A round tour of the island on board Follyfin provided a great thrill for the grandkids, but an even bigger thrill awaited them the following day when all four of their grandparents, plus Warren's godmother Smitch (a school friend of the First Mate from several decades ago) gathered on board Follyfin for a delicious brunch provided by their parents.
Spent one night at Newport Yacht Club which is only 10 minutes walk from where the family lives. Very convenient! Sunday 9 July, after our brunch and saying farewell, Follyfin set sail again down the Hudson River back to our Atlantic Highlands anchorage. The only difference being that we had acquired an extra crew member: Smitch. She joined us for the overnight passage down to Atlantic City.
That passage turned out to be a bit more arduous than expected, since the wind had turned from the north to the south and then the south-west, the very direction we were now going. So a rhumb line route of 73nm turned out to be 146nm with all tacking we had to do, and a passage that should have taken about 15 hours actually took 27 hours. Needless to say, by the time we berthed in Kammermans marina in Atlantic City, we were all exhausted. But Smitch stood up well to the challenge.
This morning we all went to explore Atlantic City, which is credited with having the first proper board walk in the world, having been built in 1870. Today of course the backdrop is all big casinos, hotels and restaurants, and the beaches are crowded with holiday-makers. Both features are big tourist attractions, so there are lots, lots, LOTS of people.
As you see, wall to wall people!
Waved goodbye to Smitch who caught the Greyhound bus back to NYC, so we are now preparing to retrace our steps back to Baltimore where we will be putting Follyfin to bed for the winter... a little early I know but that's because we have a special wedding event to attend in September, that of son Ivor to Marina. Actually we are really looking forward to coming home after 4 months on the water so to speak. Home comforts are calling!
Loved your blog Mike and Fiona. What a wonderful experience and I am learning about places never heard of before and in particular find them on a map. Bits of your voyage very traumatic and scary, but you two survived it. Enjoy your four months at home and the wedding. Last weekend George and Anne spent a couple of days with us. Lovely seeing them. Kind regards, Trudy and Gideon.
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