Cape May, NJ to Port Jefferson, NY

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JO BETH lay at her anchor for just one night in Cape May Harbor. Our 35th wedding anniversary was on the day after our arrival there, and we decided to go into a marina slip for a couple of nights. This wasn’t just to have a little bit of comfort for the anniversary, but we were also facing another round of bad weather.

*Formation Flight of United States Coast Guard Dolphin Helicopters over Cape May*

Trusted friends familiar with Cape May highly recommended Utsch’s Marina for our stop. While there, we would be able to shower, do laundry, and take on diesel fuel and water. I booked a slip for two nights, and into the marina we went. Utsch’s is a well-established and very rustic facility. It’s quite large with slips on floating and fixed docks situated behind a seawall, including a small boatyard with hauling capabilities. Factory trained mechanics are also on site and there is a well-stocked bait and tackle shop. The marina has been in business for over 60 years, and is still run by the senior Utch’s two sons.

Our first stop was the fuel dock, which is at the head of the main marina fairway channel. Utsch’s, being an ‘older’ marina, has quite narrow fairways and slips. It was a tight turn into the fueling slip, but Lisa executed it flawlessly. We topped up our fuel tank with fresh diesel and were then ready to move to our assigned slip. The dockhand who helped us into the fuel dock assisted with our lines as Lisa backed JO BETH out of the fueling slip. I’ve mentioned this before, but JO BETH, like most sailboats, does not go backwards well. Because of the hydro-dynamics of the water moving over the propeller blades when the prop is reversed, we are prone to ‘propeller walking;’ that is, JO BETH’s stern moves to port, or to the left, for ten feet or so before enough water is being drawn past the rudder for her to begin moving backwards with any modicum of control. Even then, maneuvering her is dicey, with left and right turns reversed. Lisa has become quite adept at handling the boat, using the walk to our advantage, and deftly backed into one of the dock fairway channels before making a hard and tight turn back into the main fairway channel.

In quick order, Lisa pointed JO BETH into her slip where we promptly came to a hard stop – we were aground! The dock hand pulled with all of his skinny might on our bow and forward spring lines, but to no avail. Our boarding gates were also six feet from the dock. We weren’t going anywhere. The Western North Atlantic was experiencing a period of ‘spring tides,’ where the pull of the moon is slightly greater than usual, due to the orientation of the earth and moon to one another. During spring tides, the rise and fall of the water can increase by as much as three feet over the normal tidal range. Spring tides typically occur in spring and fall, but can happen anytime the earth and moon are at a specific angle to one another. Fortunately, the tide was incoming and after two or so hours, we were floating again and able to secure ourselves properly.

A leaden gray sky hung low over us as we gathered our shower bags and clean clothes to head for the showers. Hot showers with unlimited water are one of the great pleasures following an offshore passage, no matter how short or long the trip. When we came out of the showers, I found Lisa sitting in the boater’s lounge area, with a hard and steady rain drumming down outside. Gusts of wind slammed the lounge windows occasionally, with sheets of rain. We sat back and waited, knowing JO BETH was getting a well-deserved and much needed freshwater rinse.

As the rain slowed to a light shower and then a sprinkle, we headed back to the boat. Today was our wedding anniversary and we decided to walk to the closest restaurant, The Lobster House. Friends had recommended the Lobster House, but warned it was quite a touristy place. We went anyway, and was it ever touristy! We put our name on the waitlist for a table and headed into the bar. Like Utsch’s Marina, The Lobster House is a Cape May institution. The bar resembled something of a small maritime museum, with ship models and nautical paintings all over. It actually wasn’t a bad place to wait for the table; nor, fortunately, was the wait as long as we had been told it would be. The server was attentive and our dinner and appetizer were absolutely delicious; we love steamed mussels and the ones we had at The Lobster House were some of the best I’d had in a long time. We even indulged in desert!

The next day we spent doing laundry and walking around the downtown Cape May area. The day was sunny and warm, but winds were from the north, the direction we wanted to go. We enjoyed a late lunch in town; ‘linner’ (lunch-dinner), as we call it, and headed back to the boat to begin planning our departure to continue north. It was then that we realized we needed to change our plans.

The original plan had been to sail from Cape May to Block Island, Rhode Island, and then to Onset, Massachusetts. From there, we would transit the Cape Cod Canal, and then sail directly to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. When returning south, we were going to use the same route, except instead of returning to Block Island, we would sail into Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, then move into Long Island Sound and cruise Connecticut and Long Island. Then, we would sail through New York City, back into the Atlantic, and make for the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay.

However, it was now June 28th and by the time we would arrive at Block Island it would be the start of the 4th of July holiday weekend – a long holiday weekend, as the 4th fell on a Monday. Arriving at Block Island on the 4th of July weekend would not be a good idea. It would be horrible, in fact. The island and it’s largest and most accessible harbor would be very crowded. There would be a lot of inexperienced boaters around, and the great majority of them would likely not be hydrating with water. We consulted sailing friends intimately familiar with Block Island about proceeding with our plan and all said a resounding “NO!” to doing so.

After some extensive discussion and long term revising of our intended route, we made the decision to sail for New York Harbor and the town of Port Washington, New York on Long Island. We’d be cruising Long Island Sound now as opposed to later, and looking back, this plan has worked out wonderfully.

*JO BETH Galloping Towards New York Harbor*

With a new plan in place, we plotted our course for New York Harbor. The following morning on the outgoing tide, we slipped our dock lines and powered out of Cape May Harbor into the blue and sedate Atlantic. We turned our bow north and, with full main and jib sails now set, took off for New York City. By early afternoon we were passing Atlantic City, NJ, all the while dodging dozens of small fishing boats zipping about chasing fish. The sun was warm and the skies a brilliant blue, with the wind on our aft port quarter. JO BETH rocketed along as a gentle six foot swell rolled under her. The ride was delightful.

With the approach of sunset, the swell became a bit lumpier and confused as the wind built a bit. JO BETH began to wallow and roll heavily as the intersecting swells passed under us. We took a look at our course, and our relative position to the shore, some twenty miles to our west. We decided we could alter our course a bit more to the northwest, which would change the angle of the swell to us. We prepared to ‘jibe’ (sometimes spelled ‘gybe’) the boat; that is, to adjust our course so the wind came over the aft starboard quarter as opposed to the aft port quarter. JO BETH quickly settled as we took off on our new course, and with a much more comfortable motion.

With sunset come and gone, we settled into our nighttime routine. The winds were steady and we were sailing comfortably at around five and a half or six knots. The speed was working out well; we needed to time our arrival at New York with the start of the incoming tide as we would need the tide to carry us through the harbor and the city, and into Long Island Sound. Otherwise, the currents we would face could be overwhelming and, even though we would be under motor power, they could bring us to a standstill. The winds fell very light during Lisa’s watch, and I was awakened by the sounds of her furling the jib and sheeting in the mainsail tight with the engine running, motor sailing once again.

I began my watch at 0200 and Lisa gave me her ‘change of watch’ report. The winds had fallen very light, but were still mostly south-southwest. We were ten or twelve miles east-southeast of Sandy Hook, the northern most cape on New Jersey, and should have it on the beam in about two and a half or three hours. At sunrise, we should be entering New Your Harbor at slack water, the time of the tide cycle when the tidal current isn’t flowing in one direction or another. Lisa retired below, and I settled in the cockpit with my phone and a couple of podcasts to keep me company. We had no ships close to us and were a comfortable distance from the beaches to our west. The sky was clear and it was even a bit chilly. Before my watch was over, I would put on socks and a watch cap!

About an hour into my watch, during one of my scans of the horizon, I spotted lights to the northeast. AIS showed it was an ocean going tug and fuel barge, going from New York to Baltimore. Our respective courses had us with a CPA – Closest Point of Approach – of less than one hundred feet, provided neither of us changed course beforehand. We were moving at around four or four and a half knots; the tug and barge were moving at close to sixteen, and we were roughly nine miles apart. I made a 10 degree course change to the northwest and watched as our CPA shifted to a much more comfortable one and a half miles. Soon, the tug and her tow had passed well to our east. It was then that I noticed the lights of Manhattan glowing on the northwestern horizon.

By sunrise, we had passed Sandy Hook, NJ and turned into Ambrose Channel, the main channel into New York Harbor. Lisa was still sleeping below as the New York skylight glowed golden in the rising sun. Somewhat mesmerized by the scene unfolding front of me, and likely a bit overtired, I was startled to discover a massive oil tanker sliding up the channel on our stern. The ship was still two or three miles behind us, but closing fast. Just as I was reaching for the VHF radio to call them, the ship’s harbor pilot hailed us.

“JO BETH, JO BETH, JO BETH, this is the tank vessel PEGASUS STAR on your stern. We will overtake you on your starboard side, over.”

“PEGASUS STAR, this is JO BETH. Good copy for starboard to starboard pass. We will maintain course and speed, over.”

“JO BETH, PEGASUS STAR, good copy. Tank vessel PEGASUS STAR, inbound Ambrose Channel, standing by channels 9, 13, and 16 for all concerned traffic.”

“JO BETH, inbound Ambrose Channel, standing by channel 16, out.”

I edged JO BETH to the left side of the channel and watched as PEGASUS STAR slipped by, her massive propeller thrashing the water as she went. An outbound tug and barge passed us soon after the tanker was clear. Following a slight bend in the channel, we were quickly positioned to pass beneath the famous Verrazano Narrows Bridge. As we were closing on the bridge, the cycle of being overtaken and dodging the many ferries moving around New York began.

*Approaching Newy York Harbor and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge*

Shortly after the tug and barge were astern of us, and PEGASUS STAR was well ahead, I woke Lisa. Within a half-hour, we passed beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and were in the harbor proper. The massive orange and black Staten Island Ferries plowed past us, as did multiple tugs pushing barges loaded with fuel, scrap metals and trash. Hyper-fast express ferries jetted past, all of them creating huge and confused wakes in the waters. There seemed to be a ferry for every imaginable route one could take in the city.

Soon, we were passing in front of the Statue of Liberty, and both of us realized it was the first time we’d seen her from the front. We passed Governor’s Island, a former military installation, now a part of the National park Service, and entered the choppy and turbulent East River. The Brooklyn Bridge soon loomed over us, and we gazed at the glass, steel and metal towers of the city that surrounded us. The incoming tidal current pushed us along at an amazing eight knots over the river bottom. All around us, people jogged, biked, and walked along the riverside. Trains, cars, and trucks rumbled on the bridges overhead.

Soon, we were passing through Harlem and into the dreaded Hell’s Gate Channel, known for its whirlpools and swirling currents. Our passage through was relatively calm and completely uneventful. We thought of Georgia’s ‘Hell Gate,’ a land cut in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway just south of Savannah. It is much narrower and shallower than New York’s Hell’s Gate Channel and has much the same tidal flow, though at more extreme angles. We found Georgia’s Hell Gate to be far more challenging. Once through Hell’s Gate, we were abeam of the infamous Riker’s Island Prison.

Here the East River became the Harlem River and widened considerably. Once through Throg’s Neck Bridge, we entered Long Island Sound. We had decided to head for Port Washington, on Manhasset Bay and soon entered the wide mouth of the harbor. We were able to find a vacant city mooring and claimed it for our own for the next several days. It was Thursday, June 30 and we would stay in Port Washington until Tuesday, July 5.

(We want to thank Bill and Grace aboard CALICO SKIES for their guidance and recommendations on cruising in Long Island Sound. Check out their YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe and follow them there!)

Port Washington was a lovely stop. The fee for the city moorings includes a launch service to get to and from shore, but no other services. There are some great restaurants and coffee shops there, large supermarkets, and the town boasts one of the prettiest and well managed libraries we’ve seen. The library even has an outdoor terrace and coffee bar overlooking the harbor. The launch operators were very friendly and professional. Most everything we needed was in walking distance. When the fourth of July came, we were able to see multiple fireworks in a full 360° view from the comfort of our cockpit.

On July 5, we bid Port Washington farewell and sailed for Port Jefferson, NY, some 35 miles to the east. The skies were sunny at the start, but soon a high overcast filled in. The forecast southwest winds soon backed to the southeast and we found ourselves sailing close on the wind in a brisk twenty knot breeze. JO BETH sped along on a choppy and dark Long Island Sound flinging spray from her bow. The breeze was cool, and Lisa and I both donned lightweight long sleeve shirts. The few rain showers which developed in the afternoon were chilly but fast moving.

The day was uneventful and passed quickly. As we approached the entrance buoy for Port Jefferson, we furled the headsail and sheeted the mainsail tight on the centerline. I started the motor and we set our course for the harbor entrance, noting one of the large passenger ferries from the mainland approaching. Just as were entering the rock jetties, an engine alarm sounded. A quick look at the control panel showed the engine was overheating. I shut the engine off immediately and Lisa steered us back into the sound and clear of the ferry which was almost inside the jetties. Fortunately, we had left the mainsail set, and Lisa was able to sail clear of the massive steel ferry and the granite boulders which make up the jetties.

I went into the JO BETH’s cabin and opened the forward access hatch to the engine compartment. The engine belts were intact and all of the cooling system hoses were still affixed. There was no steam, no smoke, nor any sign of water leaking. It seems we shut the engine down early enough to avoid any serious damage. I placed the back of my hand against the sea water pump housing and immediately yanked it away. The pump was scalding hot! It was then I realized the sea water pump impeller had likely failed. The impeller is like a semi-flexible rubber propeller. It spins within the pump, creating suction to draw in sea water from outside of the boat and positive pressure to push it through the engine cooling system to absorb the heat from the engine coolant, keeping the engine at the proper operating temperature. If one or more the impeller blades, or vanes, fail, the impeller will not function properly.

The pump was too hot to handle in the immediate moment, plus the jetties were still uncomfortably close. Had we been further out, we could have waited for the pump to cool. However, it was getting dark and sailing into an unfamiliar harbor in the dark was an absolute last resort, done only if we found no other solution. We decided to call for a tow.

I picked up the VHF radio microphone.

“Sea Tow Port Jefferson, Sea Tow Port Jefferson, Sea Tow Port Jefferson, this is sailing vessel JO BETH, JO BETH, over.

“This is Sea Tow Port Jefferson to the vessel calling, switch and answer channel 71, channel 71, over.”

“Sea Tow Port Jefferson, this is JO BETH. Good copy for channel 71, channel 71, over.”

I switched the channel from 16 to 71.

“Sea Tow Port Jefferson, this is JO BETH, channel 71, over.”

For the non-sailor readers, VHF channel 16 is the international hailing and distress channel. It is used only for those purposes, and for vessels to make passing or overtaking arrangements, such as we did with the tanker PEGASUS STAR in Ambrose Channel going into New York Harbor. Once contact is made, vessels are required to choose a non-working channel to continue any conversation.

Sea Tow replied and after an explanation of our situation and confirmation of our GPS position, we continued sailing around the sound west of the harbor entrance and waited. In about twenty minutes, we saw the small yellow and black tow boat heading our way. Coincidentally, a sailing catamaran, under mainsail only had started into the harbor entrance. We had advised Sea Tow that we were under mainsail alone, and it became clear after a few moments that he had confused the catamaran with us. A quick call on the VHF resolved the situation. Soon he was alongside and we were under tow into the harbor and to our reserved mooring at the port Jefferson Yacht Club.

The Sea Tow captain towed us from the sound and into a large basin in the harbor, where he then re-positioned his vessel alongside JO BETH’s aft port quarter to tow us the rest of the way through the harbor. This is called ‘hip towing’ and gives the towing vessel much more control over the vessel being towed. However, JO BETH is a heavy girl, built for the rigors of the open sea, and doesn’t tolerate being shoved around so well. After two failed attempts to get our mooring secured, the crew of a sailboat moored close by got in their dinghy to assist. Once we were on the mooring and holding, we issued our thanks to the other boat’s crew, and concluded our business with SeaTow. We had a couple of well-deserved strong drinks and wound down a bit.

We were on a guest mooring of the Port Jefferson Yacht Club and when morning came, we took the club launch to the docks and walked into town for breakfast at the famous Toast restaurant. Back aboard JO BETH, I set about tackling the engine overheating problem. After closing the seawater intake valve, I removed the cover plate for the sea water pump and found the impeller had essentially disintegrated. Of the original six vanes, only one remained attached to the impeller hub – and it was badly torn. I was able to quickly recover another three of the vanes from the pump housing, which left two vanes still missing somewhere in the depths of the cooling system. I talked to mechanic friends about the best way to recover the missing components. My concern was a chunk of the impeller may have lodged within the engine heat exchanger, further disrupting the heat exchanger’s performance. However, in order to access the heat exchanger end caps, I would have to disconnect and remove the engine alternator. Also, I didn’t have the correct gasket kits or gasket materials on board to replace the heat exchanger end caps properly. We contacted a couple of local mechanics, neither of which could get to us in a timely manner.

Eventually, I removed the system hoses between the seawater inlet, seawater pump, and the heat exchanger, and was able to recover all but one tiny sliver of the failed impeller. I set about replacing the impeller with one of our spares, and by the late afternoon, the engine was operative once again.

So, why did the impeller fail? An impeller will fail if water flow to it is restricted or cut off. This wasn’t the case, as I was able to confirm the intake system was fully clear. The most likely cause was the age of the impeller. In February we had replaced the older water pump with this one. The pump ships from the factory with an impeller installed, and the replacement pump had been aboard and stowed away for nearly eighteen months. It is likely the impeller vanes, compressed in the pump housing, had begun to deteriorate and crack, or to develop a ‘set,’ where the vanes become stiff and inflexible. When I realized the impeller had failed, I gave myself an internal dope-slap, as I had briefly thought about swapping the impeller when I replaced the pump and belts in February. Lesson learned.

*Many yacht Clubs and Municipal Facilities in New England Provide Launch Services for their Harbors*

The weather in Port jefferson had cleared and we went into town for dinner. We would leave the following morning, bound for Connecticut waters. We didn’t enjoy Port Jefferson as much as we did Port Washington, and one obvious reason was the circumstances with the motor. That aside, the yacht club was something of an interesting experience. The launch service was manned by grumpy old guys, and there was little information as to where things were in the facility itself. The club did not have any laundry facilities, though it did offer showers and bathrooms, but it took us forever to find them. When we did, it was through directions from a teen aged sailing teacher there, who, thankfully, also shared the lock codes with us. We did enjoy a good breakfast in town at Toast, another recommendation from friends. If we’d not had the trouble with the engine, I think we would have been a bit more lighthearted while there.