Historic Gardner's Basin - Take Two!

Slo Poke at the Parkertown Ramp before the aborted launch attempt.

Our third cruise with the Nomad starts today, and it promises to be a good one. Mr. "Nimble Nomad," the newsletter publisher, and his spouse, Kathy, are meeting us with Slo Poke in tow. The plan is to launch in Parkertown and be underway by 0900. 

I've been looking forward to meeting Bill and Kathy and to cruising with other Nomads. Today's fun was delayed a bit because the ramp was too steep at high tide. Bill was down the ramp as far as he dared without sinking the truck and Slo Poke didn't even have her tail feathers wet.

SUNSHINE and Slo Poke at Gardner's Basin.

Short of waiting three hours for mid tide and another try, there was nothing we could do. Bill had a back up plan. He knew of a ramp of the Great Egg Harbor River that was suitable. He and Kathy set out for that ramp which he estimated to be about forty-five  minutes away. 

Meanwhile, Anna Marie and I finished provisioning SUNSHINE. We were underway by 0915. Our goal is to travel at 3000 rpm to check the speed and fuel burn rate. Our speed topped out at 9.0 mph with a tail wind and current pushing us along. In the flat calm river that runs through the salt marshes, our speed was in the mid to high 6's (6.5 to 6.9 mph). After four hours of motoring, the needle didn't move off of "full." We'll calculate the burn rate after the next fill up.

Slp Poke - lookin' good!

We made it to Atlantic City at 1315 hours. Kathy and Bill called to say they were underway at 1130 hours and that they was passing through Margate. They were tied up at 1540 hours. They certainly had a long day!

We thought that we'd " Do AC" tomorrow. Today we'd get to know each other and check out the boats. SUNSHINE looks shabby next to Slo Poke. Her topsides and hull sparkle and shine. SUNSHINE's hull  by comparison, is blotchy and faded. The topsides are fade too. It's as though the hours I spent bringing up the hull back to a nice shine,  seems to have been for naught. 

I'm going to see what else I can do the bring a sparkle back do the boat. 

Saturday, August 23, 2014 - DO A/C! 

Marina District Skyline!

After breakfast, we took the Jitney to New York Avenue for our first bit of business for the day. We purchased a sheet of ten enior tickets for the Jitney. We then walked the boards. we went north to Pier 1 then south past the Trump Plazza then north to the Revel for the  $6.00 shrimp basket. Everyone enjoyed the shrimp and afterward, it was time to do more walking. We walked south all the way to Trump Plazza unwittingly passing our exit.  We had to back track one block, left the boardwalk,  then turned west and walked two more blocks to the Walk. We continued to do just that (walk) looking at the sights and gabbing the whole time. After skipping all but the Bass store, we walked two blocks to the east where we caught the Jitney for the quick ride back to the marina. We dined at the Back Bay Ale House after which we sat down on the sea wall for another gam before heading to the boats for the evening.

Sunday, August 24, 2014 - Twenty-two Minutes in a Washing Machine!

After breakfast at Gilchrist's, we returned to our boats, said our good byes, and prepped for departure. Bill and Kathy beat us out of the marina by about about twenty minutes. Bon Voyage, friends!

We had to attend to a low oil alarm. That’s funny because I filled the reservoir only five motoring hours ago and it still looked full!

A quick check of the manual and we had our answer. When the oil runs dry (we won’t let that happen again) the motor will run for five hours after which, the alarm will sound. The solution is to prime it. We followed the procedure (it was very easy) and in less than five minutes, the Evinrude e-Tec was purring like a kitten and all systems were go.

We pulled out of the slip and as we rounded the corner from the marina into the inlet area near the Coast Guard Station, we were greeted by a one foot chop with the wind, 15 knots of wind, on the nose, and one - 2 foot chop.

I am happy to note that the boat handled the chop very well. It was very stable and although I expected some pounding of the flat hull, there was none. We easily made it into the part of the NJICW that goes through the marshes of Brigantine Wildlife Preserve. Even though 15 - 18 knots of wind was on the nose, we were traveling at 7.3 mph @ 3000 rpm, obviously getting a boost from the current which was opposite the wind.

The next challenge was Great Bay. We would power into the wind that whipped up some serious white caps created by the longest fetch of the trip. It took us twenty-two minutes to make it to the salt marshes off Osbourne and Mystic Islands. We encountered some boat and wave runner traffic in the marshes. It was a delightful ride and a nice respite from the chop in the bay. 

As we entered Little Egg Harbor Bay, the chop returned. It was short and on the nose again. The boat handled it very well. Even with the fetch of Little Egg Harbor Bay, we were very comfortable, stable and there was none of the expected pounding.

As we neared West Creek, we had to motor through a Hobie Regatta out of Spray Beach Yacht Club. There were about fifty boats. Back in the early 1980’s there were over one hundred Hobies participating in the Spray Beach Regatta. Witnessing the regatta brought back a lot of fond memories.

We tied up in our slip at 1245 hours after another nice trip to Atlantic City. We enjoyed Kathy's and Bill's company. He really knows his Nomads and many of the Nomad owners and we enjoyed hearing his stories. I've read all the news letters and he helped me connect names of people with their boats. Regarding M/V SUNSHINE, we were very impressed with how she handled the wind and wave conditions.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

A Day at Silver Lake!

What can we say? We (the children, Anna Marie and I) enjoyed another fantastic day with Ed and Sara. We arrived at about 1330 and the kids immediately took to the lake and the paddle boat. The motor boat was put to use shortly after our arrival.

While the kids enjoyed the water, the adults enjoy the breeze on the dock. The temperature was in the seventies, maybe it reached 80, but the humidity was low and the breeze was refreshing. It even provided the a hint of a chill.

Before we knew it, it was time to eat. Dennis and Loraine joined the party as Ed and Sara served pizza, salad and chips with brownies and ice cream for desert. Before long, it was time to leave, but the girls were still swimming and boating. Madi taught  Claire how to drive the motor boat. 

We finally said our goodbye's just before 2100 hours. Everybody had a great time and the kids are looking forward to being invited back!

Boys having fun in the motorboat.

Girls having fun in the pedal boat.

Girls having fun in the motor boat.

A Weekend Cruise to Atlantic City!

Friday, August 8, 2014 - The Nomad Cruises to Atlantic City! 

Atlantic City comes into view

After our routine visits to the dermatologist, we packed M/V Sunshine and headed to Gardner’s Basin. We motored out of West Creek at about 1000 hours. Our route took us across the shallows toward Haven Beach and then south past Beach Haven, Holgate and Little Egg Inlet. We rounded the point and passed by the Old Coast Guard Station (now a marine research facility run by Rutgers), past Fish Island, then Tow Island and into Great Bay.

Tied up in Gardner's Basin

The light west wind brought green head flies, but they really became pesky when we turned down the slough that brought us into the heart of the Forsythe Brigantine Wildlife Refuge. They would stay with us until we went under the Brigantine/Atlantic City Bridge. By the time we headed into Clam Creek and arrived at Gardner’s Basin, the green heads were gone. 

We met Dockmaster Roy, at a “T” head. After a short discussion, he directed us to our slip and helped us tie up. He is a gregarious gentleman who reminds us of Miles, the Dockmaster at Osprey Marina in South Carolina. Both could vie for best Dockmaster on the East Coast!  He walked with us to the Atlantic City Aquarium, about 200’ from the dockmaster’s office, to pay for our two night stay. During the weekend, he would routinely check to make sure we were comfortable and having a good time. He also provided historical information about the area.

  

Aunt Shelley's Ice Cream Truck

We also  reconnected with Paul (S/V Journey) who we met someplace (Vero Beach or Marathon) in Florida several years ago. Paul keeps his boat in Gardner's Basin.

Fish Heads and Scales are more or less permanent trucks set up to provide refreshment at Gardner’s Basin, and the bar, also operated by the owners of the Scales food truck, is a twenty foot shipping container that has cut outs on the sides. Aunt Shelley’s Ice Cream Truck, on the other hand, is mobile and uses the basin as one of her daily stops.  

New Jersey's Tall Ship - A J Meerwald

NJ's Official Tall Ship, the A J Meerwald, an oyster schooner from the Delaware Bay,  is berthed in the basin for a few days. We took the opportunity to snap a few pictures. After checking out the Meerwald, the restaurants and crafters cottages at the basin, we walked to the Jitney stop adjacent to the basin’s parking lot. The fare is $2.25 per person. I asked the driver about the senior rate. The senior rate is $0.75, only if you have a pre purchased ticket. He told us where we could buy the tickets and we bought a book of 10 tickets for $7.50.

We walked the boards a bit and found a bench where we took a break to people watch. Eventually we worked our way to “Relish,” a restaurant in the Revel Hotel and Casino. Our target was their $5.99 shrimp basket and we were not disappointed. The meal consisted of ten good sized fried shrimp and a small helping of fries. We finished the meal with a Portifelo Ice Cream desert. 

After another walk on the famous boardwalk, we found a Jitney stop and headed back to Gardner’s basin and a relaxing night aboard M/V Sunshine.  

Great view of our boat and the city

Saturday, August 9, 2014 - Doing AC! 

View from the Aquarium observatory 

After waking at 0600, we started the day at Gilchrist’s for a tasty breakfast (two eggs and toast for $2.95).  Another walk around the basin was in order before returning to the boat to relax (read nap) for a couple of hours. 

At 1000 hours we walked to the Atlantic City Aquarium. Admission is included with the slip rental. The aquarium is small, but there are nice displays and an interesting fish-feeding show in the main tank. We spent almost two hours looking at all of the tanks and displays and then headed to the Back Bay Tavern (also on the basin’s premises). Prices were reasonable. Anna Marie enjoyed a grilled polish kielbasa and fried onion sandwich ($8.95) and I had a very nice seafood salad ($12.95). 

After still more relaxing aboard the boat, we took the Jitney to Cesear’s. No, we didn’t go in, we walked across the boardwalk to the Pier One Shops where we stopped in  the Apple store. We wanted to find out why the Apple TV doesn’t work with the iMac. Their conclusion is that my iMac is too old and doesn’t have the mirroring function. 

Onward and upward! We stopped on the second floor to enjoy the view from window front adirondack chairs and a Snapple. It was a very pleasant respite as we watched the tide roll in.

Dinner, we decided, would be at the Relish (in the Revel) again. Anna Maried had the Shrimp basket and I had a house salad. By now we were pretty tired, so we walked around the casino and then made our way to the Jitney stop. In ten minutes, we were back aboard.

Sunday, August 10, 2014 - Heading Home! 

The tide in West Creek dictated our departure time. It is difficult to negotiate the creek and enter our slip at dead low tide. To be safe, we wanted to be at our dock at 1300 hours.

The Coast Guard blows reveille at 0730. It was our signal to get up and go to Gilchrist’s again. We enjoyed the same delicious eggs and toast. At 0830, we had the electric chord stowed, the lines cast off, and we slowly pulled out of our slip.

The "A" Cats

We were greeted with a favorable current as we headed toward the back bays behind the city. A few green heads paid us a visit. A few were able to dig their mandibles into our flesh. The Evinrude was humming at 3500 rpm and we were moving at around 9 mph. About one half hour into our return trip, the “low oil” alarm sounded. We cleared the channel and threw the mud hook overboard. A quick check of the oil reservoir showed that it was indeed low. We added a little more than two quarts of XD 50 oil and were back underway in ten minutes.

Surprisingly, the boat traffic was very light. there were quite a few boats out, but they were drift fishing. On the entire trip home, we were only rocked a few times and none were bone rattling. The Nimble handles the light chop caused by wind that was less than ten knots, very well. Rather than follow our track all the way back home, we took the channel that leads from Little Egg inlet to Tuckerton Creek. We took on 21 gallons of fuel (after an estimated 20 hours motoring time since the last fill) at Shelter Cove Marina. 

M Scows 

As we traversed Little Egg Harbor Bay, we gazed at the Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club sailboat races. In addition to M Scows and Marshall Cat Boats, we were  thrilled to see the familiar “V” upon the sail of the “A” Cat “Vapor.” Five of the classic boats made the trip to Little Egg Harbor to race. They are majestic as they work their way around the course.

At about 1300 hours, we pulled into our slip at the town dock. The boat get a nice fresh water wash, we off loaded our gear and were home by 1400 hours, after a very nice cruise. We are becoming very comfortable with the Nimble and learning about her unique idiosyncrasies each time we take her out.

DON'T TEACH YOUR TRASH TO SWIM!