That Jolly, Jet-Lagged Feeling

That Jolly, Jet-Lagged Feeling

Thursday October 15, 2020

Usually, that feeling is a result of an overnight flight to Europe.  You arrive at the airport of your destination shaky and distinctly unwell.  Standing in line for passport control seems like more than you can manage.... Today we feel something similar after our 27-hour passage from Staten Island to the northern end of the Delaware Bay.  Certainly the lack of sleep is a large contributor to that puny feeling.

We set out on Wednesday morning at about 6:30 am.  A gorgeous rosy sunrise appeared as we crossed New York harbor to Sandy Hook.  We rounded the point at Sandy Hook about an hour later and were expecting the 120-mile trip down the coast of New Jersey to take about 20 hours.  Our plan was to avoid Cape May, where severe shoaling has been reported.  The alternative was to carry on into the Delaware Bay.  If we could maintain an average speed of 6 knots, we should be in a good position to catch the flood tide up the Delaware Bay. 

For the first four hours we has east winds of 10 -15 and we sailed nicely. Actually it was really lovely.  Then the wind fizzled and we started to motor.  Once the breeze filled back in it was 10-15+ from the south-west - just the direction we were needing to go.  Very quickly a wind driven chop developed.  Checking the forecast again, we saw that the breeze would stay 10 -15 until after midnight and remain right on the nose. The chop was pretty unpleasant with the bow launching off waves and crashing down with a judder that inhibited our forward progress.  At times the waves would slam the anchor into stainless steel fitting on the bow – a horrifying noise. Spray was coming back into the cockpit.  Full foul weather gear was a must.  The prospect of nearly 8 hours of these conditions was pretty daunting.  We wound up motor-tacking.  That is we would motor at an angle to our desired course to keep the mainsail working and to ride the waves more smoothly.  After stepping out to sea for a while we would switch to the other ”tack” and move in toward the shore.  This of course results in a longer distance.  Combined with our reduced speed, we feared that we wouldn’t catch the favorable tide into the Delaware Bay.

Around about 10 pm the wind seemed to be dropping into the 10-11 knot range. The seas eased a bit and we were counting our blessings. At this point it finally seemed feasible to heat up our dinner. Then around midnight the breeze was back to 15 knots and we were slamming into the waves again. We had debated ducking into Atlantic City but the forecast for Thursday was 15-20 gusting 25 from the southwest (with a small craft advisory).  A trip into Atlantic City likely meant being stuck for several days. Once we were able to make the turn into the Delaware Bay conditions improved dramatically.  We caught the favorable tide and scooted up the bay as the sun rose.  By 10 am we were anchored at Reedy Island across from what appears to be a nuclear power station.  

While the currents would have allowed us to continue into the C-D canal, we felt the need of a rest.  The wind blew 10-17 knots all the way up here. It’s still blowing strongly from the south-west (20-26 knots!)   

Gloria 

39 30.668 N, 75 34.384 W

please see below the first ever videos I have recorded on my camera! Apologies for the wind noise - I think the camera microphone is very sensitive and I need to figure out how to deal with that. Please let me know if these work / don't work for you.

Cell phone connection is terrible here so I'll add another video and some photos later

Gliding along under perfect beam-reach conditions .... if only it had lasted

Gloria on watch during the morning when conditions were perfect. The autopilot steers the boat and it is mostly about keeping an eye open for other vessels - and there are a lot on the coast of New Jersey

New York at dawn from south of the Verazzanno bridge

A tired red breasted nuthatch dropped in for a rest a couple of miles off the coast of New Jersey

Sunset off Atlantic City, NJ

Dusk off Atlantic City, NJ

Night off Atlantic City, NJ

The Atlantic Buenavista in the Delaware Bay shipping channel. A terrible photo - wrong lens, too little light and slow shutter, but I like it because you get a sense of the big ships you encounter and motion

Sunrise in Delaware Bay - a welcome sight