Mer Sea

We got to Chesapeake City with no problems, and found a spot to anchor in the basin there, as the free floating dock was full. The basin was a bit crowded, and we were anchored a bit closer to other boats than we typically like, but it turned out to be OK. The weather looked perfect for our run on Delaware Bay the next day, so we went to bed early in anticipation of an early start the next morning.

 

It was a little foggy the next morning, but the wind was calm, and we decided to go for it. We could always turn around or tuck in somewhere if the fog got worse, but we expected it to burn off as the day progressed. Wrong. Although the bay was as smooth as we could have wished for, visibility went in and out all day. We were grateful for our navigation aids, like the radar, Maptech computer program, and automatic fog horn, all of which we used for at least part of the trip to Cape May. The fog never got really thick, but I do rather fancy being able to see where I’m going. As it was, it was “high alert” all day underway. At least it was physically comfortable, with calm seas and no real wind!

 

It was sunny and warm in Cape May. We needed fuel and a pump out, but the pump out wasn’t working at the marina. This is becoming a real sore spot for us – when a pump out is advertised, it needs to be working, as we count on being able to “unload,” so to speak, at planned locations. Anything can break, but there needs to be some active effort to get things back in working order – something that was missing at the marina in Cape May. Oh well, I could bore you with this, but you’ll be glad to know that I won’t! We did get fuel, and were then ready in that respect for our trip “on the outside” to New York.

 

We had hoped to hook up with another American Tug owner in the New York area, but when we called and emailed him we got no response, so we made our plans accordingly. We had a great dinner at The Lobster House, right next door to the marina, and went to bed early for an early start in the morning.

 

We woke to fog – lots of it, and thick, and predictions for it to persist. What a shame, too, because the ocean was flat calm, but I just wasn’t comfortable venturing out and spending all day on the ocean in thick fog. To Roy’s credit, when I’m not comfortable, he doesn’t argue, he just defers to my concerns, so we elected to stay put and try again tomorrow. It looked like the wind was going to shift the next day, so the conditions that were favorable to fog would be gone, and it seemed that it was going to be a good day to go.

 

So…we set about making use of the time in Cape May! I did some more planning of the trip beyond the wedding in Buffalo, and Roy did some work in the engine room, and planning for the oil change he’ll be doing underway. This marina has a pretty good ship’s store, so he was able to get the filters, etc., that he needed.

 

Around lunchtime we decided to take a walk and look out at the ocean, and what should we see coming in the canal towards the marina but a red 41’ American Tug? Turned out to be Greg and Monica, who had sold us our boat! We’d last seen them in the Melbourne area of Florida, and knew that they’d been in the Chesapeake for a boat show, so were curious about them showing up in Cape May! We had a nice chat while they fueled up, and it turned out that they were on their way to Rhode Island to drop the boat for a future boat show. They apparently had a very small window to make the delivery, and so were running overtime on the outside to get there. They told us that it was beautiful “out there,” which was not really what we wanted to hear! Oh well, nice for them, and we hoped for an even better day tomorrow! At this point, it was too late for us to get started, and we’d already signed up and paid for the night at the marina, so we bid them adieu and wished them a safe trip.

 

In the afternoon, I had the fun of walking to the downtown part of town, enjoying the lovely houses and gardens along the way. I snooped around at the various shops, walked over to the beach, and had a generally fine time. Found a great bookstore and got a few more books, too. One of these days I need to put my feet up and do some reading!

 

We checked the weather throughout the day, and the forecast was unwavering that the winds would be moderate out of the west and northwest. This is about perfect for a trip up the east coast on the Atlantic, so we expected to be able to make the run in the morning.

 

The next morning, it was flat calm when we left the marina, and visibility was perfect. We felt good about the choice we’d made to wait the extra day. As the morning progressed, however, the wind began to pick up, and it was out of the southeast, just about the worst possible direction for this trip. Right on our beam! The waves built as the wind built, and we found ourselves in 3 to 4 footers right on the beam. Fortunately, Roy was able to do a little “tacking” to change the angle somewhat, so it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as it might have been. But it was a long day.

 

We decided to try a new anchorage this trip, and found our way to the park behind the Statue of Liberty. It was a little exposed to the wind, but the view was great, and we set the anchor well. When the wind died down later in the evening it was fine. Have I mentioned how well our new generator works? It RUNS!! And WORKS!! And generates POWER!! What more could a person ask? We’re very happy!!

 

We had planned to go to Tarrytown the next day, Sunday, but there was no answer when I called them, and they never called back, so we’ll go there on the way south in the fall. We are a bit ahead of the “season” up here, so I’m not totally surprised. We found another marina in West Haverstraw, and decided to stay there. We had a bumpy ride getting there, however. The wind was out of the due north, and at quite a clip, so that the waves had built considerably on the river, and we were headed directly into them! As will happen with these tugs, the water splashed up over the bow in quite a dramatic fashion, but no harm done – it was just not a smooth ride.

 

We were still looking for that elusive pump out, so pulled up to the service dock when we got to the marina. The helpful kid there did his best, but the equipment wasn’t working very well, so we were able to pump some, but didn’t really make much of a dent in the holding tank. Maybe in Kingston…

 

The kid at the dock explained where our assigned slip was, and said he’d meet us there, so we gave him a minute and then proceeded slowly down the LONG fairway to the slip. It was the last slip on the dock, and the fairway was actually too narrow for us to turn to get into the slip, which was actually too small for us anyway. The wind was blowing, and we were getting pissed by the minute! Also, the kid was nowhere to be found! Since this marina doesn’t monitor the radio, I whipped out the phone and called them to get a new slip assignment – preferably one that would fit our boat! Roy, meantime, was having a heck of a time holding Mer Sea steady in the fairway in all the wind.

 

I finally got a halfway decent explanation of where the new slip was, and was assured that there would be someone there to help us tie up. We then began the arduous process of backing the whole way out of the fairway. What a mess! Of course, Mer Sea gravitates to starboard when backing, and then there was the wind blowing us sideways, so it was multiple challenges for Captain Roy! But he got us out of there without making contact with any of the boats on the docks, and our marriage survived the experience, so all is well! We got to the new slip and the two dockhands helped us tie up and get situated. Whew!! Another bullet dodged!

 

The next day the wind lay down, and the Hudson was calm and beautiful. We had a lovely ride to Kingston, where we were given our choice of slips for the week or so that we’d be there. We were renting a car the next day and heading to Buffalo for a wedding! We felt good about leaving Mer Sea in this well-protected and well-run marina.

 

In the meantime, remember the pesky HP computer? Well, it definitely was not fixed! SO, I had arranged for a shipping box to be sent to Kingston so that I could ship it off and they could play with it while we were at the wedding. What could be simpler, right? WELL, remember, we’re talking about HP here! The box was supposed to come by 10:30 in the morning, and when it hadn’t come by 2:30, we decided to go ahead and leave. We had a four hour minimum drive ahead of us, and wanted to get going. I brought the computer with me, so that we could now get a box at the hotel, and try again from there. What a joke! Suffice it to say that they have managed to send either the empty box or the computer itself to the wrong place at the wrong time so many times that I still, as I write this (now May 31!!!) don’t have the computer, and only hope that it will be waiting for me in Burlington, VT, when I get there tomorrow!!!

 

We had a marvelous time in Buffalo!! We were treated royally and entertained by family from the moment we arrived, and got some snooping around the “old neighborhoods” done as well. The wedding was lovely, in the Roman Catholic cathedral, and Kathy was a stunning and radiant bride. It was a great five days!

 

We spent the morning after we got back to the boat shopping and getting some chores done. One of the things we were hoping to do was to change our Verizon phone plan to the North America Plan (which includes Canada) so that we could use our phone freely while in Canada and not have to worry about 69c/minute roaming charges and whatever other charges might get slapped on as well. We had done this last year, and had been very satisfied.

 

Well, in their infinite wisdom, because of a problem with a phone company in Mexico, Verizon has discontinued the North America Plan, without any replacement. So we now will have no phone while we are in Canada!!! (At least, not that we’re willing to pay for!) We spoke to some Canadian friends of ours, and they suggested buying a cheap cell phone at the grocery store there and getting a cheap 20c/minute plan, or something like that. I think that’s what we’ll do, and we’ll use that phone plus our MCI card to call back to the States while in Canada, and to access messages on our cell phone. What a bother. And I suppose that I’ll have to look for whatever WI-FI I can find in libraries or at marinas for internet service. We’ll see how it all works!

 

We left Kingston the next day, Thursday the 24th, headed for Waterford, and then to some new territory! Lake Champlain, here we come!!!