with that. Wright’s wallet fell out of his pocket. We realized it and went to security. After about ten minutes of drama – discussion about what could we do since we would have to cancel all credit cards and have no address to get new ones, the security desk returned it to him. A security guard had picked it up. What a lucky day!!! That was better than winning money.
Monday, June 4 Our prop finally came. Wright had a harsh phone call to UPS about what their delay had cost us and they waived shipping fees. He wanted $1000 for reimbursement for dock fees. We spent the morning in the sorting and pitching mode and then took our Canadian friends aboard Dawn Treader (Mike and Cynthia) into Cape May for groceries and stuff. They bought the boat from a doc in Elizabeth City and are taking it to Ontario and then next year to their cottage on Georgian Bay. They are leaving the dock for an anchorage tonight and hoping to make Atlantic City tomorrow. Hope to stay in touch by radio.
Our diver came at 5 pm and could not get the old prop off, dropped his allen wrench in water and he will go to buy some flywheel to help him remove prop tomorrow. Winds of the tropical storm remnants are finally easing. Weather window for Wednesday is good so here’s hoping we can get out.
Tuesday, June 5 morning – Wright goes to make a run to bank, post office, liquor store and to turn in car. We are acting like we will get fixed today. Wendy sent photos of our most darling grandson so we feel connected to our old life. Diver came back and could not get old prop off. Scheduled to get the whole boat lifted at Schooner Island Marina about 3 miles north on Thursday.
Wednesday, June 6 rented car and drove to Schooner Island to make sure we are all set to be pulled out on Thursday morning. Sale of our house in Wilmington fell thru because of lots of problems with it. Bad day for the Andersons. Winds are strong so we schedule Tow Boat US to tow us to Schooner Island tomorrow for pull out and also finally get Direct TV scheduled to hook us up tomorrow.
Thursday, June 7 Direct TV technician get to us and TowBoatUs gets to us at same time. Talked the tech into riding with us to Schooner Island for pullout. He got tv hooked up but we do not have the right remote control. Must order one and have it shipped to a marine somewhere in New York. Got a cab to ride him back to Two Mile Marina. Schooner Island says they cannot lift us – too wide. Tie us up and call a diver to try again tomorrow to pull off old prop. This diver charges $500 an hour so all of you who care, pray or cross yor fingers!!!!
Friday, June 8 diver cme and replaced prop but we still had no steering on right engine. Friend who came with diverfound and fixed the problem, a broken cable. After 9 days and over $1500, we will never know if we really had a prop problem! Finally left the dock and stayed in a really pretty anchorage above Cape May – Sunset Lake. Dozens of jet skiers all around.
Saturday, June 9 we leave at 7. Overcast day, we still have on jeans and sweatshirts. Motor in ocean because wind is right in our face. Get into Atlantic City at 2 pm. Really nice anchorage up in a creek across from Harrahs casino. Eight boats here. One of our bilge pumps is not working. Wright clears it of rice that I spilled last week in a cabinet and did not know it went below flooring. Pump still not working.
Sunday, June 10 leave Atlantic City anchorage at 7, overcast and kinda rough. So rough that starboard engine keeps cutting out and depth finder keeps jumping to no water because bottom is so stirred up. Motor to Manasquan Inlet with wind in our face. Get in at 3:30 and motor around looking for an anchorage. This is supposed to be the jumping off point for New York. Call Coast Guard and they say anchor off Dog Island. Cannot find it on chart. Guy finally calls on radio and says we are at Dog Island and it is the local term for the only place you can walk your dog on the beach.
Monday, June 11 Wake up and are hard aground. Must wait for the tide to come in. Wright walks out in the water to put second anchor to keep us from going further ashore (see photo). He walks around the boat in 2.1 feet of water and scrapes barnacles off bottom. (Use what we have studied "kedging". ) You put out a second anchor and winch it up as the water comes in. This gets us afloat at 1:30 and have a beautiful motor to Sandy Hook. Ocean is like a bathtub. No wind or waves. Come into Sandy Hook, NJ andn anchor in Horseshoe Cove, but see Verazanno Bridge into NY Harbor. We are really close to leaving NJ!!!
Boy, you are really doing a great job of keeping track through the photographs of your trip so far. Sorry to hear about the lost motor and messed up propeller. Hope things will get better in a day or two. Finally we are getting some rain. A tropical depression is coming through Wilmington tonight from Florida. I expect you will get some of the rains on Sunday or Monday. We were 8" down in water leverl so we are indeed in need of this good rain. School\’s out next Friday then we will really begin the big move. Summer should be interesting. Are you still getting your other email account too? I have more to say! Tom and I both are viewing your notes and enjoying the pics.
Safe journey.
Linda and Tom