Motoring down bay shortly after departureSeptember 23, 2007
This is the blog of the good ship “SUNSHINE,” a 34' catamaran made by PDQ Yachts in 1989. "SUNSHINE" has just departed from our home port in Barnegat, NJ. with Fodder (Bll) and Grammy (Anna Marie) aboard. This is our second trip on the ICW.
We slipped our lines from Mariner’s Marina in Barnegat at 1700 hours on Sunday, September 23, 2007 and headed south, all the while waving good-bye to Mom, Shelley and Greg, and Geoffrey, Claire and Madi (mom, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren respectively). We are officially chasing the 70’s (70 degre weather that is)! We hope to follow the warm weather down the coast to Florida.
After our late afternoon start, we motored down beautiful Barnegat Bay. We tossed out the hook in Manahawkin Bay after only two hours underway. It was a calm, colorful evening. The yellows and oranges of the setting sun gave way to the crimsons and violets of the twilight. The water was an iridescent silver/purple, and we could just hear the clicking of tires as cars made their way across the Causeway that connects long beach Island and the Mainland. It was a splendid first evening on the hook.
While swinging at anchor, I reflected back to the summer Mariner races held on the west course of the Surf City Yacht Club. Crew Gary and I meet all of the goals we established at the beginning of the season, in fact, we exceeded some of them!
After our late afternoon start, we motored down beautiful Barnegat Bay. We tossed out the hook in Manahawkin Bay after only two hours underway. It was a calm, colorful evening. The yellows and oranges of the setting sun gave way to the crimsons and violets of the twilight. The water was an iridescent silver/purple, and we could just hear the clicking of tires as cars made their way across the Causeway that connects long beach Island and the Mainland. It was a splendid first evening on the hook.
While swinging at anchor, I reflected back to the summer Mariner races held on the west course of the Surf City Yacht Club. Crew Gary and I meet all of the goals we established at the beginning of the season, in fact, we exceeded some of them!
Three of our five grandchildren participated in SCYC programs. Oldest grandson, Geoffrey sailed in the Opti I (Optimist Dinghy - Level I) while Josh and Claire were in the Bay kids program. Madi and Rose were too young to participate but stayed with us for the summer as did youngest daughter Sandi. My mother, Mom-Mom to the kids, played with us as well. Beside activities at the Yacht Club, we spent time with the kdis at the ocean and bay beaches, Fantasy Island and Eagleswood Amusement Parks, not to mention many games of minigolf. The hardest thing about cruising is leaving family and friends.
While on the hook on this splendid evening, we took time to reflect on our previous journey south in “Fodder’s Cat,” the cozy, little vessel that we called home for eight months. We took great pride in that boat and the fact that we were the smallest boat in that year’s group of “snowbirds” to make the trip south.
This year, our vessel is more commodious. One of the reasons we “adopted” this boat is to have family and friends join us for various legs of the journey. So far, we have scheduled visitors for a total of about a month and a half and are waiting for commitments from several others.
While on the hook on this splendid evening, we took time to reflect on our previous journey south in “Fodder’s Cat,” the cozy, little vessel that we called home for eight months. We took great pride in that boat and the fact that we were the smallest boat in that year’s group of “snowbirds” to make the trip south.
This year, our vessel is more commodious. One of the reasons we “adopted” this boat is to have family and friends join us for various legs of the journey. So far, we have scheduled visitors for a total of about a month and a half and are waiting for commitments from several others.
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