Sailing To New York City
Sailing Up The Coast Of New Jersey
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| Looking at the Delaware shoreline and the Lewes terminal for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. Towards the left side of the picture, you can see a brown observation tower that was part of Fort Miles. During World War II, Fort Miles guarded the entrance of Delaware Bay using searchlights, mine fields, and heavy guns. The fort has long since been decommissioned and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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| Looking the other way at the anchorage and the breakwater that forms Breakwater Harbor. The lighthouse is the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1885 although it is no longer used today. Towards the right side of the picture, you can see the sands of Cape Henlopen, and barely visible in the background is the upper profile of a ship coming into the bay from the ocean. |
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Thursday, June 21, 2007
Jerome's original plan was to head from Breakwater Harbor out to the ocean, then sail up the coast of New Jersey to the vicinity of New York. Our exact destination was still undetermined, perhaps Sandy Hook (just south of New York Harbor), perhaps another anchorage or marina, depending on sailing conditions and our exact route.
We knew in advance that this would be a long passage, in fact an overnight passage, arriving some time tomorrow. After a long day yesterday, we got up early and listened to the weather forecast. After being polled by Jerome, we all agreed that we should continue the trip today rather than take a layover day.
With the decision made, we upped anchor at 6:20 am and motored around Cape Henlopen and out onto the Atlantic Ocean. Jerome could steer very close to the sandy shores of Cape Henlopen because the water was deep right up to the shore. Looking at the chart, though, you could see numerous shoals extending south from Cape May on the Jersey side, including some shoals that extended miles offshore. Therefore, we'll have to head east for a while before we turn northeast to parallel the coast of New Jersey.
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| One of the ferry boats heading from Lewes towards Cape May, New Jersey. The trip takes about 80 minutes. |
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| The Harbor Of Refuge Lighthouse, as seen from the ocean just outside the mouth of Delaware Bay. This is a different lighthouse on a different breakwater than the lighthouse at the top of the page. The present lighthouse dates from 1927, although there were earlier lighthouses on the site. It is still in use today. |
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