Oct 10

My trip to FL was unexpected and quick. Thank you everyone for your condolences.

We are back on our adventure! The picture at top right is of Manhattan when we went by on day 7 and the Statue of Liberty, still an awesome site. It was cloudy and a little rough going through the harbor. Kevin did not take any pictures at Atlantic Highlands. It was a very beautiful anchorage and protected. We continued on the trip on day 14 from Atlantic Highlands to Toms River, NJ. I met up with a friend from grade school who I hadn't seen in 35 years. From there we sailed to Barnegat Bay Lighthouse (Picture taken early morn leaving the inlet). Today we arrived at Atlantic City. The evening picture is of Trump Casino. The current was sift so we anchored in a creek opposite the casinos and never did dingy in to try our luck. Today was warm and sunny, winds from the north so we sailed all the way.

Notes from Kevin-left Sandy Hook with a beautiful sunrise, Motor sailed to Manasquan Inlet. I have wanted to explore Barnegat Bay since spending time there in the 80's. Pt. Pleasant Canal brought us there but timing the canal was critical. tides at Manasquan run 4 ft but only 4 inches in the upper bay. Current in canal can run 5 knots but we timed our passage for slack current. Barnegat Bay is a huge body of water but very shallow, compares to Champain in size but average depth of 6-7 ft. We touched bottom in the channel a few times but bottom is soft mud. We could have continued down the bay to Atlantic City but opted for deeper water in the ocean. Exited back to the ocean at Barnegat Light which was a very confusing channel, the charts for most inlets don't show buoys since they move them often. Each ocean entrance to the Bay has very swift currents during tide differences.