Aug 1 - Run up the Atlantic to New York

At the first crack of dawn, we left South Jersey Marina for the trip out in the Atlantic to New York City. Robert had prepared our route with way points. Many loopers make this a two or three day trip, stopping in Atlantic City. However, the weather for Aug 2 looked iffy so we decided to make one long day's run.

As we pulled out of the harbor, the gorgeous sunrise was a very positive omen for the day.
After the worry of making the offshore trip, the day was perfect. The Atlantic was totally flat, as you can see in the picture above. Fog threatened for a bit but did not materialize. The winds were light. We ran 3-5 miles off shore. Our main navigational challenge was traversing through the many fishing boats gathered opposite every inlet, called on the chart "fish haven".

This is as close as we got to Atlantic City.

It took us 12 hours to make the 130 mile trip to New York. Although it was an easy run, 12 hours is still a long day. You can imagine how excited we were to catch our first glimpse of New York City. Our destination for the day was Great Kills Harbor in Staten Island. One of the members of the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association had made arrangements for AGLCA members to stay at a greatly reduced rate at the Great Kills Yacht Club. We had reservations to stay, but our slip was not available until the following day. John, the looper, invited us to use his mooring ball for the night. Tying up to a mooring ball was a new experience. The goal is to latch onto the rope at the end of the mooring ball and to tie off the rope to a cleat on the boat. It took me a couple of tries to hang onto the rope, but at last we were secure. We had successfully completed our Atlantic Ocean run and were snug in the shelter of Great Kills Harbor.This is a picture of a mooring ball in Great Kills Harbor.