Atlantic City New Jersey

We anchored in the popular Cape May harbor anchorage, next to the Coast Guard Training Center after a long day on the Delaware River. For the second time this season, we woke to the sound of revelry. The uplifting, patriotic voices of the cadets filled the morning air. The Coast Guard band was playing the National Anthem as we left our anchorage.

A lot of fishing boats surrounded us as we moved out the inlet to the Atlantic; racing out to the ocean on a beautiful morning with a bit of ground fog that danced above the shoreline. Throughout the day a tiny tug putt-putted in front of us while a sailboat followed behind. We watched a pod of 30+ dolphins actively feeding off of Atlantic City. Dave spotted a sea turtle paddling south. Huge fevers of manta ray flew by us in groups. They looked like balloons on a string. There was so much to see as we moved north.

We cruised only a couple of miles offshore so we are able to see Atlantic City for a very long time before we arrived. We'd considered an offshore run from Cape May to the Statue of Liberty but Marv's Weather Service was causing us concern. Instead we decided to keep to our plan of meeting up with Trudi and Peter aboard Andromeda Sol in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. With storms heading our way, we chose to stop at Atlantic City for the night, just to be safe!

Ground fog in Cape May

Looking back at Cape May Harbor

Our first views of Atlantic City

As we turned to enter the Absecon inlet, a sailboat slipped in front of us, furled his jib, and started his engine before heading into port. When he came to the harbor entrance, he did not honor the red markers. We, of course, DID! The entrance to the basin was extremely narrow, so tight that it made us question whether we were going the right way. We snuck through the opening and found Frank Farley State Marina which sits outside of the Golden Nugget Casino about a mile or so west of the boardwalk. The Coast Guard is right next door.

Entering Absecon Inlet

Absecon Lighthouse

Kayak swim spotter, hard to see
swimmer behind him!

A dockhand came to catch our lines. The sailboat that traveled behind us all day was moving up the lane behind us, aiming to dock a few slips away. The captain tried to slide into the slip but slammed into the tip of the dock instead. As he backed up, he came frighteningly close to the boats behind him. Moving forward again he hit the dock in the same spot; he repeated his crashes several more times. I suggested that the dock hand help him instead of us. I notice their was an older couple with a dog aboard the sailboat. The collisions did not seem to bother them at all. Later, we learned that they are from Wisconsin and have been cruising for over 10 years. They are headed for the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. We can't imagine how they will complete the trip unscathed.

Dockage is a whopping $3 per foot but we get the Tow Boat US discount of .30 a foot bringing our one night stay to just under $100. We know that safe is expensive, but it's what we need right now. We are very tired!

Neither of us have been to Atlantic City. We wanted to walk the boardwalk and explore so we brought out the folding bikes and headed for the ocean. We peddled away from the casino and quickly found ourselves in dilapidated neighborhoods. After a short distance, I stopped; I was ready to return to the marina. I could see that it was not a safe place for us to bike. Instead, we took a shower then went for a walk around the casino. As we returned to Mystic we heard a band playing at the H20 patio bar. We could hear the music from our cockpit so we ate dinner on deck as Bob Marley sang, "Don't worry, Every little thing is gonna be alright!." It's just the message I needed to hear!

Mystic at Atlantic City

Mystic at Atlantic City

View from Mystic

Dusk at Atlantic City

Night lights are coming on

Cruising life in the big city

View looking East

Moon rising, just kidding
it's a ball light on top
of the hotel

Harrah's, next door

The real Moon over
Atlantic City

As the moon rose over Atlantic City we sat looking over charts, planning our next leg; an anchorage up the Manasquan Inlet near Brielle, New Jersey. Back in 1982 Dave stopped here on our 23 foot sailboat Keewatin. We named our daughter after this town. I was excited to see it in person. We went to bed knowing that the weather was expected to turn stormy overnight. We were hoping that we could leave in the morning. Little did we know, we'd be stuck in Atlantic City for four days!