Taking Advantage of the Bad Weather

In our last post we described needing to stay put in Cape May, NJ because of the relentless winds and steep waves (9-13 ft) near shore in the Atlantic.  We ended staying a total of eight nights waiting for the seas to calm down to three to four feet .

Not only did we use these extra seven days in southern NJ to sightsee, walk, shop and experience some great restaurants, we also had necessary maintenance items performed.  These included an oil change, oil filters and fuel filter exchanges to keep our Diesel engines performing reliably.  Thankfully, this was accomplished by a certified marine mechanic at our marina slip.  This will need to be repeated every 250 hours during our journey.

Finally, when the marine weather forecast improved as far as wave height, it was replaced with the prediction of dense fog.  We left Cape May traveling up the Atlantic coast to Atlantic City with virtually no visibility.  Relying strictly on GPS, radar and AIS (automatic information system) being transmitted from approaching boats, we successfully navigated to the marina at the Golden Nugget casino.  We felt we had gambled enough that day getting to our destination.  Pushing our luck at the casino was not even a consideration for us.  The following day’s cruise to Staten Island, NY was calm sea, worse fog and more distance to travel (approx 100 miles).  Even pilots that fly under IFR (instrument  flight rules) can often fly above the poor visibility to get some blue skies.  We never had the opportunity.  However, we remain safe and ever optimistic.