We can say that we've sailed the North Atlantic :-)

We can say that we've sailed the North Atlantic J     Sounds so dramatic.  Being Canadian, the North Atlantic  is associated with visions of the perfect storm off the Newfoundland Banks in the dead of winter.  Our  North Atlantic  sail  was quite the opposite.

The weather window we were waiting for finally arrived this weekend. We  left Atlantic Highlands and Sandy Hook  as the winds started to settle down, and with the outgoing tide  on Saturday morning at 11:00. Apparently we weren’t the only ones waiting ….  or adopting the strategy of using the tide to give us a boost … a flotilla of boats left the harbor – there had to be a dozen of us – all within the same hour or two: Crazy Lady (she’s solo),  Cloud Nine, Sea angel, Southern Belle, Southern Cross, Nauticus, CS’ta Time, Kind of Magic , us, and a few others.

If you’ve been following us with our blog, you’ve seen the photos of all the big guys out there on the water with us. They are not as scary as these wee little things:

Can you see all 3?

Those are markers for crab pots. The lines running  from those buoys down to the crab pots on the ocean’s floor could be  20’ or 200’ or even more, and they’re often strung together in series of 10 or so (I’m told).  Catching those wee little fellas on the rudder or prop could potentially disable our vessel.  Fortunately, I knew just what to do to avoid  them all, even when the winds knocked them down, or after the sun went down, and they were impossible to see.  Thank you, Reet, for that St. Christopher’s medallion - the saint for safe travels.  J

The passage from Sandy Hook to Cape May is about 120 nautical miles, and with an average cruising speed of  5 knots/hr., that works out to 24hr.  of travel time. For us, it was our first “overnighter.” We had some light while the moon was out…

After the moon set at 2:15am;  the lights of Atlantic City (as glitzy as Vegas?) could be seen for hours.

The seas were gentle, the winds were steady, and we had a beautiful sail; arriving in Cape May at 8:30am.  21 ½ hr. from anchor’s up to anchor’s down. Couldn't have been better.

The only bit of misfortune  we encountered  was a small flood in the salon (the sunken living room). Water was seeping out of our port side water tank, through the lid closure that the crew (me) didn’t adequately tighten.  Oops.  I tried to explain to  the captain that the problem was  Serenada’s, as she had been listing to port, causing the spillage.  On the upside, the floors got washed, and so did some of the salon cushions.

Cape May  appears to be a fisherman’s paradise. Frank's heaven on earth. Check it out!

look at those family cars

"that'll get you where you're going"

(the Customs and Border Patrol boats have 3 x 300 HP)

I want one of these in my driveway too.

scalloping boats

gotta love that table (a rope spool)

All three HYC (Hawkestone Yacht Club) boats - Serenada, CS'ta Time, & Kind of Magic - arrived safely and are at anchor today in Cape May's harbour! I'm sure we all feel a little pride in having completed an overnight North Atlantic sail.

tonight's sunset in Cape May Harbour