Sunday, August 22, 1993 - to New York

Beautiful day! Sunny and clear, with a perfect temperature.
Roy pulled up too much chain before breakfast, and we drifted into shallow water, but he was able to get us out of it before we got stuck.
Slowly and carefully motored up the channel to the fuel dock. As we'd been told, there was plenty of water. Tying to the dock was a little tricky, because there were boats sticking their prows out near both ends of the dock, but we made it ok. We had planned on filling the tank and eight jerry cans, but when the eighth can was being filled, something went wrong with the electricity to the pump, and the attendant couldn't fix it. It didn't really matter; we now have more than enough diesel to get to New England.
Left the channel and headed out of Delaware Bay, between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. Then we turned northeast towards Sandy Hook. It felt good to be on the ocean again after all these weeks. Having 80 feet of water under the keel instead of 8 is a reassuring feeling, and the water is much cleaner.
This is our first overnighter in a long time. It's approximately 150 miles to Sandy Hook, so we should get there early tomorrow afternoon. It's hard to believe we're going to sail into New York Harbor, right by the Statue of Liberty! Roy clearly remembers how thrilled he was to see the Statue when he was brought home from overseas at the end of World War II.
Solved one mystery--a heavy rolling noise at night. It turned out to be a squeeze-gun cartridge of marine sealer in one of the compartments under the bed. We're glad to get that mystery solved, but we still have the mystery of my Costa Rican sandals, that disappeared in Wilmington during the near-catastrophe. I've hunted all over the boat and can't find hide nor hair of them, but it doesn't seem possible they could have fallen off the boat, even at 30 degrees. I had left them under the seat on the starboard bench. When the boat listed, they would have fallen on the floor, but to get off the boat, they would have had to jump up and over the side of the cockpit, which seems unlikely, but where are they? Roy has no recollection of putting them anyplace. The only likely possibility I can come up with is that their velcro straps stuck to a sail cover or something and the whole thing was bundled up and put in the fo'c'sle, in which case they'll eventually be found. I hope so, because I really liked those sandals. They could be worn in the water, on the sand, on city sidewalks, on the deck, any place. They were waterproof, cool and comfortable, and had non-slip soles. At least it's cool enough now to wear regular shoes. But how could anything get lost on a little bitty sailboat?