After a bumpy night at anchorage we were anxious to be on our way up the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway or NJICW. We had been warned that the water can be very "skinny" or shallow through here and the best time to travel is 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide. High tide this morning was 7:15 so we got underway as soon as we were up and breakfasted. We knew there would be slow downs due to waiting for bridges to open and slowing down for the many marina's along the way.
The marinas in Cape May reminded us of Lake Union! There were boats everywhere!
The route winds through a maze of "islands?" A lot of these are shoals that have built up over time. Some are more visible than others. See how close this one is to the boat? The crazy thing is the water where we are was 8-10 ft deep. This is where following the day markers becomes very important, as they note where the deeper water is. The problem comes when the shoals "shift" underwater, which they do all too frequently.
This one is more substantial but further away. Still too close for comfort.
We had planned to travel about 23 miles split into two halves - anchoring during the low tide period. We made really good time in the morning and actually traveled over 3 hours past high tide with no problem completing our days route.. This led to a false sense of security. We were not happy with our mid-day anchorage and decided we could easily go another 16 miles to a better anchorage after low tide. We tried to leave our anchorage only 2 hours after low tide and promptly grounded (we were stuck). The nice thing about a "rising tide" is you just have to wait until the tide floats you off the shoal. It took about 1/2 an hour but we floated off. We were still traveling at too low of a tide and constantly ran into many spots where we touched bottom. This made for one VERY long day and by the time we reached our anchorage at 7PM we were ready for a day off. The weather called for thunderstorms and rain so we will stay in the anchorage tomorrow. When we continue on Friday we will stick to the 2 hours before/after high tide rule.
The afternoon still had its enjoyable times and interesting sites.
The "islands" are not sturdy enough to build on but they still build "over" them.
It is hard to catch these egrets on camera. They are so white the picture is usually blurry. This is the best I've managed to get so far.
This was such a cute little tug boat. He belongs to a construction company.
We rounded a bend to see these three little sailboats enjoying the wind. They really flew through the water, until...
Oops! I saw the boat tip but didn't catch it on camera. These boats are made for this as they have a handle on the hull to help tip it back over.
Then there were the 8 man rowing shells - they were just finishing up their practice for the day and waiting their turn at the dock. As soon as they saw my camera they started showing off "Mama Mia" style. I was so amazed to see this picture where their oars are all lined up mid row and yet their hands are not all on the oars.
But their knees were! What control!
As we neared Atlantic City we saw more and more houses and boats.
I will close with my rant for the day. Aside from pesky crab pot buoys dotting our route and threatening our propellers we run across many fishing boats who apparently think the channel is their own private fishing ground. This guy took the cake sitting smack between two day markers (we're supposed to go through in the middle between the two daymarks). SERIOUSLY????
Anchored at Ventnor City, NJ
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