GL: Indigo Lady continues

[Jim Ague]

Regarding:

  I am still debating whether to go outside or stay inside through the NJ 
stretch.  I am less than the 35ft maximum, at 33 ft and require only draw 
only 4 ft.  If there is anyone who is going outside at that time, perhaps I 
could tag along.  We shall see when I get there next week.  If anyone has 
any advice for me, it would be appreciated.
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We just did Sandy Hook, NJ, to Atlantic City offshore. By the end of the day 
the sea were approaching 2 foot and getting uncomfortable for us. The next 
day the forecast was for 3 to 5 foot seas, and in fact would stay that way 
for several days. Although we had once sworn to never go inside again, we 
decided to go inside, again, from AC to Cape May, the worst section of the 
lot.

We left AC two hours before high tide and planned to run until 2 hours after 
high. We called Towboat US for local knowledge for this section and got a 
list of bad spots:

Markers R264, 320ish, and Grassy Bay near Wildwood.

Just getting out of AC was hell, 5 bridges to open in the first 9 miles. 
Crossing inlets was hell, never well marked. Fishing boats just drifting 
about in what might be the channel. Never felt the bottom touch but heard 
the beeper set at 6 ft for our 4 ft draft go off several times.

After 4+ hours we stopped at Avalon Pointe Marina, ($1/ft bright spot of the 
trip) for the night.

With just 12 miles to go to Ephraim Island (Sunset Lake anchorage), we left 
one hour before high tide. Same deal again, if we didn't have 4 foot of tide 
under us, we would have been in 1 foot of water, and we're pretty good at 
reading markers and imagining the underlying curvature of the channel, we 
think!?

Sooooo, never again will we go inside NJ.

-- Jim
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Jim & Rita Ague
M/V Derreen, Monk 36
lying Sunset Lake mm 109.1 NJICW, waiting for the Delaware Bay to get nice.
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