Oct. 7, 2026 Rounding the New Jersey Coast

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 Great Kills, NY to Cape May, NJ 135 miles and 11.9 hours

Enjoyed a pleasant but short night's sleep on the mooring in Great Kills until the alarm sounded at 4:30AM ensuring we would be dropping the mooring lines for our 5AM departure. It is DARK out. No moon to help light the way. Martha's on the bow using a portable spotlight to illuminate the channel markers to help direct us as I'm driving by instrument with my face glued to the navigation systems and our planned route. We go slow, idling along at a leisurely 1000 rpm's for the first hour as we cross over Raritan Bay. Finally starting to get the first signs of light as we round the corner of Sandy Hook onto the open ocean.

Dark morning as we feel our way across Raritan Bay

Sun makes it's way above the horizon to officially start the day

Seas are good as we start the day just as forecast. Long offshore run ahead. Always the longest travel day and mileage we encounter on our trips. We're running less than 3 miles offshore, so land is always in sight. Once the sun breaks the horizon we throttle up and run at a little stronger 1500 rpm's for some extra speed. Aided at this point by a slight positive current we're making decent time. Pass the usual mileposts as noted by amusement parks, inlets or buildings. Asbury Park, Seaside Heights, Barnegat Inlet, etc. Keeping an eye on our projected arrival time and opt to run on plane for an hour. 2300 rpm's and burning fuel but insuring we arrive well before dark. Southwest winds start building as we approach Absecon Inlet and Atlantic City. Increasing 2' short period waves on the bow. Not uncomfortable but once again we're pelted with windblown spray. Bump speed up for another hour to get us on plane. Partly to smooth the ride and partly to just get to Cape May Inlet quicker. Make our way past Ocean City, Avalon, and Wildwood. Finally reach the inlet. Water flattens out as soon as we enter the protection of the entrance inlet breakwaters.

Casino's at Atlantic City are a good landmark from quite a distance

These two search and rescue vessels conducting training were about
the most interesting thing we saw all day

The normal anchorage here is inside the inlet in front of the Coast Guard station. There are already multiple sailboats anchored there. We're still skeptical of the area based on our bad experience last year when a squall came through in the middle of the night causing our anchor to drag. I had researched an alternative anchorage called Sunset Lake. A few miles away and past a draw bridge, but we have plenty of sunlight left and the bridge clearance won't require it to open for us. The entrance is narrow and shallow but then opens to fairly big anchorage area. We have good shoreline protection from the SW winds that will continue overnight thanks to the houses lining the water. Depths at just 10' mean no need to put out excess anchor chain. Even better, there is room for 10-20 boats yet only us and one sailboat are here. No real current and hardly a ripple of a wave on the water. Believe we will make this our go-to Cape May anchorage. Location is aptly named as we have a wonderful sunset to end the day while enjoying the last of our Frank and Sal's Italian dinners over a glass of wine. Long day, early morning, full belly and secure location at anchor, so we're in bed early and sleep very soundly.