5/21 What do Baltic, Ventnor, and Atlantic have in common?

We planned to be safe in a slip in Atlantic City today.  Boy, I was glad we were.  We had a couple of nice things to start our Saturday.  On Saturday mornings, we skype with the Reicherts in Houston.  Anna has more loose teeth.  Abigail enjoyed hiding in her closet.  Alicia calls us on Saturday mornings too.  She was captaining a sailboat charter that was a bachelorette party and was hoping the rain would stop in Baltimore long enough for the charter to run.  As it turned out, the rain cooperated with her wishes.

The rain rolled in hard to Atlantic City and right now the winds are at 20 knots gusting to 35.  At the marina, we can use all the Golden Nugget amenities, so I took advantage and headed to the gym for a good workout.  The rain started on our way back from taking our showers.

John made meatballs and sauce for lunch.  It was good to have a nice warm lunch on such a cold raw day.  It is May 21st.  I did not expect to be wearing jeans, long sleeved shirt, fleece, rain coat and my winter hat.

Atlantic City has a Jitney Service that runs every day 24 hours a day.  It runs on fixed routes and is very convenient.  We hopped on right outside the Golden Nugget and took it to St. Nicholas Church for the 4 pm. Mass.  The Church was built in 1903 and was very ornate and beautiful. 

The Jitney ride there was an adventure.  The driver made tight turns and must have hit every pothole in the state of New Jersey.  These buses seat 13.  This particular one had no shock absorbers.
After Mass, we walked down to the Trump Taj Mahal.  It seemed appropriate given the presidential candidates.  It was very opulent.  Elephants stand guard at the entrance.

Everything is Taj Mahal themed.  We did try our hand at the slot machines.  I look at it as we spent $10 to have some fun.  My sister, Barb, suggested we get cheesesteaks at White House Subs, an Atlantic City institution.  We took her advice and enjoyed them for dinner.

After dinner, we hopped the Jitney back to the State Park Marina at the Golden Nugget.  The weather tomorrow promises more rain and does not bring calm seas, so we will stay put tomorrow too.

Baltic, Ventnor, and Atlantic are all streets in Atlantic City.  All the streets in the game Monopoly were named after the streets of Atlantic City.

Lat 39 degrees 22.70 North
Long 74 degrees 25.64 West

5/20 Atlantic City

This day was full of new experiences for the Hydrophilic.  On the loop, most people go out into the ocean to move up through New Jersey.  So for the first time, the Hydrophilic went out the Cape May Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean and cruised up to Absecon Inlet, which is where Atlantic City is.  The waves were less than 2 feet and it was a comfortable ride.  There was still a lot to see as we passed the south Jersey shore.

Two large fishing vessels were hard at work.  They seemed to be transferring fish from one vessel to the other.

Finally, we could see Atlantic City in the distance.

We arrived at Absecon Inlet and headed to the Farley State Park Marina.   The Marina is at the base of the Golden Nugget Casino.  Another looper saw our boat entering the marina, and snapped this picture of the Hydrophilic and emailed it to us.

We had been having some trouble with our batteries holding a charge.  The marina gave us a recommendation and the fellow came out and fixed our alternator belt and we are good to go. 

For dinner, we went into the casino for pizza.  We got a chance to walk around.  From the pool level on the 6th floor, one can look down at a great view of the Hydrophilic.

We may be here a couple of days because they are calling for small craft warnings for the weekend.  And there is live music on the deck of the casino, so we get a free concert.

Lat 39 degrees 22.69 North

Long 74 degrees 25.64 West

5/19 Welcome to New Jersey

What a beautiful day!!  It started out somewhat overcast but then the sun came out and followed us to Cape May, New Jersey.  We spent the day in the sun on the fly bridge.

From Delaware City, we headed down the Delaware River to the bay.  To the west, the shore was dotted with farms.  The river is wide and deep and used to transport all sorts of items to Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia.  The various vessels passing us were amazing and HUGE.  One had two items on a barge being towed.  In this first picture, you can see how far the tow is from the barge.  In the second picture, you can see how very big those things on the barge are.  They wouldn't fit on a regular truck going up Interstate 95.

Another ship we passed had two enormous cranes.  The Combi-Lift company has a fleet of heavy lift vessels of various sizes around the world.  Their headquarters is in Bremen.

The tanker below was unique because between the tanker and our boat was a fishing boat.  That boat was probably 26 feet long.  It looks like a toy boat by comparison.

On the waterways, you see lots of things that you don't see on the highways.  Today, we passed the Salem Thermo Nuclear Plant on the Jersey side of the bay.  It was so tall and the steam went so high in the air that you could see it for about 20 miles.

Finally, I can show you Ship John Lighthouse, with a sunny sky in the background.

On the southeastern shore of the Delaware River, we turned into the Cape May Canal.  In no time, we were snuggled into our slip at Utsch's Marina.  There we were welcomed with Blueberry wine, biscotti and handmade pomergranate and mango soap.  There are several other looper boats here too.  It is good to hear everyone's stories and plans.

Cape May

Lat 38 degrees 57.06 North

Long 74 degrees 54.33 West

5/18 Delaware City, Delaware

We had a quiet "down day" today.  In the morning we did boat chores, checked the water in batteries, the filters in the engine and heat and air conditioning strainers, and dusted the cabin, etc. 

Delaware City is a tiny town, but an enjoyable one day event.  The Delaware City Marina is located on an old section of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal that is narrower than the one used today.
The marina is very nice and has a nice garden on the side with interesting art work.

Here is the view this morning in the marina.  It is so pretty and relaxing.  Little spots like this exist all over the American waterways.

We walked around the town.  The town is small and the walk was pleasant. They have kept part of the old locks as an exhibit.

The town grew up in the 1800's because of trade between Philadelphia and Baltimore in the Delaware River and Fort Delaware.  Fort Delaware mostly held prisoners during the Civil War.  It is located on Pea Patch Island between Delaware and New Jersey.

Most of the buildings and homes on the waterfront were built in the 1800's.  The Central Hotel is a good example.

There is a very nice promenade that goes from the marina to the very small but quaint downtown.  But it is the land of double entendre.  For lunch, we ate at Crabby Dick's.  The marina has given us coupons for two crabby balls with the special sauce.  The menu looks like a newspaper with the headline Crabby Dick for President.  Crabby Dick's campaign manager is Seymour Dick.  Let's just say there are more examples.

For dinner, we walked up to Clinton Street.  I am not making this up. We went to Lewinsky's on Clinton.  I had pierogis and brussels sprouts that had an amazing vinaigrette. They had drink specials, like the little blue dress martini.  I did not have one.

Lat 39 degrees 34.31 North

Long 75 degrees 35.41 West

5/17 On to Delaware What did Della Wear?

The winds had laid down so we awoke early and pulled out of Baltimore Harbor just as the rain started.  We were able to look back on Fort McHenry, with the same view that Francis Scott Key had in 1812.  The wind was barely moving the flag.

Today, we traveled north to the end of the Chesapeake and through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the Delaware River.  The seas were calm but the rain was relentless. 

Rain to Port

Rain to starboard

Along the C & D canal were some large farms.  I generally don't think of Maryland or Delaware as farming states.

The boat below, we saw at dock.  This is the Delaware Responder and can go anywhere in the world to respond to oil leaks and fuel spills.  It can clean up 18,000 gallons in one hour!!!  Glad to know that she was not needed right now.

Delaware Responder, a spill container

Our goal for the night was Delaware City.  We are in the Delaware City Marina and settled for the night but it is still raining hard.  We think we will stay here tomorrow and then go to Cape May, New Jersey.

So what did Delaware?  A New Jersey!!!

Lat 39 degrees 34.32 North
Long 75 degrees 35.41 West

5/16 Taking advantage of waiting for the winds to die down.

The winds were still rather high today.  So we took advantage of them to spend another day in Baltimore.  Alicia didn't have to work until 4 so she kindly acted as tour guide.  We rode the Water Taxis and Harbor Connector to see the sights.  The sun came out finally though.  We toured the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, the oldest screw-pile lighthouse, built in 1856 at the mouth of the Patapsco River.  It was moved to Baltimore's inner harbor in 1989.  So I can finally show you a picture of a legendary lighthouse with blue skies in the background.  While touring the outside, I got this great picture of Alicia with Federal Hill in the background.

The Domino Sugar factory stands over the Harbor.  The sugar cane arrives by huge ships for processing.  Alicia tells us that 16% of the Sugar in the US is processed here.

For perspective, the dot on the "I" is 6 feet tall.

Baltimore is home to 4 Historic Ships and we toured 3 of them.  The first we toured, was the USS Constellation, a sister ship to the USS Constitution.  They fired one of the guns while we were there and it was loud. The Navy calls them guns and the Army calls them cannons.  At the double helm, I learned why they had two wheels that worked together.  When they had storms at sea, it could take up to 8 men holding the wheel to be able to steer the boat safely.

The second ship we boarded was the submarine Torsk.  It was built in 1944 and was state of the art.  Eighty men served on the Torsk at a time.  With the sound of the engines not to mention the torpedoes going off, it must have been so loud.  There was very little extra room to move.  The hatches from one compartment to another were so small.  I cannot imagine how scary it was to walk along the top of the submarine when it was above the ocean.

Lastly, we visited the United States Lighthouse Service vessel Chesapeake.  The Unites States Lighthouse Service was a precursor of the Coast Guard.  These ships were anchored in places where they were not able to build lighthouses.  The Chesapeake was near the Delaware River for much of its service.  The bell was huge. 

Finally, we got up close and personal with Mr. Trashwheel.  The trashwheel is at the mouth of the Jones River where it enters the Patapsco.  It runs off the current of the Jones River and solar panels.  Booms are in place that catch the trash that floats into the river.

  The current turns the wheel and the trash goes up the conveyor belt to a dumpster in the back. 

This has been very successful in decreasing the trash in the Baltimore Harbor.  Plans are in place for another trashwheel to be added.

5/15 Grandkid day on the Hydrophilic

It was a very windy day with wind speeds gusting to 35 but at least it was sunny.

   Everyone was tired last night and went right to sleep after a squirt of whipped cream from Grandpa, a family tradition.  We awoke to a very windy day and had pancakes for breakfast.

Alicia joined us for church and we walked to St. Casimer.  Alicia lead the ducklings down the dock.

John and Grandpa had a good time on the dinghy. 

John and Grandpa on the dinghy

Sarah was the Captain of the Dinghy even though it was cold out there.  She also helped with boat chores like filling the water in the tank and unfurling the American flag.

Captain Sarah

Madeline liked having lunch on the fly bridge, because the sun made it warm and we were out of the wind.  Grandpa played games with M&M's and whipped cream as prizes.  Madeline liked that too.

Madeline poses on the dinghy

Aunt Alicia was a great crew member on every dinghy trip.

Catherine came to collect the grandchildren so they can to school tomorrow and I miss them already.

John bundled up in his life jacket

Lat 39 degrees 16.53 North
Long 76 degrees 34.67 West