T&T: Cape May to Manasquan, Jersey Shore

[Lawrence Zeitlin]

On Sep 12, 2008, at 12:00 AM, Joe wrote:

>  I will not do the
> section from Atlantic City to Cape May again unless a perfectly  
> timed high
> tide and desperate need to keep a schedule.  I enjoyed two stuck  
> bridges
> which finally got unstuck, and restricted bridges that I barely  
> made because
> of back to back trains and a very slow opening after the trains  
> passed.
> This section is in great need of dredging.  I drove the boat thru  
> fine muck
> 5 separate time, all in the middle of the charted, marked and visual
> channels.


Going offshore along the coast of New Jersey seems to bother a lot of  
boaters. It is an easy trip if you chose your weather window  
properly. We have done it numerous times in small boats ranging from  
a 22' sailboat to our present Willard. Generally we make the trip in  
two easy stages, Cape May to Atlantic City (Abescon) and Atlantic  
City to Manasquan, cruising about 1/2 mile offshore. It is impossible  
to get lost since town names are displayed prominently on large water  
tanks. As Joe reports, the inland passage from Cape May to Atlantic  
City has shoaled considerably and is virtually impassable at low tide  
for boats drawing 3' or more. The frequent local storms make it hard  
for local authorities to keep up with dredging the inland passage.  
Also vacation car and railroad traffic seems to have priority on all  
the bridges.

Larry Z