Where is Waldo now? Well, here we are!! We are all safe and sound in Worton Creek, MD. As you can see, it is raining and we are just getting suited up for our twice daily trip to shore to walk Gracie. I am sure she would like to go more often but the weather is just horrible – blowing about 20 kts constantly and was raining very heavily when we took the pic yesterday at 5pm. We came here looking for a safe place to ride out Hurricane Joaquin and the protection from wind and waves is excellent. Holding has also (so far!) been great. We are in about 7-9 feet of water (with a tide of about 2 feet!) so with our anchor chain out to 110' we have about a 12:1 scope – really needed for serious stuff like this!! It looks like all day today and into Sunday will be our highest winds of about 25kts (with some gusts of up to 35kts). We are in this little harbor and have been going in to shore to Green Point Landing for Gracie. We have met some really nice people here all making sure we have all that we need. Our plans are to stay here until Monday and then head to the Magothy River – where Alan's parents live nearby for some much needed time on land and re-provisioning.

            Our boat (last), along with Stella Maris (second) and Compass Rose (first) in Worton Creek riding out the storm.

We had planned to leave Sandy Hook on Monday (Sept 28^th) but because of the bad weather we saw coming and a very narrow window of opportunity, in a somewhat quick decision after our morning captain's meeting we decided to leave Sunday (and were underway at 11am!) We crashed through some pretty big (maybe 8-10'), steep waves as we turned the corner from Sandy Hook to begin going down south along the NJ coast. We had about 12-15 kt winds but the seas and the rollers for the ocean (which had had a strong NE wind for the last three day) were quite large hitting us from our aft quarter making this a somewhat difficult and unpleasant ride! How cool too! As we entered the Atlantic we were joined by our friends David and Sue Torgersen from SYC on their boat Sans Cles also heading down to the Bahamas. So the three of us were buddy boats on the Atlantic for the night. We communicated on our radios every so often to see how everyone was doing. Sue and David gave lots of encouragement as they had done this before and it was all new to us!!

            Sandy Hook when we got there and then as the NE winds started to bluster up.

Our plans were to go into Barnegat (about ½ way down) and then finish up to Cape May the following day. However, there were such strong incoming breakers at Barnegat that the Coast Guard there recommended that only under life threatening conditions we attempt to enter into the harbor! We decided that we were in for an overnight on the Atlantic!! Not what we had planned but what we had to do!! As it got dark, the seas calmed a bit and our wind was directly from behind which made sailing difficult so we motored only (we had been motor-sailing). Fortunately we were able to let our autohelm take over (I had done all the steering for the last 7hrs straight!) and we proceeded through the night. It was an interesting night on the Atlantic – we had a front row seat for the full lunar eclipse!! So our nice full moon lit night became very, very dark as we lost the moon!

We made really good time actually and had to slow down our approach to Cape May so we could come in to the harbor with some daylight – about 6:30 am on Monday the 28th The current was running strongly in through the breakwater which made the entry a bit like surfing on a board! We got in to the anchorage in front of the Coast Guard station, anchored, took Gracie a shore to do her business in over 24 hrs!, and bedded down for some sleep. What a day & night!

     The evening view at anchor in Cape May, NJ

We spent Monday in Cape May recovering from the previous day's adventure – had ice cream and went in to town – a few miles away. We were planning to leave Cape May early on Tuesday close to low tide because the bridge clearance on the Cape May Canal was 55' and we stand 54' (not counting the VHF radio antenna!). Alan needed more water under his boat so we planned to leave about mid tide to accommodate both boats. We arrived at the 1^st bridge exactly as planned but I could not see even the 54' mark on the bridge board at the bottom of the bridge so we immediately turned around. There was not enough clearance that we could determine for sure for a passage under. We had to go back around through the Atlantic entrance to Cape May and way around the shoals to enter into the Delaware River. This now made us about 12 nm behind the Botulas! It was perfect weather with a nice light downwind motor-sail but with the current we averaged about 7-8kts. Unfortunately, because we were now late we lost the current near the end of the run up the Delaware and had to find a place for the night. The Botulas got through the C&D Canal and were planning to stay at Chesapeake City but because it was so full they had to continue on late to another anchorage. They ended up at Sassafras River and we went to Delaware City Marina.

    The 1st bridge in Cape May that we could not (however, we should have been able!) to go under in the background.

It rained hard overnight and after draining the dinghy, walking to town to the bakery which turned out to be closed (but provided a great dog walk for Gracie!) and showers we left Delaware City at 11:30am with the current to go through the C&D Canal. We went all the way to Worton Creek where the Botulas were waiting for us! The channel was marked with some very strange day mark placement which assisted us in going aground (softly) which we were able to use our sail and engine to get off.

      Our dockside accommodations at Delaware City Marina

Finally we were in to safe anchorage where we are now! There ended up being just three of us in here for the storms – a boat from NH (Compass Rose), Stella Maris (the Botulas) and us.

It's been a long, long week!

Our Map updated:

      

And now a few thoughts from Joan....

October 3, Day 15, but who's counting! This trip is starting to look a lot like Bill Murray's movie Groundhog Day. Everyday you wake up and there is wind! This trip has been a test of patience and trust, you really need to trust that the weather will change. We have had a few wonderful days, of course, my favorite was going around NYC. It is so beautiful and the weather wasn't windy! We did have to deal a little with the pope's visit, which was interesting when going by the UN building and there were the coast guard boats. Don't bother waving, they don't wave back. I also feel like I am in a nautical weather course at some community college. I wake up and immediately go on weather apps and look at anything about the wind. We were dealing with wind long before Jouquin, and then we had thoughts about that as extra credit!!!! All in all we are doing OK. Really enjoy having our “buddy boat” with Alan and Janet. We tend to go back and forth between boats to help past the days when we have been hunkered down in a anchorage. I really appreciate all the messages of concern expressed by family and friends....So here's to bluer skies, calmer winds, and more Sleep!!! XOXO