Day 298
After saying our goodbyes to Bella Vita and her crew the day before (they were making a looong run from Atlantic City, NJ, all the way to Liberty Landing in New York Harbor), Legacy left her slip at the Golden Nugget Marina in Atlantic City northward, toward this day’s ultimate destination of Captain Bill’s Landing in tiny Manasquan, NJ. We left at 7:00 am on Monday morning, 07/05/21. We typically try not to cruise on weekends or holidays (which this day was), but the captain wanted to take advantage of the good weather window, so we braved the waters anyway. The waters out in the Atlantic Ocean were mirror-smooth that morning, but some slight swells had us rolling a bit. I had taken two Dramamine, earlier, just in case.
As we progressed slowly northward, we passed Barnegat Bay, Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, Tom’s River, and Seaside Heights, NJ, all to our west. Soon we cruised outside past the small communities of Ortley Beach, Lavallette, and Mantoloking, NJ. Even though the waters were full of 4th of July revelers, we steered clear of them as best we could, enjoying the day’s spectacular weather.
Up ahead of us in the ocean, we noticed a lot of splashing and commotion in the water that we were cruising straight toward. Through the binoculars, Steve and I could see dolphins leaping out of and back into the melee. We decided these dolphins were possibly “herding” fish into a circle to trap and catch them, in a group effort. Experts say dolphins sometimes herd fish together by surrounding them on all sides and packing them in tightly. After this, each dolphin takes a turn to pass through the concentration of fish and feed one at a time, while the others keep the school of fish packed together, making each turn through the fish more efficient for grabbing the largest number of fish in one pass. Of course we had no way of knowing for sure that was actually happening, as the pod of dolphins had dispersed by the time we reached the area, but it was still cool to think we might’ve witnessed something like that. 😉
After about 5 hours, we passed Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, to our port, which was just south of Manasquan. Coming into Manasquan, and at the Captain Bill’s Landing dock-master’s instruction, we pulled Legacy up to the marina’s fuel dock located in a narrow channel, where we were at once surrounded by holiday boat traffic. Because of all that activity, the waters in this channel were rough and choppy against a really high, fixed dock. I tossed lines to some men standing up on the dock, so they could help keep us in place while we received our slipping instructions. The dock master told us where our slip was – farther on up the channel and into some more fixed docks, just past the railroad bridge. Captain Steve proceeded slowly on up the channel, dodging flying jet-skis and racing center cockpits all the way there.
We reached our slip (more like bounced to it) about 1:15 pm to find it located just inside a tiny channel to our starboard, sandwiched in between more high, precarious-looking fixed docks and pilings, and almost right underneath a highway bridge. Naturally, since we were trying to maneuver a large boat into a tiny space, the wind came up. UGH! Amazingly, Steve was able to reverse Legacy into that narrow slip like a pro, while I placed and raised fenders as high as possible, and attempted to lasso pilings with lines. Fortunately for us, we received some assistance from the man currently aboard the boat slipped next to us. Finally, by 1:30 pm we were tied-up and plugged-in as the wind died and the hot sun beat down.
The height, age, and condition of the docks here at Captain Bill’s Landing reminded me very much of those we’d endured at C-Quarters Marina in Carrabelle, FL, earlier in the year. 😐 In fact, the only way to leave or board Legacy was to climb up and stand on Legacy’s rail cap, with absolutely nothing to hold onto… YIKES! I kept having flashbacks of again slipping and plummeting into the marina water below, but somehow managed to avoid a repeat performance of that unpleasant stunt.
Once we caught our breaths, we realized we were slipped right beside an old Coast Guard Cutter that was actively being restored by its owner. All around us were either fishing boats or working boats. At the end of the dock finger directly to our port was a fish-cleaning station, which meant there were constant hoards of seagulls flying and screeching just above Legacy’s bow, hoping for hand-outs. That also meant Legacy was steadily being coated in seagull droppings, which would not be easy to clean off, once it dried… Oh, HOORAY!
After settling in and showering, we gingerly climbed off the boat and walked up to the nearby Shipwreck Grill for a surprisingly rather upscale dinner and cocktails, then walked back to the boat for an early night afterward. We were both a bit tired from this day’s adventures!
Position: N 40° 06.333, W 74° 03.186
Distance traveled: 62 SM
Total distance traveled: 4213 SM
Total marina nights: 274
Total nights at anchor: 23
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 28