Saturday, May 16, 2009

The fog was thick this morning! And there was a small craft warning beginning this afternoon and lasting into Sunday morning for Sandy Hook. We decided to stay put. Around 11 am Karen called wondering if we were thinking about leaving today and if we were going on the “inside” (the intracoastal waterway) or the “outside” (Atlantic Ocean). We didn’t even realize we could use the ICW for this leg because of all the bridges and the way the route had been described by Skipper Bob (a Great Circle Route publication). Karen assured us that if we could get under a 60’ fixed bridge, we could make the inside passage. The sun had come out and burned off the fog and even though the winds were blowing at 25 knots, we decided to try the inside route. We pulled anchor at 12:45 and headed out. What a pleasant surprise! The ICW was more than wide enough to sail 10 of the 25 miles and the remaining portion was lined with beautiful homes and calm water. Skipper Bob cautioned us on narrow bridge openings and fast current but we had no problems making it through the seven bridges. We decided to set anchor as close to the Atlantic Inlet as possible. The strong tidal current and shallow depths made it difficult to find a secure anchorage. We had to cut one anchor free due to the current taking us into shallow water and grounding us, but with the both of us working together, we were able to keep the boat from being grounded. Gale slept sitting up in the salon keeping one eye on the chart plotter and making sure our anchor held keeping us from going too far out into the channel. The Coast Guard patrol stopped by around 22:45 and told us we would have to move the boat closer to shore tomorrow if we were staying.