Great Loop: Atlantic City and on to Great Kills
The conditions that greeted us as we exited Cape May into the Atlantic
June 1st and 2nd, 2022
The weather turned boisterous overnight. We had experienced very gentle and benign weather for our trip down Delaware Bay. Something for which we were thankful. The next day we had to pay the piper. After departing Cape May we experienced 30 minutes of pounding into big wind waves as we voyaged north and we encountered larger boats turning around and returning to Cape May. It was clear this was not the day to move north up the Atlantic coast.
The radio net was active as the assembled boaters discussed possible next steps. We said we were going to try the no longer maintained New Jersey Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) north to Atlantic City. Very quickly we had 3 boats asking to join us if we led the way. Others chose to anchor till weather improved. Of those that chose the ICW option, we were the shallowest draft boat, so they wanted us to go first to scout out water sufficiently deep for their passage.
The New Jersey ICW winds through salt marshes inland from the barrier islands
Typically, in this type of situation, some research has been done on the route prior to commencing a voyage. We had done none. Having been rebuffed by the Atlantic, the gang was impatient to go and didn't want to spend a stormy day at anchor in Cap May. So we did something I don't like to do. We started without a fully verified route. This bit us when we got to the third bridge. Beth, with help from a gal on C-Marie were busy working to qualify a route and verify bridge heights and if not sufficiently tall, could they be opened. TowBoatUS and the local police department both told us the third bridge was too low and non-operational. It was broken and being repaired. We again returned to the anchorage.
Sometimes we could see beach houses in the distance, sometimes just wild uninhabited areas
Loopers came to the rescue. Beth posted our dilemma on the Great Loop Facebook page and quickly got feedback from those that had taken this route in the previous couple of days that the bridge had in fact been repaired and was working. They also had the direct phone number for the bridge attendant. Bingo! Just what we needed. Beth called, talked to the bridge attendant, he verified he could lift for us and we could pass that obstacle.
The route occasionally encountered clusters of homes fronting on the ICW. Here it would turn left.
The homes were styled differently than the homes we saw in Florida
Third times a charm! We again headed out with the first 25% of the route verified and loaded into the chartplotter. Beth and a lady on C-Marie continued to collaborate. Over the next several hours I would get 3 additional electronic route files to upload into my Garmin Chartplotter via Active Captain and we would press onward. The team work was amazing. If you visit the track log below, you will see that this was anything but a straight route. To find water with sufficient depth to float our boats, it was a squiggly route that a 2 year old imagined. We were also travelling on a ebbing tide, not the most desirable condition when heading into skinny water.
The route would often snake back on itself so you could see following boats moving in the opposite direction.
Here you can see another corner in our route
Somehow, mother luck and good decision making on the data we could find allowed us to successfully get all 4 boats, Amy Marie, C-Marie, Wild Life, and Green Eyes, to an anchorage in a cove off the ICW in Ventnor City, adjacent to Atlantic City.
The navigators had pulled a rabbit our of the hat. Two boats did hit bottom when we found some water a bit too skinny for their draft. They were able to plow through the low spots and continue onward.
All were extremely happy to drop our hooks. Three boats worth met on C-Marie to celebrate the team effort that got us there. Probably the finest group of boats with whom I've ever travelled. We coalesced around the problem at hand, solved it, and were able to celebrate our accomplishment.
Amy Marie preparing to pull her anchor and get underway at the start of the second day
The next morning we woke to fog. We had hoped for a clear morning. The good news was the wind had died and the fog would burn off quickly. We pulled anchors early and set out for the leg of the trip which would take us to Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island.
The fog burned off nicely and the day was shaping up well
The prior afternoon, the gals worked the issue of bridge openings to facilitate our movement from our anchorage to the inlet in Atlantic City which would allow us entry into the Atlantic Ocean for the final push to New York City. They scheduled 3 openings that we had to hit at specific times as they occurred during the high traffic portion of morning commute. The first opening was at 6:30am and the second was at 7am. Both went well. The bridge tenders were good to work with. Something we appreciated greatly. Wait times were minimal. We had a 15 minute wait at the third opening as a maintenance crew needed to complete some work and clear the bridge prior to it's lift.
Wild Life and Green Eyes idle while a waiting for a bridge lift
The Bridge Tenders got us on our way with prompt openings
Soon we found ourselves looking at the casinos of downtown Atlantic City!
We weren't the only ones making a break for the sea. Good weather brings Loopers out in numbers, eager to continue their voyages.
Wild Life is headed out to sea
C-Marie is also making her dash for open water
Amy Marie can also see the potential of a new day
We were soon outside and headed north. We travel a couple of miles off the Jersey shore in search of the calmest water. The swells were 2-4 feet ~ every 7 seconds so not flat, but do-able. Conditions continued to improve progressively as we pushed north. Amy Marie and C-Marie both were delighted to see whales breech along our route. Dolphins also came out to play. We were eager to finally see New York and a comfortable marina.
We had exited Atlantic City early. Later in the day we checked Nebo to see who else ventured out. As you can see, there was quite a parade of Loopers heading north in this weather window.
Mother Nature wasn't done with us yet though. She sent some rain clouds to wash the salt off our boats on their way into the harbor.
We were delighted to be on solid ground at a friendly yacht club in Great Kills. The harbor master, John, was a Gold Looper so he treated us well. We went out to dinner with the crew of Green Eyes as the other boaters would not arrive for a couple more hours. We were capable of travelling faster, which was what we did. I can't say enough positive things about Beth and the crews of the other boats which quickly formed a team that worked well together on the challenge of moving the boats from Cape May to New York City. With the exception of Wild Life, these were people we met over the radio in Cape May. We didn't get to meet face to face till the night near Atlantic City. We found all possessed the ability to problem solve and work collaboratively to reach our goal.
P.S. As there were two boats, Amy Marie and C-Marie, with Marie in their names. The other boats have since changed their names to Green Marie and Wild Marie so we could call ourselves Team Marie.
Well done Team Marie!
Berthing
- Ventnor Anchorage, a cove just off the ICW in Ventnor New Jersey
- Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island
Track Log
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