Day 5, Sept. 15: Atlantic Highlands to Atlantic City
Zephyr is my favorite word related to sailing, and I’ve been saying this years. Zephyr….bring it on. A particular word related to sailing that I detest is gale.
The Greeks had many words for wind, and if I had better internet coverage here I’d try to find out just how many words there are for wind. Anyway, that is a sure sign that they have a lot of wind.
I imagined myself making peace with sailing down the New Jersey coast on a zephyr, relying on our motor to get us down the coast. No such luck…. Bob is using a well respected weather router named Chris Parker, and if you are a sailor you will know that Bob has chosen well. Chris Parker said it was a favorable time for us to tackle the New Jersey coast because even though there was a north wind which is highly fickle with lots of gusts (reaching gale velocity….my least favorite sailing word!), the wind would be behind us. You know that famous blessing: “may the wind be always at your back…”
Well, this landlubber thought today sucked! I dealt with it as best I could by taking half a stugeron at 7am and again at 2pm which insured that I slept about 6 hours during our 12 hour slog southward. I still hated it.
But at last we came into Atlantic City as the sun was setting, no easy feat with the sun right in our faces and the buoy lights not on yet. It was nerve wracking to me, the land lubber. But at least I can say it’s a fairly quiet anchorage, in spite of the insane night lights of this gambling city.
I remember when Stitches East was held in Atlantic City for a couple of years…..now it’s held right in my new backyard (Hartford), but I won’t be there to attend this fall. If only I could have done some knitting today….. not sure tomorrow will be any better. We have to get to the C and D Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware) by Monday evening because Tuesday’s wind is going to be off the charts. I need to find the appropriate word for that. We plan to be in Chesapeake City, and I hope to be snug inside Vulcan’s Rest, a weaving/knitting shop, rewarding myself for enduring this fickle north wind, even if it is at our backs.
