We were ready to depart around 9am after taking Frank to shore. I went across the harbor to a marina early so I wouldn’t get arrested for being on the Government Property. We had indentified what looked like a good protected anchorage in Stone Harbor called Shelter Haven, which was only about ten miles away. Our trip took us about two hours because I was going slow and easy through the ICW. The water depths were very shallow and at some points my depth finder would just go blank. I prepared and saw all of the hazards to navigation ahead of time so I knew what to expect. The positive part is that the bottom is soft mud, so if you do get stuck or grounded, you don’t really have to worry about damaging anything and sometimes you can just plow right through it- which I am sure I did at some points. The other interesting part about traveling on this waterways is it is fairly narrow and the New Jersey boaters don’t give a fu$k about you or where they fish- for example: in the middle of the narrow channel. Since I try to be a nice and considerate boater I slow down every time we pass a fishing vessel so I do not wake them. They pass us without concern. It’s funny too how I would come upon a boat in the middle of the channel and I would just slow down and wait for them to move. We’re bigger and made of steel, but they got the hint when I would slow down and not move around them- the water is too shallow for me to even think about going out of the channel. So it was fairly slow going. The good news is we didn’t get stuck! We eventually came to our anchorage and turned in just before a bridge. We noticed we were comin into a small basin with homes all around us. There was a ton of construction going on around the basin and there was a large water playground with inflatable slides and playthings. We felt a little awkward, but we needed a place to anchor and this was as good as any. We dropped the anchor and hung out making sure we were secured. One of the reviews about this place said there was a dinghy dock nearby. There were plenty of docks but they all looked to be private, except for a restaurant/ bar attached to a hotel in the corner of the basin. We eventually decided we should load the bikes up and find the dinghy dock. We set out to where I thought it was and saw a sign saying ‘private’. Hmmm… we went a little farther down to the hotel and a dock master came out- I asked about docking and he obviously saw the bikes- “you can dock over there, it is usually not allowed unless you dine here” he told us, “I’ll let you stay there because we’re not busy, but I may have to move you, but probably won’t have to”. Okay… I told him we would be more than happy to come have a drink at the bar later so we are ‘customers’ and compliant with the rules. He said that would be great. We unloaded the bikes and off we went.
“The New York Times describes Stone Harbor as a place of “gleaming McMansions and elegant shops”, with an average single-family home selling for $2.5 million in 2008. In 2017, Stone Harbor was the third-most expensive Zip Code in the State of New Jersey based on median home sale price, and had the second-priciest residential real estate transaction in the state that year at $10 million. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Stone Harbor (ZIP Code 08247) as #191 on its list of the most expensive ZIP Codes in the United States.” Another fascinating fact is the population: according to the 2010 census the borough had a year-round population of 866, but it has a summer population in excess of 20,000! We didn’t find the ‘elegant’ shops, but we did find some places to stop. We checked out the beach which was nice, but they charge a fee. We weren’t interested in paying and didn’t have our swim stuff anyway so we continued biking around. Lauren has found a take out shop that specializes in seafood that you take home and cook yourself. We also found a grocery store so we could pick up some supplies. We stopped and had some ice cream at Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard and it was probably the best we’ve had so far. We circled back and I picked up some crab cakes and shrimp from Back Bay Seafood while Lauren went in to the grocery store. Now we had to get the stuff back to the boat and in the refrigerator. We made our way back to the dinghy and I walked over to the dock master and I gave him a cash tip. I also wanted to let him know we had to bring the dog back to shore and were still planning on having that cocktail at the bar. He was cool with it, so we took our food to the boat and I brought Frank back to shore for a walk. We returned and hung out on the deck for a while. The winds were picking up and I had let out a lot of scope, so we seemed to be holding fine. The buildings all around us helped block the wind too. We looked up the bar and it is called Water Star Grille, which is attached to The Reeds at Shelter Haven. The hotel is fancy and high end as you would expect around here- rates are around $405/ night! We looked at the website and saw they had a happy hour, so we waited until then to go for our cocktails. At this point the dock master had left for the evening but I wanted to keep my word. We dinghied over to the bar and they had spaced out tables on the deck. I inquired about happy hour, but they weren’t doing it due to they are technically closed- you an order food or drinks, but it is to-go- there is no table service but you may sit at a table if you’d like. Got it. I ordered our cocktails and they served them in plastic mason jars with a lid, which they then put a security sticker on to seal them. We sat at a table overlooking the harbor and enjoyed our expensive drinks. When we were done we went back to the boat and I took Frank for a last walk for the evening, then made dinner. The rest of the night was uneventful and we looked at our next destination: Ventnor City, which is right before Atlantic City. If this anchorage doesn’t look good, there are some other options on the other side of Atlantic City…