This region of the ICW runs about 80 miles up the coast and you have to hop outside for about 30 miles to get to New York Lower Bay which takes you into NYC, the start of the Hudson. This part of the ICW is not very well maintained and is VERY shallow, due to this and talking to other boaters we decided to run the whole NJ coast outside in the North Atlantic. That is about 136 miles, the cool thing about the North Atlantic is the waves are spaced far in most cases and a 6′ sea would still be comfortable to operate Pura Vida in. Our first leg was to Atlantic City. Atlantic City is a resort city on New Jersey’s coast, its known for its many casinos, wide beaches, iconic Boardwalk, glitzy high-rise hotels and nightclubs. In addition to gambling at slot machines and table games, the casinos offer spa treatments, performances by famous comedy and music acts and high-end shopping. Quite the spot to stop for a night or two on any boating adventure. We left Cape May around 8AM and took the Cape May Inlet out to the Atlantic, this was a beautiful ride. Bayflower led the way and we cruised at the 3 nautical mile line, we had a south-west wind about 15-20 mph and the boats both rode great. The CATS were pushing around 1600rpms because I noticed keeping more forward power on kept the boat from rocking as much, we were averaging 11.5-12mph displacement speed. The run outside was only 38 miles, water was pretty and the cool breeze kept the flybridge Irie. Coming in Atlantic City Inlet was nice and well-marked, it’s so cool seeing the huge buildings.
Captain Langdon running the Bayflower from the rear deck controls #3406CAT Power
Photos taken by my new friends Ted and Christine, aboard CHRISTINE a mint 1987 (same year as mine) 46 Chris Craft Constellation. They winter over in Florida, and spend the summers up north. They live aboard over 8 months a year. Awesome cruisers and they shared lots of good local knowledge and advice.
Headed out Cape May Inlet
Pura Vida Loop 