Weathering the Storm

It was a beautiful day with calm water, sunny skies, and no wind when we left the marina in Chesapeake City on Thursday morning.  We docked at the marina in Cape May, NJ under the same sunny skies we left in the morning. Thursday was a three state travel day. We started in Maryland, passed through Delaware on the Delaware River, and ended in New Jersey.

We knew a  weather system was heading across the states and heading to the Eastern shore and that we would need to stay in Cape May for a few days until the system passed.   What we didn’t know was how severe this system would be and how long we would need to stay here.  It’s now been five days and we can’t foresee leaving here for probably another four to five days. The winds are relentless and are sustained at 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. There are now 10-15 foot seas in the Atlantic. For the past several weeks, we have been cruising down rivers, bays and canals. We now need to head north in the Atlantic for 125 miles before we can travel up the Hudson River. We won’t be moving from our safe dock anytime soon. It’s actually difficult to stay upright at times as we have walked into town to get groceries and to the beach to see the waves crashing onshore.

We couldn’t have been stuck in a better place. Cape May is simply charming. It’s well known for its Victorian houses dating back to the early 1800’s and the pedestrian village is a short 2 or 3 mile walk from the marina.

We knew we would need to test our flexibility at many times along this journey and we are waiting patiently (!) for this weather system to get a move on so we can, too!