Oh Yeah

At Sea 17 W73 56
October 27 Oh yeah it feels so good to be back at sea once again. We spent 3.5 months sailing inland. Today is the first time in open ocean again. The weather and winds are very nice. We’re doing 7 knots southward and I see a clear horizon to the east.

We left Liberty Island at first light, 07:00. It was very cold but clear. Negotiating the channels and the bouys and watching out for the ship traffic makes us nervous, but it wasn’t bad today. By 0900 we were off Sandy Hook NJ and clear of the traffic. Our plan is to sail to Cape May NJ. It will take about 24 hours. Just right for us to get back into the rhythm.

It’s now 1AM and we’re passing just south of Atlantic City NJ. The lights of the city are pretty spectacular at night. It looks like a mini Las Vegas, which I guess it is. The phosphorescence in the water is also the strongest I’ve seen it. The white crests of the waves near the boat glow in the dark a brilliant green. It look surreal.

We had a great day sailing. The winds were fair, and it was warm enough out here. The water temperature is 60 degrees so it’s somewhat warmer here than on land. Tonight it also nice, but the winds let off. We’re only making 3 knots since dark.

We’re debating whether to put in at Cape May or to continue another 24 hours to Norfolk Virginia. We’ve done 48 hours sailing several times before. The weather is such that if we stay in Cape May, we won’t see such favorable weather for another 4 or 5 days. The counter argument is exhaustion in the cold weather. We’ll see how the decision comes out.