It is every sailor's story. We had a weather forecast with favorable winds, low seas, everything is right to set sail. Terry calculated time, speed and distance, repeatedly. This transit was to be our biggest challenge of the trip thus far, sailing down the Jersey Shore on the Atlantic Ocean for a 24 hour passage to Cape May, New Jersey. Even for Terry, who has been sailing since he was a young child, this was exciting.
The forecast for Monday could not have been better; West wind 10-15 kts, 2-3 foot waves with a 9-10 second period, clear skies, 3/4 bright moon for the night. We even had a plan B. If things changed, we could duck into Atlantic City. Tuesday's forecast was calling for Southwest winds late in the day up to 20 kts. At 5kts speed, and 120nm, we could make Cape May in less than 24 hours.
Wise sailors do not make unfamiliar ports at night. Another time, speed, distance calculation had us leaving Sandy Hook, NJ late morning/early afternoon. This would have us at Atlantic City's Absecon Inlet just before dawn if we needed to stop there. If we could continue down the coast we could make Cape May Tuesday afternoon. What could go wrong?
We cleared Sandy Hook at about 1330 hours and we were then sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. Everything was perfect. We were sailing, and "Chasseur" was in heaven on a beam reach at 5.5 - 6.5 kts., with an off shore breeze. We had to layer up for temperature in the the high 60's. This would be a cold night when the sun went to sleep. The hours ticked on with a lunch and dinner underway, not too much excitement. Sunset was upon us and it was beautiful. Then over the radio there was a sailors exchange, buddy boats, talking about whales on their starboard, jumping 15 feet out of the water, their position only a few miles ahead of us. We turned our heads and looked at each other with that disbelief look. We expected dolphins, but not whales. The Coast Guard quickly called in over the exchange and requested a lot of information, position, type of whales, "did they appear to be injured or in distress?". The sailors could not accurately identify the type of whales and said they appeared healthy and happy. Soon after the Coast Guard announced over the VHF radio a notification to all mariners in the area of the whale pod position and to avoid this endangered species. It was just nightfall now and we were just a few miles from the whales last sighted position. Novice ocean going sailors, we looked again at each other with wide eyes..."how do you avoid whales in the dark?" We never did see the whales and there were no "bumps" in the night.
We had a beautiful sky Monday night, the sunset seemed to linger forever, the moon rose and glistened on the water, the stars were bright, and we were still sailing, a sailor's dream!
Around midnight, Terry noticed a slight change in wind direction and trimmed the sails accordingly. That southerly component that was forecasted for late Tuesday was upon us. To make this long story shorter....our sailor's dream soon had changed. We now had a SW wind that just continued to build. We had wind speeds 17-20 kts with even higher gusts, waves building to 4-5 feet, ON THE NOSE!!! We motorsailed on a reefed main in these conditions through the night.
We could see Atlantic City for miles....the city lights and hotel marques were our target. We made Atlantic City just before dawn and sat outside the inlet waiting for daylight to make port. We certainly could not make Cape May in these conditions!
It was funny to see so many sailboats all coming into the Absecon Inlet so early in the morning. We knew of one other sailor in our situation over the radio last night, but it looked like we were not as alone "out there" as we thought. We watched large motor yachts trying to leave Atlantic City as we were coming in, then upon testing the waters, turning right around to come back!
We took a slip at Farley State Marina, which is attached to Golden Nugget Casino and who also manages the marina. We went to the Casino for breakfast (not our style), licked our wounds and rested our aching muscles. We collapsed back at the boat shortly after for sleep.
Dedicated to the Captain:
"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm"
Publilius Syrus
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| Clearing "Sandy Hook, NJ", Atlantic ahead of us |
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| Sunset at Sea |
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| Night sky out at sea |
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| Moon rise on the water |
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| Atlantic City lights |
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Atlantic City at daybreak  |
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