Small World.....and on to Atlantic City, NJ

                                                     Waiting on storms to go away!!!

                 Interesting Cape May homes seen inside the harbor on our dingy excursion.

                                                                                     
                                                                                

                                                                                    

     So, I'm trying to find things to keep me occupied in Cape May as it is too stormy to travel, when I see a sailboat coming to dock.  Its "Talisman" a 40 some foot Island Packet carrying Kathy and Rodger Wilcox and their Nautidogs, Misty and Howie.  As I was helping them get tied into their slip they revealed that they had been not only to the Bay of Fundy but in particular to Campobello Island and St. Andrews. (our home and destination cruising grounds!)  They absolutely loved the area and are hoping to go back.  I assured them that Mr Chamberlain, on the St. Andrews wharf, was still there.
     They spoke very highly of him being a great ambassador for the St. Andrews area and remarked how he sent them to the Algonquin Hotel for night caps, where they sat pleasantly watching the sunset while a "young fellow in a kilt played bagpipe music.
     Rodger was a former "computer guy" and after living on both coasts due to his job, retired and he and Kathy became full time cruisers over the last 7 years.
    Next morning they introduced us to a new sailboat arrrival.....get this ...a fellow who is originally from St. Andrews, N.B.....SMALL WORLD!.  Steve Charbonneau's grandmother (I think she was a Ryan?) is about to return to St. Andrews.  Steve lived there until age 6 when he moved with his mother to attend school in Fredricton.   He eventualy spent 17 years in the Canadian Air Force then retired as a private pilot for a company in the U.S.A..

     Steve remarked, "I just couldn't live on the "starvation take home pay in Canada.  The taxes were just too much!" His fondness for Canada persists but he is not sure if he could ever afford to return home.
Who would have expected to meet people from home in this small port a thousand miles away from our destination? 
     Finally, in comes a 53 foot Marine Trader Trawler, "Sea Pearl", with Joe and Julie Nekola.  Joe a former member of the NYPD has been travelling on this boat for 9 years. This is the sister ship to the originator of "Active Captain"..Jeffrey and Karen Seigel from Castine, Maine.  Joe and Julie have travelled up and down the east coast for 9 years and are just returning from a winter cruise in the Bahamas, Abacos and Eleuthra.  Their home port is near Sedgewick, NY which just happens to be on the other side of New York Harbour, the same direction that we are headed.  They know the area well, including the marinas and anchorages and invited us to "buddy boat" with them.
      What good fortune to meet such wonderful people.  All enthusiastic about their life style and willing to help  us "newbies" enjoy the intricasies and joys of plying the east coast waterways.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                
                                 

Leaving Cape May Inlet

   We left Cape May at 8 am this morning even though the winds were predicted to be 10 to 15 knots. My weather system indicated that the seas would b 2 to 3 feet, but after asking around it was generally considered that if we travelled closer to shore ie. 1 to 2 miles, the north west wind would not have enough time to kick up a big "fetch" (think bounce!) and it worked!  The ride was comfortable. We had no spray on the deck or windshield.  Even Spencer was relaxed for the 39 miles we covered to enter an anchorage in Atlantic City, NJ.

                                                                                                 

                                          Wildwood, N.J.......a summer resort destination.

                                                                         
                                                              New Jersey Coastline 

                                                     
                                                         Atlantic City, New Jersey    

                                                                                           
                                                                Atlantic City Beach

                                                                               

                                                                                   
                                                                Trump Taj Mahal.

  I am sitting here with requisite frosty Coors in hand, looking out at a couple of sailboats and the skyline of Atlantic City, which includes "Trump towers, the Taj Mahal and the Water Club. Different architecture with lots of new construction in progress. (I guess someone is optimistic about the economy!) The sun is shining and the wind picked up but this is a safe comfortable anchorage to wait for Sea Pearl to catch up (they had to get supplies before they left Cape May).  Given good weather we should be headed toward Sandy Hook and New York tomorrow.
  Surprise....nothing needs to be fixed!  I waited to see if the motors would hold their 160 deg. temps  in the colder Atlantic, before changing out the thermostats...and they did.