The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let me start by saying that today has been like no other. 
(Unless you include the time I learned that the judge's daughter was in fact, NOT 18 yet).
But, I digress . . .

A 6:00 a.m. start as planned.
The current was (once again) with us, and the trip out of NY harbor proved to be exciting in several ways.
Remember, this is the city that never sleeps. Which is why I should not have been surprised to see the following traffic at the exit from Liberty Marina:

 

Mortal men would have crumbled, but I am, after all, a Boston driver - so I just jumped into the fray and showed 'em whose boss.
(Although, I did sort of give this guy a wide berth as we passed under the Verazano):

But, just as we turned out of Liberty Landing and headed ocean bound, we were treated to a site that will take your breath away, and bring a tear to your eye. Truly majestic, at any angle:

Our dock neighbors - and subject of an incredible story (see Supplemental Side Bar to follow) - Nellie and John - come to Liberty Landing from mid-LI for 2 weeks every Summer, and hang out at night on their boat cruising around the Statue. It is calm and quiet, and they stay out till 10-11 at night, with friends on board - viewing the Lady on one side and NY on the other.

So, the good part of the day was leaving NY.
Easy, calm, uneventful, and down current.
No worries, mate.

As we turned South and proceeded down the Jersey Shore (can I get a fist pump - please), Spence and I noted that we hadn't seen any aquatic life at all. No birds diving, no busting bait, nada . . .
Then, a pod of dolphins busted water right in front of us.
And we saw several packs of boats fishing.
The wind was out of the NE, and helping to push us along at 18+ knots - so all was good.

Nothing lasts forever . . .
The radar showed showers surrounding us about the time that we came even with Atlantic City.
But, we were dry, so we decided to push on - what the hell, it's only another 2 hours to Cape May.
It was bad, but it wasn't that bad  - see:

That's a picture of Atlantic Coty, with about a 20 floor ceiling.
But the seas were calm, and there were a fair number of boats traversing the coast.
We had about 3 miles visibility, so, on we went.

This is where it gets UGLY.
From Atlantic City to Cape May is 34 miles - or 2 hours.
For the first hour, it was only marginally worse, so I knew that we could make it.
Then, the storms that had been skirting us all day, decided to hit us straight on.
It's hard to describe, but this is what it looked like from the helm:

As you can see, I could see for miles.
Actually less than 1/2 mile.
That was about 5 miles before the Cape May entrance.

By the time we found the Cape May entrance buoy, it was raining so hard that visibility was an illusion - and navigation was solely by radar and GPS.
(Al, in flight speak, we were on instruments)

Navigating the Cape May inlet was not too bad - except for the numerous boats who were anchored, or drifting, refusing to go any further - like cars hidden under a bridge on the highway 'cause it's raining to hard.

But we found our marina, and backstroked our way into the slip, and thought that we were done for the day . . .

Now, have I mentioned yet that it was raining pretty hard.
Think biblical. Like, needing to build an ark rain.

Well, as we were about to change cloths and relax - Spence blurts out that water is pouring in thru the speaker in the ceiling . . .
Bottom line, I had to march out in the rain, and try and figure out where the water was getting in, and how to stop it.
It's not like I had a choice, because this was not just a drip, but a full on pouring.
To add insult to injury, it was leaking all over what I nightly call my bed.

Turns out that when my mindless friends from Raymarine installed the new GPS, they ran new wires, and broke the seal on the wires that penetrate the side of the boat. Of course, they never re-sealed them - and that was were the water was getting in.

After several attempts - nearly an entire tube of sealant - and some duct tape, I got it stopped by God.
It's a good thing too, 'cause it has poured on and off for the last 3 hours - and not supposed to stop for several more.

But, we made it, and tomorrow I am going to reward myself.
We only have 50 miles to go to Ocean City, MD tomorrow, and I hear that there are fish to be caught out there. Don't tell Spence . . .