Monday, June 6 – Thursday, June 9
We attended the Monk36 rendezvous at Doziers Regatta Marina. About 19-20 boats were registered and we had an opportunity to find out more about our model boat and to meet some of the people who have been so helpful in answering our many questions in the past months. Rusty learned to splice. After the demonstration of the enlarged rudder we decided that we would not go that route especially as we have an older Monk and they are not as problematic as the new Monks.
Thursday, June 9 – Sunday, June 12
We headed next door to Zimmerman’s and had our ship/shore switch and our exhaust muffler was replaced as well as new hydraulic steering wires. They did a great job and came in within budget. We headed to Tangier Island late Friday afternoon at the invitation of the Zimmerman service manager, Tom, and his wife Christina. The island made me feel like we had been transported to a children’s storybook. The main street is the width of a golf cart path and that is what residents drive: golf carts! Quaint houses lined the main street. We stayed two nights and left early Sunday morning for Solomons Island and shortly thereafter discovered that one of our ball fenders was gone.
Monday, June 13 – Tuesday, June 14
Solomon’s Island is another area that seems to be popular with the weekend boater but we had to really dig to find out what the attraction was. A few restaurants. A few marinas. Okay a fairly good mariners museum. And a pet groomer that could take Gigi on short notice. We moored for two nights, picked up groceries and did laundry. We left Solomon’s Island around 11 am and anchored in Rhode Creek. The wind picked up after we went to bed . We got up and put on the new anchor bridle and went back to bed. About 15 minutes later we got up and took up the dinghy motor – when will we ever learn. Finally got to bed at 1:30 am.
Wednesday, June 15
It was a nice run to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The city dock is convenient and is an excellent spot to check out the happenings. We definitely have to return.
Thursday, June 16
An early morning departure and by 2:30 we were in Chesapeake City on the C&D canal. There is room for 3-4 boats on the dock and overflow is a nice anchorage. We were not the early birds and so we anchored. The town has done a great job of maintaining the Victorian period homes.
Friday, June 17
We were anxious about crossing the Delaware Bay but it turned out to be a piece of cake. The tides were with us for most of the time and we made good time. When we got to Cape May we topped up the fuel tanks with 192 gallons of diesel. You do the math – ouch!
We anchored outside the Coast Guard station and on the third try we got it. We still need to get the feel for where we want to be after the anchor is played out. The anchor chair got stuck and in loosening it a strip of skin on my finger peeled back to flesh. I now use the boat hook.
Saturday, June 18
Our goal was to make it to Atlantic City. It involved an outside run. The Atlantic Ocean had gentle rolling swells so it was ok. Leaving at 6 am got us into Atlantic City before noon. We anchored outside the Coast Guard station but abandoned it because it was too rough. We decided to continue north but to do the inside run. The water is skinny and the channel is skinny. The NJ boaters are unlike any we have met. They anchor in the channel and don’t seem to mind when other boats roar by and rock them.
Around 5 pm we found a small area near Beach Haven with the right water depth ,pulled off and anchored for the night.
Sunday, June 19
We had to wait until 10 am for the tide to come in before we could leave. A few hours later we were in Tom’s River, NJ where we were hosted by a man we met through the trawler forum. He had offered to help us with our windows and to provide dockage at his marina. The sliding window tracks had deteriorated during the time that our boat sat on the hard (before we purchased it).
Monday, June 20 to Friday, June 24
We removed three sliding windows, cleaned up the frames, had new tinted glass cut, installed new window
tracks, and reinstalled the windows to the boat. We were finished by noon on Friday.
Our only real hiccup was the glass guy. We brought it a piece of glass first thing on Monday morning and he gave a ball park price letting us know that the glass could be ready that day if we put in the order. Well we had to remove the rest of the windows first. By that time, it was mid afternoon and when we returned with the old glass panes, our glass guy was not there and a very nice helper offered to pass on our request for a quotation. We got a call and the price had increased by about 30% for clear and only 10% for the tinted. As we wanted tinted we decided to go with it after thinking about it a bit. By that time the glass place was closed for the day and we had to wait until the next day to place the order.
We stopped by the next morning to give our deposit and to confirm that the glass would be ready later that day or the next day. Our glass guy blew up at us, “it will be ready by the end of the week. You take two days to make up your mind . You gotta be nuts.” If we did not have three windows out of the boat we would have walked but we had no idea whether other glass shops could be any faster. As it turned out he called later that afternoon and said the glass was ready.
Wednesday morning we arrived at the glass shop to find two pieces of glass had cracks where the glass guy tried to reattach the pulls. We asked that they be redone and we got the same story about getting it done by the end of the week. And didn’t we know that he put other jobs aside to do ours yesterday, blah, blah, blah. At about 2 pm he called to let us know the glass was ready. I haven't decided whether he is a diamond in the rough.
We now know how to redo our boat windows. It is not that difficult when you know what you are doing.
We anchored out that evening near Manasquan Inlet ready to do the outside run to NYC the next day.
Saturday, June 25
There is a reason why small boats don’t belong on the ocean. It was nice when we headed into New York Harbor and could relax again. The highlight was cruising past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We got there shortly after noon and decided to do a few more miles, ending up at a nice anchorage north of Sing Sing prison.
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