Atlantic Highlands Get-Together 2002

September 28-29, 2002

The participants of the 3rd Annual Atlantic Highlands Get-Together, which took place the weekend of September 28-29, 2002, voted to rename the event the "Annual Atlantic Highlands Heavy Weather Raft-up".

Though the wind was not nearly as bad as during last year's get-together, Mother Nature once again provided us with more wind than was necessary, especially for a raft-up.

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Isadore circulating to our northwest, we knew we'd have wind. It was the rain that I was most concerned with. I don't mind the wind, but I really didn't care for spending the weekend confined to the cabin due to heavy rain. We kept tabs on the weather all week and by Wednesday the meteorologists at the Weather Channel were calling for clearing on Saturday morning with high winds and it would be sunny and less windy on Sunday. Friday afternoon the NWS published the following forecast:

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Coastal Waters Forecasts

for COASTAL WATERS FROM SANDY HOOK TO MANASQUAN INLET, NJ OUT 20 NM

COASTAL WATERS FROM SANDY HOOK NJ TO FENWICK ISLAND DE OUT 20 NM- 300 PM EDT FRI SEP 27 2002
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY... .INTO THIS EVENING...E TO SE WINDS 15 TO 20 KT BECOMING S 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT. .OVERNIGHT...S WINDS 25 TO 30 KT BECOMING SW BY MIDNIGHT...THEN W 25 KT LATE. SEAS 6 TO 10 FT. SHOWERS LIKELY WITH A CHANCE OF TSTMS. .SAT...W WINDS 25 KT BECOMING N AND DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 5 TO 8 FT SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 4 FT. .SAT NIGHT...NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. .SUN...NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. .SUN NIGHT...E WINDS 10 KT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT. .MON...SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. .TUE AND WED...SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT.
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So Friday I decided that we'd go ahead with our little get-together and contacted everybody by phone to let them know that the event was on. While I was making phone calls, my husband was keeping tabs on our basement which was taking on water due to the pouring rain from Isadore. He spent most of the evening with the wet/dry vac in the basement but he was able to keep ahead of it.

Saturday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and 35 knot winds. Okay, so it was a bit higher than the predicted 25 knot winds, it was supposed to diminish as the day went on -- at least that was what was forecasted.

Bruce was at it again with the wet/dry vac and sucked up the water that had seeped into the basement during the night. I did a load of laundry and noticed that the sump was filling and water was coming up through the drain in the floor rather than going out. Uh-oh. Apparently the rains from the storm had overflowed the city's storm drains and the sewers couldn't take the extra water in the system. There's nothing like a sewer back-up into your house. And we really didn't need this since we were preparing to leave. We were hoping there was just a clog in the sump. That's happened in the past. As the water rises in the basement and floats dust, dirt and dibris it should make its way towards the drain and/or the sump. If the sump clogs with debris, you're in big trouble. Bruce managed to clear the clog and the water started flowing out. Phew!

We were running a bit behind due to the water problems at home so we were still there when we received a phone call from Howard Kolsby who had spent the night on his boat in Keyport, NJ. The first words out of the Howard's mouth were "Do you know what it's doing out here? It's blowing 35!" "I know it's blowing but it's supposed to diminish," I said. Then he wanted to know why we were still home and I explained our water problems but that we would still be there and that we'd call him when we were ready to leave Lockwood's in Morgan, NJ.

We were finally backing out of our slip, with a little help from our slip neighbors, at 12:40 p.m. We were lucky. The railroad bridge over the Cheesequake opened as we approached so we could enter "the pond" between it and the highway bridge which was closed. After passing through the railroad's bascule bridge I hung a sharp right and tucked Realization behind the bridge and out of the way to await the opening of the highway bridge. Then I turned her around with her stern towards the railroad bridge and our bow towards the highway bridge. We called the bridge operator on 13 to request an opening and shortly aftwards were joined in the pond by two other outbound sailboats. Then the rail bridge closed again and we were all trapped like usual. But there were only three boats in there (sometimes it can get pretty dicey in there between the number of boats, the strong current, wind and the limited space to maneuver) and we were all holding our positions pretty well despite it all. The highway bridge opened at about 5 after 1 and we were on our way.

Once we passed through the inlet we contacted Howard and let him know that we were heading his way. The bay was covered in white caps and we were taking spray over the side and the sails weren't even up yet. Bruce was getting readings with the handheld windmeter of 25 knots with higher gusts. So the wind strength was indeed abating as predicted. Bruce closed the remaining ports and the companionway hatch. Then Bruce took the helm and I hoisted our mainsail with two reefs, then hoisted the staysail and unfurled the yankee. Realization responded immediately and settled into a very comfortable heel angle as she sped towards the Keyport entrance buoy on a reach. She was very quickly sailing at 6.3 knots topping out at over 7 knots with the gusts. Boy we love that boat!

The sky was crystal clear and visibility seemed unlimited since we could see Coney Island, over 15 miles away, very clearly as well as Sandy Hook. In the distance I could just make out a white sail of a boat leaving Keyport in the channel and figured it must by Howard. Perfect timing, I thought. We were maintaining a constant bearing and the two boats would eventually meet. As we got closer we realized that it wasn't Gemini but I was right about the two boats meeting. I had to maneuver so that we wouldn't hit that other boat -- luffed up then fell off behind him and continued towards Sandy Hook as Gemini came up behind us. Howard unfurled the genny and sailed under headsail alone.

We were monitoring both 16 and 71 on the VHF but managed to hear Michael Soloway aboard Puffin calling the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. Geez, they were there already! I think it was round about 2 p.m., so Puffin had also been flying.

Our goal was to get there between 4:00 and 4:30. Realization continued her flight towards Sandy Hook averaging 6.6 knots with a double-reefed main. Around 3:00 p.m. we contacted the Soloways and told them where we were and that our ETA was in about 1-2 hours. There was a warship at Earle so we knew we had to give the naval piers a wide berth and made sure we stayed outside their security zone. Then we turned south towards Atlantic Highlands on a broad reach. After rounding Earle we were hailed by Bill Gaughan aboard Blue Moon. He wanted to know where we were since they had just entered the anchorage. I told him that we were behind them on Sandy Hook Bay and approaching the breakwater. We'd be there in half an hour.

As we approached the breakwater we could see a long dark object, it was a series of giant rusty looking pipes on floats -- part of a dredging project. It took up a good deal of the anchorage. And due to the storm and high winds, the rest of the anchorage was full of cruisers -- part of the annual pilgrimage south. Oh man, where were we going to anchor? How could we raft-up?

I told Bill that I first wanted to find Puffin, which had opted for a mooring from the yacht club. Hopefully we would be able to form a raft-up that wouldn't be located too far for them to row their dingy. I knew they had a Walker Bay and rowing back to the boat from the anchorage might be a chore in the wind. Anyway, we found Puffin without any crew but the yacht club's launch showed up with them aboard just as both Realization and Gemini circled and called out to the occupants of the empty boat. Rather than yelling, we contacted them on the radio to let them know which boats were there. I didn't think we'd find a suitable place for a raft-up so we called the Yacht Club and asked for a mooring as well. In the meantime, Bill found a place just west of that floating monstrosity of pipe and dropped the hook then Howard rafted Gemini to Blue Moon. Joe Karger, aboard Manitou, had been listening to our radio exchanges and joined in to let us know he was nearing the anchorage. Joe was last to arrive and when he did he also rafted to Blue Moon. So we would have a raft-up after all.

The wind was still blowing, though it had decreased to about 18 knots, but it was still a bit choppy in the anchorage. So we opted to stay on our mooring. I got on the radio again and we decided that everyone would meet on the raft as soon as we were settled and got everything together that we'd need to take with us for snacks and dinner.

Bruce had planned to make tortillas, something that would require the stove and would have been much easier if we had been part of the raft, so he didn't know what to do. I told him that between the three boats in the raft, one of them would surely let us use their stove. Anyway, I started slicing cheese and smoked summer sausage and placed the slices in a food storage bag and packed an assortment of crackers and a plate to serve them on. And Bruce busied himself chopping vegetables for the tortillas and packed what seasonings he needed for them. Then we called for the launch to bring us to the raft, but we still hadn't paid for our mooring so the launch driver first brought us to their dock to register and pay before bringing us to the raft. Michael and Rivka were right behind the launch in their dingy as we approached the raft. As it turned out, they had a small Cruise-n-Carry outboard so we didn't have to worry about them rowing. We piled everything and everybody onto Gemini and Howard became our host for the evening.

Both Bill and Joe fired up their barbecues and Howard let Bruce use his galley. While Joe and Bill got their barbecues going, Howard set up his cockpit table and Rivka, Karen and I set out the goodies that we had brought to munch on. And while our meals cooked on the barbecues, Bill and Joe joined us on Gemini to yap and munch. We had cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, and shrimp - yum.

Though the wind had settled down there was still a slight chop and the boats in the raft rolled a bit every now and then but they behaved themselves for the most part except when a powerboat passed which generated a wake that really sent the boats rolling. But the crews had gotten their lines and fender placement correct so the boats never touched each other, though the violent rolling caused by the wakes could be unnerving. At one point, the rolling caused by a powerboat-induced wake caused the barbecue on Blue Moon's stern rail to rotate 90 degrees sideways dumping the lid and the chicken into the cockpit. Thank heaven the grill remained in place keeping the glowing briquettes captive. Karen leapt from Gemini into Blue Moon's cockpit within seconds and turned off the gas to the barbecue. There wasn't any damage and the chicken was saved, but the mere sight of the grill on its side and the open flame was enough to scare the crap out of everyone.

Anyway, we had lots of chicken. Karen and Bill served up barbecued chicken breast and fresh tomatos from Karen's garden, Joe prepared barbecued chicken that he had marinated, Rivka brought two bowls of salad, and Bruce added his tortillas to the mix. Unfortunately for Bruce the corn tortillas fell apart as soon as you touched them making them nearly impossible to eat as he had intended. But the bits and pieces of the tortillas and the veggies were good. And for dessert, Howard provided a luscious bowl of fruit salad and we also brought cookies.

Joe brought his sailing companion, Claudette, his tortoise-shell tabby. She was friendly and inquisitive and didn't waste any time exploring the other boats. Since we were all on Gemini, that's where she wanted to be too. She even had a case of the "midnight cat crazies" but it was only around 8:00 p.m. and she darted around Gemini's deck before settling down in the port aft section of the cockpit while we ate. Then she visited each one of us. I thought that she might like a piece of chicken but Joe said that she only likes cat food - HAH!

We had a grand time yapping about sailing and our boats. Michael and Rivka even went ashore after dinner to see a movie. And around 10:30 p.m. or so we called the launch to pick us up and bring us back to Realization.

Sleeping was difficult. The main halyard was slapping so Bruce got up and moved it so that it wouldn't slap. And the rig was singing. Yes, it was singing, strumming, whatever you want to call it. The wind, which was forecast to drop down to below 5 knots, was still blowing at about 18 knots and at just the right frequency to cause harmonic resonance in the shrouds. It sounded as if we were inside a guitar as the boat would be filled with a low pitched but loud vibrating hum. It would hum for about a minute at a time, stopping for a minute only to restart again; and it didn't stop until around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning when the wind died too.

Around 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning we freed Realization from her mooring and headed towards our group of boats. We waved to Michael as we passed Puffin and tried to raise him on the radio but to no avail. The anchorage, which had been filled with boats the night before, was empty except for the raft and the floating mass of pipes. We pulled alongside and tied up to Manitou.

Once we were tied up, Claudette immediately hopped aboard as there was one more boat to explore. This time we brought our photos of the summer's rendezvous events that we attended and our photos snapped during "Sail for America". Then Michael and Rivka approached aboard Puffin passing our sterns as they said their goodbyes. Everybody looked at the photos, we yapped some more, then it was time to depart.

It was another gorgeous, clear, sunny day but without wind. We broke away from the raft first, followed by Manitou, Gemini and Blue Moon. We waited in Sandy Hook Bay for Joe to catch up to us and Bruce snapped some photos of Manitou. Then Joe pointed Manitou towards the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the rest of us headed towards the outer edges of Earle's security zone then turned west towards home with Realization leading the way. Gemini fell so far behind during our motorboat ride home that I asked Bruce to call him on the radio to see if anything was wrong. But Howard said he decided that he wanted to practice his piloting, chart and dead reckoning skills out on the Bay so we shouldn't worry.

We made it back to the Cheesequake inlet in time for the 3:00 p.m. bridge opening and Realization was back in her slip by 3:30.

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Last modified: 10 December 2002; C. Monaghan