We left Annapolis on May29th and headed for Chesapeake City at the western end of the Chesapeake/Delaware Canal. This is a great stop over going in either direction as it offers a good anchorage(even some free slips along the park if you are lucky) and a few eateries/bars. The next morning we waited for the tide, around 11am, so we could go with it for most of the trek to Cape May down the Delaware. We rounded Cape May at dark and decided to go on through the night to Barnegat Inlet. It was dead calm so we continued to imitate a very slow motor vessel!!
Coming off nearly 22hrs of motoring we entered Barnegat Bay and the winds picked up. Finally turned the engine off and set the sails. In about one hour we dropped the anchor in our home "cruising" grounds at Tices Shoal. This was our weekend hangout for the last 20+ years. On any nice summer Sat/Sun there could be hundreds of boats anchored here. The attraction is that it is fairly protected from the onshore breezes and there is a 1/4mi long boardwalk that cuts through Island Beach State Park and offers access to the ocean.
As soon as we anchored we were joined by our long time friends Steve, Sue and there beautiful( and growing up way to quickly) daughters Sarah and Samantha on Windswept. This is the perfect "welcome back" because they have been our local cruising partners since the mid-80's. Steve was our "weather go-to guy" for the entire trip down the ICW last fall.
Pulled into our slip at Up The Creek Marina on Cedar Creek and were welcomed back by our new neighbors Dave & Vivian and Gary & Joy,the owners of the marina.
There probably won't be much more than day sails this summer as we will be spending time replenishing the "kitty" and doing some boat projects. We intend on heading south again on/about Sept. 15th.
All for now
