The Great Loop: The storm before the calm.....

I have "Embassy Cruising Guides" on board for every stretch of the Great Loop. These guides have harbor charts, info on local sights, lists of marinas and services at each harbor, and detailed descriptions of the best approach to harbors from the open water. The information regarding approaching a strange harbor is very valuable, I even read it occasionally. Today we travelled well past our original goal of Atlantic City to Barnegat Bay. The ocean was mostly cooperative allowing us to arrive outside the entrance to the Barnegat Inlet by 3:00. That's when I read the guide book for tips on the best way to enter Barnegat Bay. Here are the tips they provided:

"Barnegat Inlet is best thought of as the storm before the calm. While nasty breakers can dominate the inlet, parts of Barnegat Bay can have so little water at low tide that you find yourself going from fighting SEVERE TURBULENCE to cruising in an eerie calm. If your not careful, you can quickly go from that to running aground, since the ground rises up fast even a few feet from the channel markers. The biggest boat most locals can remember making it into Barnegat Bay is a 60 foot Sportfisherman (our boat is 54 feet) that had to tie up to a range marker just to keep water under her hull"

At this time I was committed to entering Barnegat Bay as we were to far from the next harbor to arrive in daylight. We did get in and the description in the guide book was a gross understatement of the difficulties of Barnegat Bay. I can honestly say, if I had to decide between riding out a category 5 hurricane on the ocean or re-entering Barnegat Bay, it would be a toss up.

Tomorrow we will be cruising into New York harbor, and hopefully, 30 miles up the Hudson River.