6/8/10 – Atlantic City, New Jersey

Pre-dawn in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

Salem Nuclear Power Plant along the Delaware River

Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse - Delaware Bay

Cape May Ferry Terminal and Cape May Canal

Cape May Harbor.

Cape May Coast Guard Station

Leaving Cape May Inlet

Atlantic City

New casino under construction.

Atlantic City Inlet.

“Reflection” left the dock at 5:37 a.m. for our destination of Atlantic City – 110 miles away. It was a lovely, but cool morning as we continued to make our way through the C& D Canal. Things soon got interesting when George saw flames and smoke coming up from a fishing pier along the Canal. He immediately called the Delaware Bay Coast Guard to report the sighting, and then had several more transmissions with them as to our longitude and latitude coordinates and the exact location of the pier so that one of the local fire companies could respond to the blaze.


After leaving the canal, we then entered the Delaware River with the imposing Salem Nuclear Power Plant in sight. This is not our most favorite scenic view, but it is a favorite fishing area for many (if you like nuclear fish!). We had an easy trip down Delaware Bay with the wind at our back, and then entered the Cape May Canal at 11 a.m.

We were now back in New Jersey waters for the first time in over a year! Naturally, one of the ferries chose this very moment to signal that he was about to back out, but we snuck past him and then entered a dredging area. Suddenly, we heard on the radio: “Trawler ahead of me, trawler ahead of me, what are your intentions?” Pat said to George: “Is he talking to you?” We took a look around but we didn’t think so, because all we saw was a small trawler approaching us, and the announcer didn’t even identify where he was. Suddenly, we heard another repeat of the previous announcement! George then got on the radio and told him our location. The elderly captain then demanded that we move aside because he felt he needed more room in this tight situation. When George informed him calmly that we would continue on our course, and that we had plenty of room to pass each other safely, the other captain uttered a number of profanities at George! Ah, it was so good to be back in New Jersey again! Now we felt at home!

We continued though the Canal and into and through Cape May Harbor in record time. Now we made our way out the wide Cape May Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean. We marveled then at the color of the sea-water which was a tropical blue-green color similar to the waters we saw in Florida. It was an absolutely clear, beautiful day with winds out of the northwest and 2 – 3 foot seas. We had a pleasant trip north, and noticed a change in the landscape of Atlantic City’s sky-line which we could see from many miles away – a huge new casino/hotel being built near the “Showboat”.

We entered the Atlantic City Inlet and tied up at Gardner’s Basin by 4:15 p.m. After relaxing for awhile, we decided to stay on the boat rather going out to dinner, and elected to play “Train Dominoes” and to eat appetizers and small pizzas accompanied by celebratory cocktails for our last night on board.