July 7 – Sandy Hook, NJ

Coast Guard Station – Anchorage 

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

This is a catch up blog, mostly to share pictures from the last few days. I wrote the last four blog entries a week or so ago when I had a little free time. Information and details about places I knew we'd be visiting. Blogging can take more time than I have or want to give some days, but today I've had plenty of time. We left Cape May at 3:54 AM for a 15 hour run to NYC…that’s a lot of time to fill. The autopilot (Otto) does most of the work. All we have to do is keep an eye out for obstacles...he's not a thinker...I guess you could say he has a one track mind. He has to be supervised like a small child, but he does help us have a more relaxing day.

So what does a person do for 16 hours on a slow boat, besides keeping an eye on Otto? We listen to music, read, nap, edit pictures, text, make phone calls, do research, daydream, fix meals, clean, swat flies, post pictures to our Facebook page, work on pine needle baskets, work Sudoku puzzles and in my case...blog. 

We left before dawn in a light fog with flat seas and almost no wind. We couldn't have asked for a better day, until we ran into showers close to Brick, NJ. The seas got a little chopping and steering became too difficult for Otto to manage, he doesn’t like following seas, so the Captain had to take over.

We had almost a 3 knot push from the current coming down the Delaware River...we were flying. Can you see the current pushing against this buoy?

A little of the boat traffic on the Delaware River

The Elbow of Cross Ledge Light and the remains of Cross Ledge Lighthouse in the back ground.

Fourteen Foot Bank Lighthouse

Sunset Beach in Cape May is covered with pebbles which are pieces of quartz crystals. Many of these pieces are known as "Cape May Diamonds"

“Cape May Diamonds” - The Kechemeche Indians were the first to find the fascinating and beautiful stones now known as "Cape May Diamonds." The Indians came to believe that these curious stones possessed supernatural power bringing success and good fortune.

"Cape May Diamonds" are pure quartz crystals and are found in a variety of sizes and colors. Pieces of quartz crystal are eroded and broken off from veins and pockets by the swift running waters of streams in the upper Delaware River. They travel over 200 miles on a journey that takes thousands of years to complete. As they travel down the Delaware River they are eroded away and when they reach the mouth of the river the strong tidal flow washes them against the hull of the sunken concrete ship " Atlantus " at Sunset Beach causing them to wash ashore in great abundance.

When polished and faceted, these gems have the actual appearance of real diamonds. Before the advent of modern gem scanning equipment, many pawnbrokers were fooled by "Cape May Diamonds."

These are some we picked up

This shows what they look like as they became jewelry 

A little roadside stand on our way to Sunset Beach in Cape May

The sky was very entertaining yesterday...this is just before sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean

A storm rolling by off the coast of New Jersey 

Sunset at Sandy Hook 

This is what our bottom looked like when we returned last week...boats don't like to sit still. Things begin to grow!