Monday, December 6, 1993 - Longport, Ocean City, NJ

Calm, sunny, clear, and cold. We're only going a short distance today, so we didn't need to leave until noon. Ate another huge break-
fast at the Royal Buffet, and then went up to the fifth floor to play the free game of miniature golf that we'd been promised. When we got there, we found out they'd dismantled the miniature golf course for the winter. So much for a free game. But we had a great view from the roof.
Had no problem leaving the dock and the harbor. This is a very easy harbor to get in and out of. No fog this morning, so we had a great view of Atlantic City.
Sailed southwest about seven miles, and then tried to find the entrance to Great Egg Harbor, where Ocean City is. Found the entrance buoy easily enough, but couldn't see any more buoys. According to the chart, we should have been on a 300 degree course, so that's what I took, but we couldn't see any inlet ahead of us, so I entered the waypoint into the GPS, plugged it into a route, and saw we should be on a course of 35 degrees! We turned to that and eventually found the inlet, but it was a struggle. Fortunately, Roy had found an ad for a marina in Longport, which is right across the harbor from Ocean City, so I contacted the marina on the VHF, and the dockmaster guided us in. We had to cross a shoal that was only six feet deep, and we had to zig-zag from one side of the harbor to the other and back, but we finally got into the marina and got tied up. It's a good marina, and the rate is only $1 a foot, but the water has been turned off in the showers as well as on the docks.
Longport is a resort community. The nearest grocery store is in the neighboring town of Margate, so we walked over there. I asked directions from a woman, who told us to go down Atlantic Avenue until we came to "Lucy, the elephant" and then turn left. I had no idea what she meant by "Lucy, the elephant", but I assumed it would be a store with a picture of an elephant on a sign out front. To our amazement, we found a huge model elephant, about 35 feet high and 80 feet long! It had been built way back in 1881! For a while, it was used as a hotel, but now it's a tourist attraction. Of course, like everything else in this part of the world, it's closed for the winter, so we couldn't go in it, but we had a good look at the outside. Then we walked over to the grocery store, bought milk and orange juice, and returned to the boat.
Tomorrow, we want to leave early for Cape May, about 30 miles southwest of here. In order to get over the shoal, we have to leave when the tide is fairly high, so we set the alarm for 5 a.m.