Getting Kyle Back to New York

As we left Baltimore we passed Fort McHenry. Here's an aerial view of the fort showing why it was known as the star fort. This is the fort that successfully defended Baltimore from a British attack during the War of 1812.

There is a special buoy in Baltimore Harbor painted red, white and blue to mark the spot where Francis Scott Key penned the words to our national anthem. He was being held prisoner on a British barge during the War of 1812 several miles from Fort McHenry. We could see why he would ask "Oh say does that star spangled banner still wave..." it was a long way away! We were lucky enough to see two YP (Yard Patrol) ships from the Naval Academy pass the buoy. The midshipmen were saluting it while the national anthem was playing aboard ship - what timing!

Kyle, being the dedicated professional musician that he is, found a way to get in some practice time while onboard. (the cool hat belongs to his Dad).

The first night was spent anchored in a river near Rock Hall, MD. We spent some time at a free dock but didn't want to risk the $100 fine for overnight docking even though we never saw anyone around. The next night we stopped at Chesapeake City. There's also a free dock there that does allow boats to tie up overnight but it was low tide and we hit bottom on the way in so we decided to anchor in the basin with a few other boats instead.
The C & D Canal was next, it's about a 12-mile long man-made cut from the 18th century that connects Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay. It allows ocean liners to go from Baltimore to Philadelphia. No sailing on the canal but we were able to sail some on Delaware Bay. After another shorter canal we were in New Jersey - wow three states in one day! We decided to take a bit of a shortcut into Cape May and go under two 55-ft. bridges (just about our mast height with the vhf radio antenna). It was low tide and we made them both - but barely. The Cap'n felt it was a bit too close for comfort! We got a slip in Cape May at the South Jersey Marina. At $2.95 per foot, it was even pricier than the Keys but it was nice to be in a marina; the weather had turned quite warm and humid.
From Cape May we were out in the Atlantic Ocean. There wasn't really enough wind to sail so we motor-sailed. The ocean swells weren't that pleasant and some of the crew was a bit uncomfortable (we won't mention who but one of them was Ginger). We made it to Atlantic City by late afternoon. I wasn't expecting the skyline to be so impressive but no casino visits for us. The neon light show on the side of one of the high-rise hotels was kind of fun to watch though, also the full moon was gorgeous.

We anchored in the only area allowed in a fairly strong current but had no trouble with our anchor holding. Kyle, Em and Ginger took the dinghy to shore but Paul stayed with the boat. You can see the speed of the current by the effect on this buoy.

We pulled anchor at 6:30 am (early for us) and headed back out into the Atlantic. We decided to make the run to Sandy Hook, NJ - again motor-sailing but the water was smoother and the waves were behind us. After 13 hours and 86 nautical miles, we anchored in a cove just past Sandy Hook. With the Verrazano Bridge at the entrance of New York Harbor in view, Kyle felt as though he was nearly home.

The next day we went an hour or so over to Staten Island and got a mooring ball at the Great Kills Yacht Club. That's where Restless Wind is right now and here's a couple pictures of our visit with Kyle and his girlfriend, Lizzie.

Here they are next to the famous Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, with Manhattan in the background.

We plan to spend a little time in the Long Island Sound - hopefully actually doing some sailing! After that it's on to the Hudson River heading north.