Early start as our cruise today was 45 miles in the open ocean. Not our cup of tea, as we cruise so slowly, around 9mph. Fast by sailboat standards, but a slow ride none the less. High Spirits was behind us and we are always glad to have them with us, but especially in a cruise "on the outside", as we Loopers say.
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| The start to the day was glorious. Nice flat seas. Light breeze. Liking this! |
The ocean is a different animal. Rollers are so different than what we encounter on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes has waves. Sometimes pounders, ie, ride up and slide down with a bang. Rollers are waves with long intervals in between. It feels like riding up and down and not what I am used to in a sailboat. High Spirits noted that there were times when they could not see our stern, as the trough of the wave was low.
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| As we entered the Atlantic, the rollers began and Buddy was really unsure of himself on the flybridge, so we came below. He still looks a bit insecure as he cuddles with Boo's little bed. No, Boo was not in the bed. |
Starting early always has its benefits, as the morning is usually calmer than later in the day. We picked a good day, but we were still rocking, so we retreated to the helm below, where the boys are much happier. When they cannot get a steady footing, they are uneasy. Must say there is much more to do in the salon below, so we were all happy to move below. Tomorrow we will start on the lower helm and if the weather is exceptionally calm (not predicted), we will move to the upper helm.
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| This boat was raking the bottom for mussels. |
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| This fishing boat is called "Highroller". Looks like quite a few guys enlisted. |
The second benefit to leaving early is arriving early! Atlantic City has a "Jitney" and for $2.25 you can ride all over town. We walked the Boardwalk (usual elephant ears and psychics) and visited a few casinos. Wayne had never stepped foot in a casino before so we showed him great opulence at Donald J. Trump Taj Mahal. Good thing Donald Trump got that "J." in there! We noticed a number of Trump Casinos.
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| Jim has become Mr. Clean. He washes the boat daily and wipes it down. He never washes his pickup, so I am a bit confused. |
Local knowledge had expressed that the Farley Trump Marina was the only Marina worth visiting, but at a price double what we consider high priced, we started searching. The Historic Gardner Marina at the aquarium was said to be run down and not a good spot, but when we cruised in and were met by Trish, the dock master, we were pleased to see floating docks at 1/3 the price of Trump Marina. With significant tides (4 feet in Atlantic City and up to 8 feet in Georgia), tying to a floating dock is a luxury of life. If the dock is stationary, the boat floats up and down and the lines must be tied much more carefully.
One other Looper boat was in the Marina, "Inconceivable" from Richmond Virginia. Drew, Liz, Sebastian (11) and Paisley (10). Nice family. Dog starved kids who needed a few Buddy and BooBoo licks. We had a wonderful time with the kids and hope we run into them again soon. Sebastian promised he would email me and we could stay in touch. He had better! He promised to read this blog! Paisley is a cutie too. Love those red headed children!
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| The Taj Mahal was Wayne's orientation to casinos. |
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| Remember those yummy funnel cakes.....or was that what made me throw up on the roller coaster...... |
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| Sit in the cart and let the poor guy push you along the boardwalk. I don't think so. |
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| Have no idea what this is, but is looks pretty cool. Anybody know? |
Our evening was spent as many are spent with Wayne and Ruth from High Spirits, discussing the next day. Our plan is to leave the dock at 530AM. Yes that is right, so I had better finish this blog!
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| Must say Atlantic is a pretty place at night. |
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