Sunrises and Sunsets

Sunrise over Atlantic Highlands, NJ

We did finally make it to the Connecticut river two days before we were to have high winds from hurricane Jose which would be skirting the coast of Long Island.  Enough time to stow all our canvas, rent a car and get a hotel room for the night.  But, of course, as Jose had done all along - he stalled.  So the night we spent in a hotel was mild but when we got back on the boat the wind came.  Truly it wasn't too bad though - we had weathered a rougher night in Maine during a nor'easter.  We stayed on the Connecticut river a couple of days but once the wind calmed down enough we took off.  Now we were trying to make it to Cape May, NJ before hurricane Maria started moving up the east coast.  Forever dodging hurricanes!

 We sailed from Essex, CT to Port Jefferson, NY.  It was one rough day on Long Island Sound!  We got hit by some pretty big waves and were very glad to reach our destination that day.  Our "weather window" to reach Cape May, NJ was fairly short.  The winds from hurricane Maria were going to be pretty high and the sea was all churned up.  NOAA was predicting 27 foot waves in the coastal waters!  We wanted no part of that.  

Sunset - Cohansey River

 So - the next day we went all the way through NY harbor and over to Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  We wanted to reach Cape May within three days as that was all the time we had.  At least if we reached Cape May we had options.  If the weather wasn't settled enough to sail on the ocean we could always travel up the Delaware Bay and then down to Chesapeake Bay.  From there we could get on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway all the way to New Bern, NC.  

 Our plan was good and we did reach Cape May just in the nick of time.  The next day the wind was blowing 20-30 knots and stayed that way for several days.  Unfortunately, that wind prevented us from going up the Delaware as well.  There we sat stuck in Cape May, NJ waiting for an opportunity to either make an overnight run for Norfolk or up the Delaware.  Hurricane Maria was just off the coast of Cape Hatteras.  Time for laundry and working on the autopilot which has decided to quit working.