Warm up to the main event

We have never before been offshore with Broad Reach.  The choice for the trip north was either to wander slowly up the NJ mudflats on the ICW and then make a short hop outside to Sandy Hook, or just head offshore and put in one day-sail offshore, and one long overnight run into the Raritan Bay and the outskirts of Manhattan.  We opted to go offshore to Atlantic City as a practice run for the longer overnight offshore into Sandy Hook.  Wanting to have the boat as prepped as possible, we spent Friday morning doing an oil change and installing new fuel filters.

We both had a hankering for Mexican at lunchtime and there was a conveniently located place called 5 De Mayo across the street from Utsch's Marina.  After filling up on very authentic tortas, we decided to explore the salt marshes that surround Cape May.

We both love to kayak in areas with wildlife.  We rented a tandem and headed out at low tide to see what we could see.  The guy at the rental place had a hard time launching us off their ramp, as the low tide had stranded their launch platform on an incline in the mud.

We surprised a cormorant coming around a corner and Niki snapped at the exact moment when he decided to leave the scene.

Most of the banks of the creeks that formed the marsh we fully exposed by the low tide.  We saw an army of little moving creatures on the flats.  They were burrowing crabs that come down to eat sea grass.  They seemed to have a single mind.  When one crab was frightened by our approach, they all scuttled away in unison.  It was a funny sight.

 OK so the still just doesn't quite express how odd this unison behavior was, so here is the vid. Imagine the unadulterated feeling of power in affecting terror in the minds of so many scuttlebugs with a mere wave of your kayak paddle.  It was slightly deviant and a lot of fun.

There was a chorus of peeps and whistles from the local sandpiper choir.  These little guys were either balancing on one leg, or dipping and bobbing some weird sixties dance.

The heron did not want to join the party, and headed off for quieter waters.

As we paddled up and down the narrowing creeks, tiny schools of fish were driven ahead of the boat.  They had nowhere to go except ahead.  The water rippled with frenzied fish leaping, splashing and swimming as hard as they could against the current to avoid becoming food to the big yellow thing we were paddling.  The terns and kingfishers took advantage of the bunched bait, and dove repeatedly just in front of us, catching the opportunity for a late lunch.  Here is one of the kingfishers after he retreated to the top of a piling.

After terrorizing all the local flora and fauna, we rode the wind back down the creek to the inner harbor.  Cape May is a world class fishing destination, and the docks were full of lots of expensive offshore tuna chasers.  We were surprised to see this rendition of a boat lift.  After thinking on it a while, I can see the logic of a little matching home enclosure for your boat.

We turned the corner around from where the boathouse lift was located and stumbled upon one of the most perfectly planned post and beam homes I have ever seen.  Our house in New Hampshire was a 200 year old post and beam frame, so we love to see these structures well executed.  The house had huge twelve foot tall barn style doors on three sides, so that under the right weather conditions, the entire first floor could be opened to the outside.  The second floor had privacy shoji to balance the light and keep the neighbors from burning too many YouTube moments. The views off the back porch looked directly onto the saltwater marsh we had been exploring.  If you look closely at the upper story window facing the canal, you will see that the owners have their very own yellow submarine on display.  The clerestory windows up top give great natural ventilation as well.  We circled back on this house from the street, and it is just as wonderful from that vantage as well.

We ended the kayak tour with a smart landing back onto the now floating launch platform at the marina.  We returned to the operator a PFD that got lost on the mudflats the previous day.  We were hungry again after all the exercise, but didn't want to walk far for food.  We decided to try Lucky Bones Backwater Grill.  The place was packed and with good reason. The trip to Cape May would have been worth it just to try their pan steamed mussels with tomato, basil, and gorgonzola cheese.  I asked if they had a bath convenient with enough of the sauce to bathe in personally, but the waitress thought I was joking. Niki said she wasn't up for the sight of a naked me turning slowly orange and puckery.

We both loved everything about our stay in Cape May.