Notes for boats:
We chose to run the Atlantic side instead of trying to get through the heavily shoaled inside waterway between Cape May and Atlantic City, due in part to the range of tides we were having, and since low tide would be following us to the north. If the time of day had the tide rising with us, I'm still not sure if we would have tried it with our 4' 4" draft, it probably would have depended upon the weather
Inlets are always the roughest when the tide is meeting the wind.
Upon leaving Cape May jetties, things quickly settled some after angling out of that current line, and offshore for a straight line to clear the Wildwood shoal by a half a mile, and then straight line to Atlantic City. Running offshore kept us out of the rougher, shorter swells than if we had followed the beach.
Atlantic City has a clearly marked, wide channel. The tide inside, at the bridge is a half hour later than the offshore posting. The bridge tide time would be a better station to use for figuring the current in the inlet.
To enter the Brigantine anchorage, turn well before the bridge, running about 20' off the left hand bank. There are red markers on sticks, and a couple of green ones once you go around the left hand curve, the place you pull away from the bank. There are lots of kayaks, beach-goers, and small boats on the beach area to stbd.
We entered at almost low tide with our 4'4" draft. One of the large harbor tour boats came by in the evening.
The journey:
This morning we left the marina at 0730, after washing the boat down, vacuuming, dumping the garbage, and doing all those other nasty little boat chores we skipped yesterday!
We fell in behind REJOICE as they went out the Cape May inlet into the Atlantic. The first few minutes to get through the swells in the jetty were the roughest part of our journey.
Things settled as we got offshore a bit. I saw some large dolphins, but, no whales!
We enjoyed looking at the amusement park in Wildwood, though our photos didn't turn out.
The USCG was looking for a man in the water off Hereford Inlet with a massive search as we went through the area. I had the binoculars glued to my face for an hour, looking in the outgoing current as we traversed the area. They had not located him twelve hours later.
We came through the tight channel into Brigantine anchorage to settle for the day, listening to a steady chorus of sirens from the Atlantic City direction throughout the afternoon.
I was amazed at all the out of business casinos.
There was a nice beach area to the east that allows vehicles, but not dogs. What's wrong with that? There were kayaks and small boats, and Mocha and Mercy both looked longingly towards the beach. They did happily enter into nap mode a little later.
The anchorage was great protection from the night's wind and rain.
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