The Trip: 10/7/12 Sandy Hook to Chesapeake City

Hi everyone,
Its been a few days since I have made a post, and a lot has happened. Because of favorable weather, we have been able to travel every day except when we stopped in Sandy Hook, where we stayed for two days. After that, we left for Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Barnegat is marked by the famous lighthouse at its entrance, nicknamed "Barney." We anchored up in a small offshoot of the main bay, along with the local fleet of fishing vessels. Dad and I paddled to a local marina in our kayaks in search of milk (with a tiny fridge we end up running out of milk every couple of days). We wound up not only getting two half-gallons of milk but also two pounds of fresh scallops that were caught only a few hours earlier. That night we had scallops seared in olive oil over a candlelight dinner. It was wonderful- better than most of the restaurant meals I've had. I guess that's the difference that fresh seafood makes. The next morning we got up early for another long day of travelling. With the wind streaming over the starboard side and the sun rising over the port side and the Atlantic ocean, we ate homemade blueberry muffins while sailing up the never-ending beaches of New Jersey (Jersey Shores, anyone?). Around 10:30 in the morning we were doing schoolwork when my dad called excitedly from the helm, "Look! Whales!" About a mile away, a pod of whales was jumping off the port bow. We tried to take pictures, but it was pretty hard to capture a jump that lasted a mere second or two on a rocking boat with a fully zoomed-in camera That day we covered 65 miles, which is a lot for a sailing catamaran. At four o'clock or so, we pulled into Cape May. We anchored off the main channel, right next to a military training compound. Julia and I went fishing off the bow, while listening to the soothing noises of drill sergeants and the less-than-quiet responses from the cadets. In the evening we dinghied to a nearby restaurant on the water, The Lobster House. As you can tell by the name, The Lobster House deals chiefly in lobster and other seafood dishes. Mom and I ordered the special for the night, Lobster Augratin. It consisted of a bowl filled with lobster meat in a cheesy, mashed potato-like sauce. That, on some of the restaurant's homemade bread, made the dinner very special. Dad and Julia had a different dish, most easily described as lobster linguine with shrimp. After a great meal, we headed back to the boat and a very hungry kitty cat. The next day we once again woke up early (in part because of the yelling coming from the military camp starting at five in the morning) and sailed in 25 knots of wind to Chesapeake City. Chesapeake City is located on the Chesapeake/Delaware canal, which spans the Delaware river and the Chesapeake Bay. That was yesterday. Today I woke up freezing cold in 50 degree weather and rain. 50 degrees may not seem too bad on land, but in a boat without a furnace that is instead floating in heat-absorbing water it is downright chilling. With the temperature forecast to be in the mid thirties tomorrow night, we are looking forward to moving on to other, warmer places. We may be moving to Baltimore next, perhaps not. In any case, it will hopefully be warmer than here.
-Paul