May 22, 2022
After hosing our anchor off from the Reedy Island gunk, we were on our way with plans to cruise around Cape May. On route, we passed Oh Henry, and then became the lead boat for five boats following the same course. Some of the boats were planning to stop at Cape May because the conditions on the ocean weren’t ideal for travel. We were comfortable with how rough the seas were reported to be, so our intention was to run up the outside and continue to Atlantic City. After some chatting amongst the boats via VHF, a few of them decided to fall in behind and follow us and Oh Henry up the outside to Atlantic City.
Along the way, we decided to cut through Cape May instead of going around the point. It was supposed to save us some time, and it was a scenic detour. As we poked our way through, the marinas we passed were full of sport fishing boats. We’ve never seen so many outriggers at once! It was worth the slow pass through the Cape. As we entered the ocean from the Cape May Inlet, again, the waves greeted us excitedly. We haven’t lucked out on a smooth run in the ocean yet. It was breezy and seas were rough, but we knew this. Our destination was the Golden Nugget Farley State Marina, and we were staying for two nights.
As we approached the marina, Gord hailed the dockmaster on the radio for our slip assignment. He told us we are on E dock and that we could pick any open slip. It was pretty windy and I was nervous about this docking. We made our way down E to choose a slip. With Gord at the helm, the rest of us were ready on the bow and stern to help get Holy Cow into the slip. Gord pulled passed the slip and started to stern in. He told me that if the wind caught us hard and “he loses it”, he would just put Holy Cow’s bow on the piling and pivot in. He told me so I wouldn’t panic if I saw us heading towards a piling. This form of docking is normal practice with pilings, we just haven’t done it. Gord started to back in and came in a little hotter than usual, on purpose. He put Holy Cow on the dock effortlessly, but when he was done and came down to recheck our lines, he said, “I don’t know how Jenn Keski does that on a single screw, but she can do it. It’s impressive.” So, a shout out to you Jenn! We chatted a little about the Duchess and how great of a captain Jenn is and then settled in and got to cleaning Holy Cow inside and out! We happen to have a video of our docking experience, which is fabulous! A big thanks to who sent that to us. It’s not easy getting footage of Holy Cow in action.
We had some guests that evening for appetizers and wine, and we made our plans for the next evening. In the morning, we had some time to explore, so we took a long walk along the boardwalk of Atlantic City. I do not mean to be offensive, but Atlantic City has this look about it that something catastrophic happened and the individuals left behind made a run at it to make the best of the city that was there. There is infrastructure for a spectacular place, but littered among that are vacant areas where townhouses were promised, but never completed, a waterfront that has been left with empty buildings and unkept grounds, so much has been left unfinished or is now not in operation. We didn't make it over the bridge to Brigantine Beach by land, but we passed it by water, and it does look lovely there.
We took an Uber from the marina to the boardwalk and enjoyed a long walk around the water. We could see from land where we had come in by sea the day before. We surprised the kids with some time in the Showboat Casino Arcade. We walked in, loaded up are play cards with credits and off we went for some mid-morning, early afternoon hours of family fun. When our cards were empty, we headed back to Holy Cow to get ready for dinner. We were meeting Steve and Leslie at The Palm for dinner.
We put on some dress up clothes, well dressed up boating clothes, and got a family picture before heading out to dinner. Dinner was spectacular. Steve treated us to lovely evening of stories, laughs and cuisine and we are so appreciative. Everything from the starter salads to the desserts was exceptional. What a treat for us and we definitely overindulged. When we couldn’t possibly eat another bite, we said our goodbyes and headed back to our home away from home. Tomorrow was an early start and it will be our last run in the ocean.
C & D to Atlantic City travel log here.
I had to watch the basketball toss video three times to see who won. I think it was a Triple Crown. So much fun each day!!
Wow, that is a compliment, coming from the captain who did that excellent docking, Gord! Smoooooth! 👏👏👏 Nice to have video of a stellar moment. Our kids used to give us report card ratings on our docking efforts, and I can assure you there were some D-'s as well as A+'s!!