Along the New Jersey Coast

(Ventnor City along the NJICW)

We were apprehensive to put it mildly. Travelling along the New Jersey coast on the weekend was something we weren’t looking forward to. We had visions of power boaters zooming by from dawn to dusk. To our surprise we found the Jersey shore to be a neat stretch of water and it was actually very peaceful. We had planned to leave early Saturday morning but were delayed an hour because of fog. We left at around 7:30 and found the narrow and shallow channel back onto the waterway. It was a cloudy, cool day with rain on and off, which perhaps was the reason for a relatively quite trip. We did encounter lots and lots of small fishing boats with families out trying their luck at a catch. Sometimes we had to swerve around them as they drifted along with the current in the channel. A few waved, but most were focused on the task at hand. The coast of New Jersey is heavily populated, but between the coast and the mainland are miles of lush green marshland with numerous types of wading birds.

At one point in the day, when we were away from land, the fog was so thick we weren’t able to see 20 feet ahead of us. It was disorientating and without the GPS we would have never been able to find our next marker. Sal had his eyes fixed on the GPS and depth sounder and I was scanning around for the marker posts. As soon as we got closer to land again, the fog lifted and we were able to see. The channel is very narrow and sometimes very shallow in spots. We went aground once over confusion about a marker at the entrance to an inlet. We didn’t know if we were supposed to take that red on our right or left. We chose wrong but backed off no problem. After that we didn’t touch bottom, though the depth sounder had many reading in the 4-5 feet range.

(Atlantic City - or what we were able to see of it)

Our plan was to stay the night anchored near Atlantic City, but a few bridges before didn’t open between 4 and 6 pm, so we opted to spend the night in the Ventnor City basin. This anchorage was very protected from the wind, waves, current and the boat traffic. We had a very peaceful night sleep, and ready to tackle the next day.

Sunday was even quieter on the water. It was another rainy, cloudy and cool day. We went through the 4 bridges and passed by Atlantic City. We could barely see many of the buildings as they were hidden behind fog. We did get a glimpse of Caesar’s Palace and Trump Plaza. We weren’t feeling lucky, and would probably have gambled away the rest of our monthly allowance if we did stop by. Maybe another time we’ll visit Atlantic City. We had seen the weather for the next few days and it didn’t look favourable for making it to Sandy Hook, so we decided to take our time and slowly work our way to Manasquan Inlet (the end of the ICW). We were ready to anchor for the night and decided to try another Skipper Bob (an anchorage guidebook we use) recommended anchorage. After searching around and trying a few spots, we didn’t find any place out of the channel where we could drop the hook with more than 3 feet of water, so we decided to try further on. We only had to go a few more miles before we found a nice spot near Haven Beach, where we had lots of room and lots of water under us.

Unfortunately the wind switched around as predicted early in the morning and as I couldn’t sleep, I woke Sal and decided to get an early start. The wind picked up even more and we were fighting a 20 knot wind, so we were barely making any headway. We found a small island that blocked the waves and anchored nice and close. It was still early so we made the bed and had a nice nap. By 9:30 the wind died and after a breakfast of oatmeal, we moved on. We entered Barnaget Bay, which is a fairly shallow bay but wide. We started to see sailboats again, and were even more surprised when we were able to actually sail. Something we didn’t foresee on this stretch of water. We went up the Tom’s River and docked at a city dock where we were able to get of the boat and walk around. It had been over a week since we had set foot on land. We got our legs working and took a stroll around. We had high hopes for some fast food, as the selection on the boat has been seriously diminished. Unfortunately we didn’t find the main street, so settled for rice and beans and some Vienna sausages. We moved from the dock and anchored in a quiet and protected cove. We had another peaceful night.

For the last 15 miles to Manasquan we needed 6 bridges to open for us. The last one was the craziest bridge we have encountered. It’s probably only about 30 feet wide and it lifts with an old pully system. The bridge tender had to unlock something along the bridge before it began it’s slow lift. It was a tight fit, even for Second Wind, as it didn’t rise fully vertical, so we had to go very close to the side in order to ensure our mast would not hit. We found a quiet little creek called the Glimmer Glass where we dropped our anchor. It was so protected and peaceful, even though it is lined with houses and boats on one side. We basically had only to share the water with a few geese and a pair of ducks.

We inflated the dinghy and beached it on the sandy shore and took a quick walk to the town of Manasquan. It was a very cute town with lots of neat shops and restaurants. We finally got some much craved pizza and tacos for dinner. Today we headed ashore again for a breakfast other than oatmeal (which we’ve eaten every morning for the past two weeks), looked in a few stores and bought some groceries to replenish our supplies. We spent the afternoon reading in the shade of the cockpit and doing a check over the boat for our short ocean trip tomorrow. The weather looks good for our 25 miles along the coast. Fingers crossed that the forecasts are correct.

P.S. Thank you to the charming ladies from Gatherings and White Bliss. You had lovely stores and were very hospitable.