New York, NY

It is a week later and we're in New York, on Staten Island to be precise. We'll be here through the 4th of July holiday, then we'll move on to Long Island Sound.

When we left Chesapeake City the weather forecast for the Delaware Bay wasn't good -- wind speeds too high and in the wrong direction. But when we actually got to Delaware Bay we found very benign conditions and decided to head on down the Bay to Cape May, New Jersey. We had a wonderful trip with the tide behind us pushing us to 9+ knots of speed. We normally travel at 7 1/2 to 8 knots, but the extra speed was welcome because Chesapeake City to Cape May is a 70 mile day.

Cape May's claim to fame (in addition to its lovely beaches) is its collection of Victorian houses. About half of them seem to have been turned into hotels or B&Bs. The rest remain as private residences, many with georgeous gardens. I got to see them all because downtown Cape May is a 2 mile walk from the marinas and there is no public transportation.

After two days in Cape May, we headed out to the Atlantic to run up the east coast of New Jersey to Atlantic City. It was a short day, but half of it was spent driving through fog. The next day we ran from Atlantic City to Staten Island, a 10 1/2 hour day, the first 5 of which were in fog. Driving your boat through fog is a real act of faith. You set the boat's autopilot on the course (carefully plotted to not get too close to the shore or any in water obstacles) and turn on the radar, which you hope will let you see any other boats around you. It is really a two person process, one to watch the radar and one to continually scan the water to see anything that might not be caught by the radar. Fortunately, the only thing I saw while scanning the water was a pair of dolphins.

We did hear one poor sail boat captain radio to a power boat that was approaching him in the fog at a speed of 19 knots or about 21 miles per hour. The first time he called, he said he wanted the power boater to know that he was approaching a sailboat in the fog. The power boater thanked him for the heads up and kept right on coming. He called twice more, with no apparent affect on the power boater's behavior. the last time he called he said "you are 1/2 mile from me, TURN NOW!" Since we didn't hear any mayday calls, the power boater must have turned finally. Blowing along at 20 miles an hour when you don't have any brakes and can't see even 1/10 of a mile is not cool.

We've never been to Staten Island before. It is a bit unnerving. Everyone looks like they came from central casting, just exactly what non-New Yorkers think New Yorkers look like. I swear within 2 hours of getting off the boat, someone had already said "youse guys" to us and we had heard someone else say "fugedaboutit." I keep expecting to see Tony Soprano come down to his boat.

I didn't do the laundry in Cape May because the prices were so outrageous. I discovered on Staten Island that the Cape May prices were standard, $2.75 - $3.75 for a washer and $2.00 to dry. Boat slips are available at premium prices as well, $4.00 a foot at the Liberty marina in New Jersey. That is why we are in Staten Island, moorings are only $25 a night. To get to Manhattan you take the free Staten Island Railroad to the free Staten Island ferry, or the $2.55 express bus that stops a block from the marina and takes you directly to Mid-town. I'm gathering from people we talk with that the prices will be like this for the rest of this year's trip.

Tomorrow we're visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Bye for now.