Days 9-21: When we left Cape May everything was fine ...

Cape May to Rum Point/Golden Nugget: 16.3 mph; 44 miles; 2:42 hours
Golden Nugget to Barnegat Bay: 11.1 mph; 45.5 miles; 4:05 hours
Barnegat Bay to Tom's River: 6.0 mph; 5.9 miles; :58 hours

Tom's River to Atlantic Ocean Route: 7.7 mph; 16.5 miles; 2:09 hours
Atlantic Ocean Route to Sandy Hook Anchorage: 13.1 mph; 30.5 miles; 2:19 hours

Sandy Hook Anchorage to Montrose NY: 9.0 mph; 57.1 miles; 6:18 hours


QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Boating is 95% relaxation sprinkled with 5% terror - never a statement more true.


Cape May to Rum Point/Golden Nugget Casino NJ: ANCHORAGE & FUEL DOCK
DAY ONE: When we left Cape May everything was fine - both engines started up like always. We went outside the ICW and traveled the Atlantic Ocean. The look on Jim’s face was like something I had never seen - so calm and relaxed - perfect!

We cut back in at Absecon Inlet to tricky Rum Point in NJ and set anchor ... or so we thought. After watching the boat swing a few times we went about our business (emails, work, writing, reading) but when I looked up we were backing towards a foot of water. Jim went into action and started the engines ... only the port engine turned over - where's the starboard engine?! Jim moved the boat, set the hook again, watched the swing a lot longer than usual, and started looking at the starboard engine. Remember the other day when starboard gave us trouble? Well, that was just a taste of what she had to give. Jim went through every diagnostic there could be. 

Looper friends Jeremy and Mary, panacea, were in the same anchorage and popped over for a little while - they are so much fun. Jeremy was brainstorming diesel engine diagnostics with Jim; I guess ‘me & google’ weren't really cutting it. Mary and I had a bottle of champaign which was a lot more fun. I really like those two Loopers.

DAY TWO: Jim decided to call in a mechanic. We contacted MidCoast Marine; great call and they were so easy to work with. The mechanic met us at the Golden Nugget Casino Fuel Dock and worked his magic. Ended up being a wiring problem that may have occurred when Jim put in the new electronic system. The mechanic installed a switch and we were good to go. Our mechanic gave us the gate code for the fuel dock and we stayed overnight; went to the Golden Nugget for some chow and music.

Golden Nugget Casino to Barnet Bay & Tom's River: ANCHORAGE
A few days before July 4th Weekend...

We traveled the ICW. Out of nowhere a wicked storm cell popped up in Barnet Bay and the port engine overheated. What on earth?! The port engine now?! We left a message for a Loop Host and limped into Tom’s River on one engine. 

Found anchorage outside of Shore Point Marina and waited out the next series of storms. A large Catamaran, 100 feet from us, took a direct lightning strike - scared the living-ba-geez-e out of us. Every hair on my body stood on end and I was so scared I jumped to Jimmy! 

After the weather excitement, Jim began the diagnostic work on the port engine and decided it must be the water pump. When he pulled the water pump and discovered he was right ... just like that ... unbelievable. Where the devil is a CAT Dealer?!

SEVERAL DAYS: This was a series of events; Friday of July 4th Weekend.
NEXT MORNING (TOOK ALL DAY): We needed to rent a car, got the last car, dinghy ride to Marina, secured dinghy, called an Uber, Uber to rental car company, drove rental to Foley CAT in Pennsylvania to get a new water pump - whew! Ran past West Marine, Walmart, parked rental at marina, dingy ride back to boat - realized we left a part off the old pump unit in PA, called Foley CAT and asked them to leave old pump out. Dinghy ride back to marina, secured dinghy and asked staff to keep an eye out because storms were predicted, drove rental back to Pennsylvania to grab the old unit, stopped at Harbor Freight, drove back to marina, found dinghy swamped with water and sand, emptied out the dinghy (did I mention it’s raining?), dinghy ride back to boat, and poured a bourbon - DONE!

Foley CAT was so great. They let us have the old pump back with a promise we would return it. Some people are just great.

DAY TWO: Jim is an awesome problem solver and can fix anything he puts his mind to fixin'. I was pretty impressed with him. Pulling and replacing a water pump on the port engine is no easy task and demands a lot of Boat Yoga and mirror-work to remove and reassemble the parts. He is so cool.

DAY THREE: Bill de Rouville, deRouville Boat Shop, scooted over to the boat to see if we needed any help. Realized we did need help with removing the gear and he happened to have a machinist on site - what luck! Jim installed new water pump and everything works! Jim is amazing!

We closed the night with watching another regatta from center stage.

Tom's River to Sandy Hook ANCHORAGE
We left Tom’s River and traveled the ICW on July 4th. Let me tell you! Those folks upriver have an entirely different understanding about holiday boating - they were EVERYWHERE FULL THROTTLE! It was insane! Powerboat - kayaks - paddle boards - sailboats big & small - jet skiis - dropping anchor and fishing in the middle of a channel with oncoming vessels. WOW! Geez - Louise! 

We were going to drop anchor but decided to push on, took the outside Atlantic Ocean Route and headed to Sandy Hook, NJ. The Manasquan River Inlet is just as wild - I have never seen anything like it. The inlet has unpredictable currents topped with churning waters from so many boats ... so many fishermen in the middle of the channel ...

Once at Sandy Hook, we dropped anchor next to the Coast Guard (deal lord they have a bugle too). 

We DID get to see the firework explosions from NYC to NJ and they were amazing. Jim played patriotic music to ‘set the mood’. I guess, because of COVID-19, it was 2 years worth of explosives and lasted about an hour. The anchorage held well and the boat was rocky as-all-get-out but at least we weren’t with the hooligans south of us.

Sandy Hook to North of Stony Point ANCHORAGE
We traveled through NYC - WOW - I mean ... just WOW. Our plan was to drop anchor behind Lady Liberty but the fleet of ferry vessels was just as nutty as what we went through in NJ! So we passed Lady Liberty, took a LOT of photographs and continued north. We ended up in Montrose, NY just outside our marina. We dropped the hook on the west side near the burned out sailboat. It was a pretty relaxing anchorage

We passed Sing-Sing - like the real place! Did you know Sing-Sing means 'rock on rock'?

Cortlandt Yacht Club Marina
We puttered over to the Cortlandt Yacht Marina, pretty tight accommodations and have tied up for a week. This marina is quiet, clean, and supportive of Loopers - I would recommend it to anyone looking for peaceful dockage.


WOW! We Love This Looper Lifestyle! This week we went to:
  • the Culinary Institute of America and had a meal almost equal to The Inn at Little Washington. If these students work for Patrick, they will be lucky. The campus is beautiful. They use a lot of food humor around campus.
  • We found Sleepy Hollow by complete accident! It’s a real place - who knew?! Spooky cemetery and The Old Dutch Church uses the headless horseman as their logo - ewwww;
  • Another rental car to get to Baltimore, MD for Emily Farmer’s wedding and walked through the George Washington Monument;
  • Returned the water pump to Foley CAT in PA
  • On a whim, we discovered a state park along the Hudson River before the Tappan Zee Bridge (W O W)
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