I was hoping to be able to reprovision while in Barnegat, but was surprised to learn the town closes down after Labor Day. When we passed through in July I was excited to find an amazing seafood market, a wonderful vegetable stand, and a small grocery store with a nice variety of items. During this stop, I wasn’t surprised to find the vegetable stand abandoned, but I was shocked to find the seafood market only open on weekends, and the grocery store closed until Memorial Day weekend! I was determined to find something open and lowered my expectations to possibly find a resupply of chocolate. Surely there would be a gas station, or mini-mart on the island. I visited the post office for information and found that there was a shuttle that could take me to the town (but it only runs on weekends in the off season) and there was a delicatessen open year round a few block away...yippeee...a deli!
This is what a ‘normal’ provisioning trip looks like for us (this happened to be in Bar Harbor)
This is the result of a provisioning trip when we are stuck in a ‘food desert’. I know this is a microcosm example, but I realized that I have never experienced an inability to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables whenever the want/need arose. We certainly weren’t desperate to purchase food. We could probably survive on our boat for many months without bringing anything new aboard. However, the experience definitely made me appreciate the freedoms I have always enjoyed, while giving me a new appreciation for people who actually live without access to fresh food.
We also had time during our Barnegat layover to dwell on our Shinnecock Lock experience. As I was measuring, cutting, and nailing in the locker my mind was occupied with our experience. I milled over what happened and how I possibly should have taken past advice a little more to heart. One example is a voice from the past reminding me that it is important that the hull of the boat never touches anything but water. The person’s name was Bill Sherman, and Keith had chartered a trawler from him shortly after we started dating (what a nice surprise). When we picked up the boat Bill told us the three rules he had regarding the use of his boat.
- Always check the oil before starting the engine
- Never operate his boat at night
- Only water should touch the hull
He then looked at me and asked if I understood that last one. I said, “sure, don’t hit anything”...no, he replied “don’t touch anything”! He then proceeded to name a few of the things we should not touch like, piling, piers, and other boats. He then ended the ‘lesson’ with “...and never, ever touch the bottom!” At the time I thought he was being a little dramatic, but over the years, the conversation has resonated in a strange way. Particularly when we come upon something we don’t want the hull to touch. I have always kept a mental list of these things and after our new experiences over the past 2 months I decided to commit them to paper with the new items we have recently discovered. This ‘poem’ is inspired by Bill Sherman and set to the tempo of Dr. Seuss. It is entitled ‘Only Water Shall Touch The Hull’
Do not touch a net, pot or float
Never touch another boat
Do not touch a piling
Do not touch a dock
Stay far away from any rock
Do not touch a bridge
Do not touch a pier
As for bollards and flood gates, DO NOT GO NEAR
Do not touch a branch, log or tree
Stay clear of any floating debris
Sandbars and shoals are not your friend
The final message in the end...
Never, ever touch the bottom!
I hope I will not find a reason to come back and add lines to this anytime soon! Now that I have that out of my system it’s time to move on. We left Barnegat on Friday morning and were pleasantly surprised to see a text from our friend Bill telling us that he had joined Ken and Barbara on Northwind in Manasquan, and was accompanying them for the remainder of their trip to Kent Island. As it turned out, we could see them about 7 miles ahead of us and we traveled down the coast together meeting up at an anchorage in Cape May. We had a great evening sharing stories over dinner and cocktails on Northwind.
We anchored just to the left of the Coast Guard boot camp in Cape May.
The trip through Cape May Canal was very nice, and the tide was with us for our transit up the Delaware Bay. Transiting the C&D Canal was a breeze and we anchored in the Bohemia River in time to enjoy a swim before dinner. The water temp was 70 degrees, much better than 54! The next day we visited the Sassafras River to kayak the Lotus fields (thanks for reminding me Bill). We are back in the Chesapeake!
Unlike Water Lillies, Lotus leaves are round. The strong fibrous stem attaches at the center of the leaf, and as you can see they are extremely water repellent.
When the tide is high the leaves float on the surface, but when the tide is low the leaves actually stand up out of the water. This picture was taken while both of us were sitting in our kayaks. At times we were kayaking under a canopy of leaves. The huge seed pods in this picture held beautiful creamy yellow lotus flowers just a few weeks ago...imagine that sight!
We are not ashamed to earn ‘dork of the year’ awards...it’s just who we are😁
Keith said this leaf on my head “makes me look much younger” I’ll just let that go and THANK him for the ‘compliment’😉
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