Out on the Atlantic Ocean Today

Out on the Atlantic Ocean today!!!  This oceanview of Cape May shows one of three amusment parks on their coastline . . . ahh, to be a kid and live in Cape May! :)  Another very hot and humid day, but once we got out on the ocean, it was a different story.  A BEAUTIFUL breeze and calm seas!  We saw MANY dolphins playing like pups about 25 feet from our boat (trying to get a picture, however, was another story!)

Dave is hopeful that replacing the depthsounder module will bring our depth finder problems to a close.  The girls are bringing the part out with them when they fly in to meet us in New York City this Sunday evening.  Cross your fingers!!!

It wasn't much of a concern to have a depth finder today, as we were out on the ocean the whole time.  We had anticipated getting to Barnegat Bay (about 50 miles south of New York), but weather changed on us.  FORTURNATELY, we were about 2 miles from Atlantic City, New Jersey, when the Coast Guard sent a warning out to seek shelter because storms would soon be coming in to the area.  We thought Atlantic City might be a good place to check out at that point :)  We are at Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget.  What a beautiful place ... lots of entertainment and for our gambling friends, there is plenty of that too :)  Boaters can enjoy all of the facilities, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a 20 minute cool dip at the pool.  Storms are in full force now, so I'm giving the washer/dryer a test work-out (memories of home ...yea!)

Tomorrow northbound on the Atlantic Ocean.

Leaving the beautiful city of Annapolis, with the Naval Academy in the background.

Ready to head northbound on the Chesapeake Bay as we pass under the Bay Bridges.

Well, what do you know?  A whole complete message AND two pictures!!!  That's enough for me; going to bed now to rest up for more fun first-mate duties tomorrow :)

On Our Way!

Fired up the kerosene at 6:41 a.m. today and waited for the 7:00 a.m. Spa Creek Bridge Opening with two other boats.  We were FINALLY on our way! :)  To catch everyone up, because our whole blog didn't take yesterday, we ended up having Robert and his awesome crew at Petrini Shipyard finish the transducer job, which took a couple of tries, however, the job was completed at 4:30 p.m., so we decided to stay one more night in the beautiful town of Annapolis, where we had a lovely Italian dinner by the wharf where we got in on a few rounds of trivia .... we weren't too bad even though we didn't put our name in to play :)

Backing up to Wednesday, while the crew at Petrini Shipyard worked on the transducer, we ran our errands to get the boat totally ready for this voyage, including a stop at Home Depot!!!  As we walked out with an 8' ladder and many 2x4's (Dave's going to build a couple of very tall sawhorses to support the arch when we need to lower it to go under bridges), I asked Dave how we were going to transport this back to the marina.  Dave went to work immediately by stuffing 10 lbs. of items into a 5 lb. capacity rental car, when all of a sudden a kind gentleman asked where we were headed and said he'd be willing to transport our cargo!  You never know where you'll meet such kind people :)  

Back to today:  headed north through the Chesapeake to the C & D Canal.  From there, we entered the great body of water; Delaware Bay (reminded me of one of the Great Lakes it was so wide!).  During our travels, our depth finder went out on us again :(  Well at least we know it's not the transducer :)  We were very glad that Robert from Petrini was still willing to help us out and is now overnighting a piece that SHOULD do the trick in helping us get the depth finder working once again.  As we were heading south through Delaware Bay, we wanted to make a diagonal cut to Cape May, NJ, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.  Being a little leary to leave the main channel because of our situation with the depth finder,  we got behind about one of the few other boats we saw in the bay and low and behold they were taking the cut to Cape May ... how lucky were we?!?!  We made it safe and sound to Utsch's Marina.  After getting all situated, went for a slow and short walk in the record-breaking 100 degree heat and the got ready for an awesome dinner at the Lobster House just a short walk from Utsch's Marina.  Couldn't believe the crowd!!!  Dave said he had the best lobster ever!  Keep this place in mind :)  No pictures today, as I just want to see if I can get all of this posted.  Until tomorrow . . . have a restful evening everyone! :)

June 19, 2012, and we're still in Annapolis, MD . . . but I couldn't think of a better town to have to hang out in for one more day :)  When we got to MD last night, our boat was in the sling having the depth finder/transducer replaced (kind of a necessity when doing this trip!)  So we

The "Johnson & Johnson"

The voyage begins Wednesday, June 20!