The trip from Stone Harbor to Ventnor City was just over twenty seven miles and it took us four and a half hours. It was a long winding trip with us going through some small towns and holding our breath as we watched the depths average five to seven feet, sometimes less. On our depth finder it shows as two to four feet, but there is a three foot difference to account for. It’s funny because now when I see five feet, I feel like it’s deep. The weather was overcast and it was windy, but since we were mostly in narrow channels the winds didn’t bother us. There were more people fishing in the channel, but I just slowed down and waited for them to move. It’s the ones that blow by us and rock us that irritate me the most, but most were good. We were winding our way around when all of the sudden the GPS went blank. WTF!? I slowed down to a stop and Lauren came out to see what was up- I asked if she turned it off by accident and she said she had not. Ughh. I wasn’t worried about getting lost, but I kind of need to see the channel and depths. Lauren relieved me at the helm while I went to investigate. The lower GPS was working so that was good. I checked the switch and it was on, then I went to check the fuse and noticed it had popped out. Hmmm. I checked the fuse and it was fine, so I put the fuse back in and tightened the holder. I turned the switch back on and called up to Lauren to turn the power on. She told me it was working! The fuse must have vibrates loose and/or I didn’t have it secured properly. Either way it is working now and we can continue on. We switched out at the helm and carried on. I had the GPS zoomed in pretty close so I could see the channel and depths and soon we were crossing an inlet- Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The water was rough there and we were getting tossed about but I was able to get across the three quarter mile section of rough water. Then I realized I had missed a turn because I was watching the GPS so tightly zoomed in! We were supposed to take Broad Thoroughfare Creek which would have taken us up and around the inlet and we wouldn’t of had to cross it. Now we had crossed it and there is a fixed bridge ahead of us that looks like we won’t fit under. Shit. I throttled down and Lauren came out to see what was up? I was a little upset I had missed the turn and told her what happened, then I told her I think we have to turn around and cross the inlet again. She asked if I was sure and I said “yes”. “Let’s do it” she replied like a champ, but I was still studying the chart. She came up to the fly ridge and I told her we may be able to squeak through the bridge in front of us, but the tide was high and we would have to inch up and see. We got closer to the bridge and I had my doubts, but Lauren went down to the bow of the boat so she could look up and judge it with a better view. I inched forward and she kept saying it looked good. We cleared the bridge by a few feet apparently and we continued on. Whew- I did NOT want to go through that inlet again! This actually saved us several miles of going around. Not long after this we came to our turn to find the anchorage we had seen on the charts.
We made our way in to the harbor as the skies were darkening and saw a small marina, a bunch of private docks in front of houses and two sailboats rafted up and anchored and it looked like they haven’t moved in some time- actually only one of the sailboats had a mast. We debated about where to drop anchor and decided to stay somewhat close to the marina as this was probably going to be our best bet for shore access. The rest of the surrounding area was marsh which was not conducive for walking around. We dropped the anchor and I went about making sure we were secured and let out plenty of scope due to the expected storm and high winds. While I was closing up the flybridge and lounging on the back deck I called the marina to see if they would let us land the dinghy but got no answer. I tried calling a couple of times in the next hour or so and still no answer. I was talking to Lauren and we were discussing where we were going to take Frank, the phone rang. I recognized the number from the marina and answered it. The guy said he was calling back some miss calls and I explained how we needed to get the dog to shore and he was fine with us using the dock. Sweet! That was a big relief. The rain started to come down a bit so we relaxed inside while waiting for it to pass. Eventually it was done raining and I took Frank to shore. As I was coming up the dock I noticed some college aged guys sitting at a table near the marina office. I inquired if I had spoke to one of them on the phone earlier? One guy said it was probably his brother as his family owns the marina; we got to chatting and they were fascinated by our trip and had lots of questions. I had to excuse myself so Frank could do his business, but it was fun talking to them. Frank and I walked around the neighborhood but grass was hard to come by, as well as the many signs telling me to keep dogs off their grass. At least there was some grass next to the marina. We returned and battoned down the hatches again as more rain was coming.
Day2- Lauren had researched and found a place we had to try for breakfast: Waterdog Smokehouse. We had looked at the menu the night before and was super excited. They have stuff like Salmon Candy (We cure and smoke this stuff. Super clean- only ingredients are salmon, salt and a bit of organic brown sugar. Can be served on a salad or just eaten, as is. Supplies are limited. We sell out every week!), Salmon Jerky (We cure and smoke our Canadian Salmon, then dry it.), and all kinds of smoked fish and meats as well as sandwiches served on homemade bagels. I took Frank for his morning walk and found the guy I had spoken to on the phone. I thanked him for the hospitality and inquired about bringing our bikes to shore and exploring a bit. He said it would be fine. We chatted a bit about our trip and somehow we got to talking about beer- I made a note to pick him up some beer as a thank you. We loaded the bikes up and to shore we went. We decided we would go to Waterdog first, then return to the boat for swim supplies Waterdog did not disappoint, although the wait was a bit long. We were able to sit on their side patio and enjoyed our breakfast sandwiches. We had read about a roadside attraction in the the next town over, Margate City, about a mile and half away, and decided to pedal over. Lucy the Elephant is a six story example of novelty architecture built with wood and tin sheeting in in 1881. She was saved from being demolished in 1960 by the Save Lucy campaign, unlike two similar structures, one at Coney Island and one at Cape May that were not so lucky. She was also stuck by lightning in 2006 which blackened her tusks but she survived. She has housed a tavern, restaurant and business offices and now a small museum and can be visited . She is also available for an Air B&B for $138 per night as a nod to here age. One of Lucy’s more humorous features is a window placed near her tail.
We returned to the boat and changed into our swim wear. Our plan was to ride the boardwalk which runs from Ventnor to Atlantic City. It was a nice four mile ride to Atlantic City. It was cool to see, but the casinos were still closed. A lot of the shops and small bars were open, so we did stop for refreshments at a place on the boardwalk to take with us to the beach. We hung out on the beach for a bit of the afternoon. The water was cold, but it was refreshing after being in the sun all day. We made our way back to Ventnor and the boat by early evening so we could relieve Frank.
Day 3- The day was pleasant and we hiked around after getting one more stop at Waterdog Smokehouse. We did some shopping and I also picked up some beer for our friend who let us use their dock. They were quite pleased to receive this at the end of their day. Dinner was made and we looked at our next stop. Since we are now getting past Atlantic City, we should have some deeper water they say, but we still want to run on a rising tide so tomorrow’s journey will leave around 11am.