Passages South (The dreaded Jersey Coast)New York, NY to Cape May, NJ

For those of us sailing offshore from New England, the first big part of the new live-aboard journey is the New Jersey Coast. It is a shoreline full of pitfalls with inlets that lack the needed safe water to pass in heavy weather. After you have done it once or twice and picked the right weather, it changes from jumping down to the coast into a quick 24 hr. sail from point A  to point B, and you are able to with confidence, remove the what-ifs from your plans. I recommend to anyone sailing this route for their first time to pick a great window and just skip the whole thing from NYC all the way to Cape May or further points south as its just easier than stopping.

A double rainbow over Sandy Hook greets us as we head to the anchorage.

A point on windows: you will hear us talk about these magical windows in these posts. A window for non-sailors is: a good wind angle and moderate breeze to sail on (by allowing us to shut off our engine), and a good height, direction, and period of sea state to let us comfortably sail. These are the two most important factors for us to keep things as comfortable as possible.

After departing Liberty Landing Marina its a quick motor down through the weaving tugs, ferries, and boats of NY harbor to Sandy Hook or Atlantic Highlands. This was our first real experience of anchoring where we had a reasonable amount of fetch. After reading so many posts and articles about how Sandy Hook was such a great place to wait for a window to head south down the Jersey coast, it was kind of set in stone that we would anchor here. The articles mentioned that it was a great place to walk the dog, visit the state park, and just enjoy the beach. But as the thunderstorms drove past the lower bay, the N/NE wind set in, and we found ourselves in 3-4’ waves setting the anchor. As the bow was stuffed into the next wave, we were able to get a good set on the anchor and weather the night. What we didn’t realize was that I should have looked for protection, and breakwater lay only 3 nm to our west. Having plans set in stone is not a way to cruise; now I have no problem picking up the anchor in the middle of the night and moving to somewhere where we can get a good night's sleep.

After lying awake most of the night, the next day we did just that, we pulled up anchor and moved to the Atlantic Highlands. It was nice to tuck behind the  breakwater, and now I think every article should come with a disclaimer for wind direction for the newbie sailor. I digress, and now we look for protection when we can, no matter what, as sleep is most important, and it's pretty hard to sleep when you're seasick at anchor.

Atlantic Highlands is a great place; it offers almost 360-degree protection behind a breakwater, it is very convenient to town in a protected harbor, and you're not getting soaked as you dinghy to shore. There are a few restaurants, a pump out, a fairly nice marina, NAPA, and a well-equipped park for the kids.

As 10 knot window was showing for the next day, our first time offshore by ourselves we got the boat ready for departure. Our anchor up time was set for 10 PM, so we turned in to get some sleep early, although none was really had, and at 10 PM we weighed anchor, motored around Sandy Hook in a calm, and pointed the bow south. Night sailing is usually uneventful, especially under light conditions, but the mind wanders to thoughts of what may lie ahead of the bow. A big fear, I think most newer sailors have is hitting a sleeping whale or worse, a container, but after the miles fly by, we realize now the chances of either are fairly very slim. As dawn approaches in the early morning, the light is welcome sight to every sailor and we were well on our way south, somewhere off Barnegate Light, NJ. As the wind shifted and we turned more S/SW, we were able to set the spinnaker for the first time ever on our boat and sail in a light, 8 Knot calm, still under motor.

Our beautiful spinnaker sail

We slowly approached Atlantic City, NJ, and we both sat in the cockpit smelling the nasty odor of a burning belt on the engine, which, after inspection, did appear to be a little loose. We shut down the engine, cleaned up the residual belt dust, tightened the slack, and there was no more burning smell. The first issue was solved. It was late in the day, and we decided to make our way to Atlantic City for the night. Unfortunately for us, we were stuck there for longer than we would have liked.

Atlantic City, NJ, from a boater's perspective, is a cesspool. It's an okay stop if you like the feeling of being stalked/mugged/ begged, being in a marginally taken care of marina, and enjoying gambling away your precious boat repair fund. What we had thought may have been a one-night stopover turned into a week-long slog of strong wind and a stronger desire to leave. We initially tied up in Farley State Marina the first night to double-check our belt issue and do some laundry. After that, we wanted to anchor over in Brigantine, but the dredge took up the access channel, and we really didn’t feel comfortable trying to squeeze by. After anchoring in the inlet anchorage for the night, a 50+ knot forecast showed its head, and we had to take refuge again, for 4 nights we sat stuck in the marina waiting for a window to leave. We did our best to enjoy the town, we ate out at a couple of restaurants, went to the local indoor waterpark, wandered  around the PG sections of the casinos, and walked the boardwalk in hopes of finding something we could relate to. Unfortunately, nothing provided enough enjoyment and Atlantic City left a sour taste in our mouths forever.

Doing our best to weather the blow with a trip to the water park

After the 50-knot-plus windstorm and the town leaving much desired, we wanted out. We met another Canadian sailor in the marina who said they would be leaving on the next window that opened. After a strong blow, the seas tend to stay up for a period afterwards, and the forecast still called for a small craft advisory. After they left, we radioed ahead asking what the conditions were like, the reply: “wavy at first, but really flattened out after you pass the inlet.”  We took those words and left on conditions which were certainly wavy, and it did eventually flatten out, but motoring out there was uncomfortable to say the least.

Our next destination was Cape May, about 35 nm south/west of Atlantic City. With very light wind and a rolling swell, we motored our way down the coast. In hindsight, we probably should have waited until the following day to leave, but we wanted to get out of there and never return, so that’s exactly what we did.

Cape May is the first place we encountered dolphins in our sailing. As we entered the inlet, they played and jumped through the water like kids, and as the whale watching tour boat motored out of the inlet, we headed to the South Jersey Marina.

Cape May is a beautiful town,  and we certainly loved it there. What we were most happy about was that we were leaving the Jersey Coast behind us, and the most daunting part of the beginning in our journey was over. Cape May is an excellent town to weather a blow, make repairs to your boat, re-provision, and just enjoy all the town has to offer. South Jersey Marina touts that they have the best showers available on the Jersey Shore, and I have to agree that the location and the facilities are some of the best we have experienced along the East Coast of the US. There are (2) chandleries, both within walking distance from the marina, the marina has a courtesy car that can pick you up and drop you off at the grocery store or down in the touristy part of town. We even walked to the Cay May Light from the marina, which was another great experience, and you can even walk back to town VIA the beach. Lots to do and explore for sure. The best restaurant hands down was the Lobster House just across the docks and well within walking distance, even after your dinner heading back to the boat.

Cape May beach with Cape May light in the background.

The first season we cruised was especially windy, the cold fronts were strong, we were new to the lifestyle still learning, and had a desire to head south to crystal clear waters. The best part of the NJ coast is leaving it in your wake and making the corner into the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, which is sailing grounds in of itself.

About Us: We are Tony, Anna, Sophia, and Bolt. We have been sailing the east coast of the USA and the Bahamas for the past 2 cruising seasons and have plans to continue further south into the Caribbean. We are electricians, digital creators, and students. Follow our track at www.noforeignland.com/boat/svbogumila or our posts on Instagram instagram.com/svbogumila or drop us a message at svbogumila@gmail.com. We hope to see you out there.