5/9/16       Monday         Great Kill, NJ                   crowded


Another pre-dawn exit from our haven for the evening.  The sun was squashed as it rose. Doesn't really show up in the photo.

goodbye Barnegat, hello sun

We followed a shrimp boat out the inlet. A great leader. The current was nearly slack but we were getting quite a push on our way out. A  good thing. We'll take all the help we can get!

Beautiful, beautiful ride close along the Jersey coast and its wonderful barrier island, sandy beaches. Why did I not take photos? The beaches reminded me so much of NC Outer Banks and how I do love those beaches.

I emailed friend, Martin, who I knew had a house on the NJ shore, to see where it was so that I could wave. He told me and I waved. Lovely connection. Easy ride until we turned west around Sandy Hook. In spite of what is generally a crowded shipping lane there was very little BIG traffic, mostly little pleasure fishing craft, a few charter fishing boats and some ferry traffic. Most of the barges were on the side of the shipping channel to stay out of the way of dredges.

Charter plotter screen

This is what our electronic chart looked like going toward the Hook - lanes for traffic, Lat/Long lines, the black bullet at lower center represents Grace and the course she is tracking. Orange blotches represent stuff the radar is picking up - buoys, boats, maybe waves, islands, seashore breakers.

All was well and easy...until we crossed the shipping lane heading northwest for Great Kill. Then the wind kicked up to 20+ kts with gusts to 30, straight down the river and against the tide. Aaaarrgh. At one point going into the narrow inlet at Great Kill we were titling at 20 degrees and being set toward the Red Nun that marks shoaling and shallow water. David asked me to quickly research other possible safe havens. I researched on Active Captain. The few in the 10 mile radius were worse choices...shallow entrance or even less protection once inside the harbor. Suck it up and keep going. We did and our buddies followed us. They may never follow us again. I called out the depths to David and watched the buoys behind us to make sure David was adjusting to the set of the wind and current. The most shallow we saw as we skidded into the inlet and harbor was 5'9''. We draw 4'3". Plenty of water! Sure.

Both boats got in safely and...what a crowd of mooring balls, none for rent or loan. Well, we could have "borrowed" one, I'm sure, but you never know what's under the water and how well maintained the mooring is unless you know or are told. And the wind was to continue to be stiff through the night. And the harbor isn't that well protected from the west. So we searched for a vacant patch in enough but not too much water (more than 6, less than 20') to anchor. Got it! and Dream Catcher just behind us.'

Bird lunch

A little beer on the aft deck in the sun out of the wind. We watched a cormorant wrestle a too big fish for about 5 minutes before finally getting it down its gullet. The white blob at the top of the bird's neck is the fish she is swallowing.

We joined our friends on their boat for dinner...early dinner around 5:30...and to plan the next day's crossing. Conquer the East River of NYC and Hell Gate from the south! We'll leave by 5:00 AM. I'm off to bed at 7:30 anticipating no difficulty sleeping.