The weather reports had us staying in Atlantic Highlands through the weekend. Another storm and cold front came through Saturday. Wind direction has not been cooperative.
Thursday we hooked up with Pete, S/V "Lithium" again. We all had "time" on our hands. Peter, born and raised in Atlantic Highlands, offered a personalized tour of his beloved home town. He took us to places we would never have seen without "wheels", and a guide for that matter. We drove up to the top of the "Highlands", 200 feet above sea level, this is the highest land on the East Coast. We went to "Twin Lights", dual lighthouse beacons, erected in 1862. The south tower is square, while the north tower is octagonal. They stand 64 feet high and are 320 feet apart, with a fortress-like structure between them. We could only photo one tower because of the sun. "Twin Lights" was the first lighthouse to use the Fresnel lens. Fresnel lenses resemble glass beehives and consisted of a series of prisms that surrounded a central light source. With these lenses "Twin Lights" became the best coastal light in America. In 1898 an enormous electric - arc bivalve lens, measuring 9 feet in diameter, replaced the beehive - type light. This new lens was illuminated by an electric generator. It was one of the brightest navigational lights ever used in the U.S.
We visited Atlantic Highlands and surrounding areas memorial for their victims of 9/11. It was a giant eagle on top of granite, his claws holding a piece of the "Twin Towers". Pete knew several New Jersey victims that perished.
We had one more stop before lunch, that being Pete's house (he built himself). He was anxious to show us works of his new vocation. Pete now retired, his wife LuAnn gave him a watercolor set for Christmas and told him to take lessons. After only 10 months his work is professional and selling. We were truly impressed, he is sure to be famous one day!
We "hung" around on the mooring for the weekend, going to shore for walks, showers, groceries and most importantly to discuss weather with other sailors. We think there were about 25-30 of us waiting to depart. Monday is a weather window so it should be very exciting to see everyone setting sail.
Our plan is to leave Atlantic Highlands late Monday morning. This will get us to Atlantic City at dawn Tuesday, with the option of "ducking" in there if necessary. If all goes well; weather, wind, and waves we will keep going to Cape May, NJ, with an ETA of Tuesday afternoon.
Scenes from Atlantic Highlands
 |
| "Sandy Hook", spit of land between us and the Atlantic Ocean |
 |
| Atlantic Ocean in the distance |
 |
| North tower of "Twin Lights" |
 |
| Fresnel lens now on display |
 |
| 9/11 Memorial, Twin Towers, piece of Twin Towers behind the eagle in his claw |
 |
| Pete with one of his recent paintings, he's going to need a studio |
 |
| This is a phone tower made to blend in with the landscape |
No comments:
Post a Comment