Embracing the Pivot – Fall River to Cape May: October 12 2021
We
are at it again and it feels great! Plus,
a friend has already named this cruising season – Embracing The Pivot. And I think she has nailed it (thanks Eleanor). It has been a challenging and ever changing
last 18 months in every way possible (as we are all aware due to COVID). Barefeet was on the hard in Fall River and we
were bundled up in Boston staying in a social bubble and largely stationary
within just four walls (like everyone else on the planet). However, that is in the rear-view mirror and
we are back out on the water. That said,
we are ready to pivot as needed with an itinerary that is even more vague than
usual and barely more than an “idea.” The
idea - we are heading south to St Augustine, FL. Bahamas?
Other ports in Florida? They are
all options but we will play it by ear.
October
1st we tossed the lines from Borden Light Marina in Fall River,
MA. It was a great summer eating our way
through the Portuguese, Lebanese, Chinese, chicken wing and sub shop gems of
Fall River while Barefeet was tied up in a slip on welcoming E Dock. But the chill is coming and the days are
getting shorter so we need to get moving south.
We started with a smooth ride down Narragansett Bay past Newport’s
stunning Castle Hill Inn and out into the Atlantic. Hey, what is that in the distance on the
surface of the water?! Holy guacamole –
it was a nuclear submarine skimming along between Block Island and Montauk. Where is he headed?!
Our
gentle first day ended as we pulled into Montauk Harbor to anchor where weather
is rarely a threat – aptly named Lake Montauk (ocean gap was given a nudge when
it was blasted out by a real estate developer in 1927). The easy dinghy ashore had us pass through a
bustling commercial fishing fleet to tie-up at Liar’s Saloon behind a boat yard. This “quaint drinking village with a fishing
problem” is a fascinating combination of beach resort chic, salty grit and
characters haunting every corner. We
spotted a dockside wedding complete with a white silk festooned bride and a tuxedoed
groom in the foreground and fishing boats returning to port with patinas well
worn from hours of ocean toil in the background – ying and yang. We grabbed a bite to eat at hipster bar T.T.’s
(tacos and tequila - complete with neon art and fern wall paper) and rounded
out the shore visit with a couple of drinks in plastic cups back at Liar’s
Saloon where fishermen came straight from their vessels still wearing their
white rubber boots. Heck, the supposed inspiration
for the character Quint from the film Jaws is based on the late Montauk boat
operator Frank Mundus who, among other things, caught a 4,500-lb great white
shark with a harpoon. Yeah – Liar’s
Saloon was the favorite but food was limited to bags of chips…so the tacos slotted
in perfectly. Montauk is definitely a
fun mash-up of interests and characters.
Oh, and don’t forget the miles of beaches.
Next
up is Port Jefferson (Oct 2). Our
Montauk departure was before the sun came up which had Chris at the helm and me
wearing the ever stylish headlamp in order to see the anchor up and
aboard. The
day started quietly with a
double green flash sunrise. You may have heard of the green flash
just after the sun falls below the horizon at sunset...well...this is
the same just before the sun breaks the horizon at sunrise. Wow – that
doesn’t happen every day. We passed
through Plum Gut nicely at slack tide only to be met by a very bumpy 7-hour
ride on the Long Island Sound into the inlet of Port Jefferson. Once anchored in the placid harbor the stable
platform was divine for showers and dinner aboard - gooey nachos and cocktails
on the top deck. We’ll head into town
tomorrow but, for now, we watched the parade of boats returning for the night
and the illumination of bright stars in the dark sky. It is nice to be cruising again.
Port
Jefferson is a charming town officially named the Village of Port Jefferson (or
Port Jeff if you’re a local). We tied up
the dinghy at Danford’s Hotel & Marina ($10 for 24hrs) and fueled up with
an awesome breakfast and coffee at Toast Coffeehouse (Oct 3). Then we were off to explore the town. It developed as a ship building village with
grand homes of a bygone era dotting the tree lined streets that gently climb up
hills to ring the harbor. Most ship
building has long since departed but Bayles Boat Shop maintains a bit of
maritime history with a workshop for small boat building projects and
restoration (https://www.lisec.org/). A restoration project underway is restoring a
1949 canoe. In an attempt to keep it
"original" they got the recipe for the "epoxy" which will
take five weeks to dry…five weeks?!
Chris was green with envy for the super cool workshop. Right across the street was a bustling
Farmer’s Market…oh la la…garden tomatoes cannot be beat. Dinner was at Billie’s 1890 Saloon where the
locals were friendly, building historic and football on every TV (thanks for
the tip Mike).
It
was a good thing we walked the town when we did because a stationary front came
to call and simply sat over Port Jeff bringing rain, wind and quite a grey
day. We stayed aboard and planned our
next move. Onto Port Washington (Oct
5). Chris was swathed head to toe
complaining he was so cold that he would die as we motored from inside the
pilot house – time to be further south (tee, hee, hee). Once anchored we headed ashore. Port Washington does not embrace its historic
side as much as Port Jefferson. The
hamlet displays strip malls and modern convenience more than its importance as
a sand mining town (largest sandbank east of the Mississippi) used for concrete
to build many of NYC’s skyscrapers (including the Empire State Building and the
Chrysler Building).
Our
planned dinner was to be at a local Indian restaurant until a clerk at ACE
Hardware recommended a Tex Mex place – embrace the pivot to taco Tuesday. It was a great call! The Cactus Café was well hidden in a Stop
& Shop supermarket strip mall but delicious: sloppy Mexican, awesome fresh
tomato salsa, house made and house bottled sangria. Our stroll back to the dinghy was slow and
sated.
New
York City is a mere 21 miles away but the schedule maker is the current at
Hell’s Gate which needs to be timed correctly because it rages. We pulled up the anchor at 9am and were into
the East River and through Manhattan (Oct 6).
We got the current right and moved along at up to 10 knots. Boat traffic was light this day which made
for a low stress passage. And two
swimmers?! That is a new one (well
surrounded by kayaks and police boats).
Our
anchorage for the night was at Sandy Hook, NJ.
Calm weather conditions and the slightest bit of blue sky encouraged us
to walk the beach. There were horseshoe
crabs in all sizes, driftwood, clam shells, osprey and a few fishermen in
waders casting into the ocean. Back
aboard and we counted nine boats anchored - it seems a cruiser migration is
indeed happening which makes us happy.
BLTs for dinner were positively perfect with the Port Jeff Farmer’s
Market tomatoes.
We
started pulling up the anchor at 6am with head lamp again in place (Oct
7). The Jersey shore has always been
about getting it done for us rather than a time to explore and enjoy. The reason for this is that the 125 miles
from Sandy Hook to Cape May is a straight line of exposed shoreline out to the
open Atlantic Ocean with barely a cove or inlet to speak of. Good weather is a must and never taken for
granted – when it’s good we run as far as we can. This time we ran straight to Atlantic
City. I tried for a bit of fun this time
around with a recommended off-the-beaten-path old school NJ Italian restaurant
(BYOB and cash only) that does not disappoint (Chef Vola’s); sadly, it was a
grind of a day with a 10hr run and without stabilizers (thank goodness for the
calm conditions). The stabilizers have
been acting up but chose NOW to call it quits.
Chris jumped into action to have a hydraulic seal kit sent overnight to
our marina in Cape May (fingers crossed that that is the issue) and cleaned up
the spewed oil in the engine room…sheesh – boats do not like to be ignored…ever. The miles gently rolled by and the Jersey shoreline
always fascinates us as it makes an immediate switch from massive and dense NYC
to water towers as the highest thing on the skyline that stick up way above
homes like thumb tacks on a cork board.
Dozens of dolphins swam along side us with roiling bait balls as big as
Barefeet. Pretty soon Atlantic City
exploded on the horizon with high rise Casinos and hotels. We anchored for the night and had Chris’
homemade pizza for dinner…aahhh.
Hopefully, we can visit Chef Vola’s in the Spring when there are more
daylight hours.
Morning
departure was after the sun came up and the conditions were as forecast – even
more mellow than the day before (Oct 8).
Hooray! Nature continued to be on
display with squadrons of pelicans added to the show. Winds were calm but the current was running
out at the entrance to Cape May which had us doing a bit of surfing in at the
slow speed of 4 knots. The current grew calmer
the further inside the harbor we got which resulted in a non-dramatic tie up at
South Jersey Marina on B Dock. Docking
is on floating piers but they are short and the end lines are tied to pylons
with a ring that slides up and down on a bar as the tide rises and falls its range
of five feet. It’s a clever process but
new to us which made the dockhand help from Jared invaluable. And the seal kit was waiting for us when we
checked in at the office. We did a fresh
water rinse for Barefeet from top to bottom then stretched our legs
reacquainting ourselves with this charming town. South Jersey Marina will be our snug home for
a few days as a cyclone slowly passes offshore.
By the way, it is not an empty boast to say that their bathrooms are the
best marina bathrooms on the East Coast – oh, la, la! Yippee – the Jersey shore is in the rear-view
mirror! Onto the Chesapeake!
South
Jersey Marina is located beyond the commercial fishing fleet tucked next to the
iconic Lobster House restaurant amongst a forest of impressive sport-fish boats
with soaring tuna towers and names like Beast.
A walk around town before the rain came discovered the annual Lima Bean
Festival (Oct 9). It was a hoot with
t-shirts, hats, bags, chili and even trash cans emblazoned with the humble lima
bean. New Jersey lives up to its motto –
the garden state.
Back
to the boat project – replacing the seals on the port stabilizer. It was lots and lots of oil, grunts and oddly
shaped tools as the hydraulic actuator was removed, dis-assembled and
re-installed. Go Chris! Yes, that piece of wood in the engine room
is, in fact, a tool (aka leverage). I am
a good cleaner-uper and extra set of hands, as needed. Now for the test…fingers crossed. Ta da – no leaks today (and hopefully that
will continue).
A
job well done as the winds swirled on a grey day with rain and sun swapping the
lead of the dance (Oct 10). Clean up can
wait until tomorrow. For now, let’s
watch the Patriots football game. Our
first attempt was aboard Barefeet streaming from our cable box back in
Boston. Gggrrr…a no go here in New
Jersey so we scrambled into town and nearby C-View Inn (the oldest Tavern in
Cape May). There were 9 TVs all with the
Eagles/Carolina game. We asked nicely
and a small TV in the corner was given the Pats game. Think your grandfather’s old black and white
TV perched on a stool. It was a bit like
watching munchkins but it was the game (and in color). Everyone in the bar was bedecked in Eagles
gear except for us and most people knew each other with rounds being bought
back and forth. It was fun and lively
with a selection of game day food specials.
The
offshore winds stretch from Long Island, NY to Ocracoke, NC. The system is moving slowly which has us
continuing to push our departure date out.
We have seen wind speeds hit the upper 20s in the harbor but offshore
buoys show steady high 20s and even 30s.
One boat went out and immediately returned to port reporting steep waves
very close together (10/11). No pain, no
pain. We’ll wait…and have sundowners
with neighbors and maybe another dinner at C-View Inn.