Stuck in ol’ Beach Haven AGAIN!

After being weathered in for five days, for a healthy dose of optimism, mix three fingers

of gin and a dash of olive juice. Pour over ice and shake until bruised and icy cold.

Serve up with three anchovy stuffed olives. Toast to calm seas and light breezes.

It worked! This morning, we opened our eyes at dawn and lay in our bunk listening for

the howling winds that had hammered us for five straight days and nights. Other than the

calls of the gulls, it was totally quiet. Hurraaaay!

We are finally on the home stretch to New York and the Statue of Liberty!

It seems like much longer than a week ago that we dined on Crabby Eggs Benedict for

Easter breakfast, steamed crabs for lunch, and scallops for dinner while docked in

Hampton Virginia. Although the overnighter from there Monday was very bumpy, it was
uneventful. With the dawn Tuesday morning came a blanket of thick fog. The sun and

stiff winds were not even successful in burning it off, so by late afternoon we were

contemplating where to duck into for a well deserved break. Captain Gary determined
that we were within striking distance of Beach Haven New Jersey, one of our favorite
places along the east coast.

Gary hailed TowBoat U.S. for some moral support, and within seconds our buddy Captain Rick responded. Rick earned hero status in 2008 when he guided our battered and weary crew in off the Atlantic after a fourteen hour storm, and he came through for us once again. As tsunami looking waves roared over the shoal to port and starboard, Rick

talked us through the Little Egg Inlet. The fog decided to envelope us completely as we made the turn toward the skinny channel leading to Beach Haven Yacht Club, and the reds and greens disappeared from sight. Gary pointed Tessa ever so slowly in each direction while I desperately searched for the markers through the thick milky fog. We

bumped across the bottom every way we turned. Where did the channel go? We could

almost hear Rick muttering under his breath “Damn Sailors!” as he announced over the

VHF that he was coming to get us. We tucked our tail between our legs and timidly
followed TowBoat U.S. into the dock, fully expecting to be harassed relentlessly by

Captain Rick. He actually went pretty easy on us, although he would have preferred

Tessa had gone hard aground out there since he makes more money on the “grounders.”

Beach Haven is the perfect place to be weathered in. We had warm reunions with dock master Ernie and my girlfriend Sailboat Linda. We drank happy hour beers with our friends at Tuckers, and enjoyed the famous $2.22 breakfast at Uncle Wills. We walked the beach and  ate clam chowder. We listened to NOAA predict 5 to 10s, then sat in the

cockpit and watched the anemometer register 25 knots, 28 knots, 30 knots, while Rick giggled merrily in anticipation of grounders and stranded vessels.

Tonight’s destination is an anchorage at Sandy Hook. Tomorrow, hopefully we will be

waving to Lady Liberty for the fourth time. Then we’re off to the Hudson River for a two

day trip toward Castleton, where we will unstep the masts in preparation for the Erie

Canal trip.

It seems like much more than thirty days ago that we left Fort Myers, and it seems like FOREVER since I saw my last palm tree. But we have much to look forward to in the days ahead on the Erie Canal. And then that most welcome sight of Perry’s Monument coming into view across Lake Erie. Home sweet home!