Slow Boat

Unlike their cousins, the boobies, gannets seem shy around people. This is the closest we got.

First, our whereabouts: We're headed north to Manasquan, NJ. If all goes well, we'll go "outside" (into the open Atlantic!) on Sunday and cross to New York Harbor. Then Monday, we'll cruise up the Hudson to dock at the 79th St. Boat Basin.

But weather can change--and so can this plan!  Please check back for further updates.

Earlier this week we spent two days windbound in Atlantic City. Stuck our nose out Friday and bounced north up Barnegat Bay to dock in Forked River, NJ  (say "FORK-ed," two syllables, or they'll know you're from away).  One aid to navigation: The more-than-300-foot-tall venting stack of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant--and more on THAT tomorrow!

But today, just for fun, I want to talk about gannets. If you're NOT a birdwatcher, you're saying, "Uh, you mean the news service?" Naw, I mean the bird--the large, fast, and very interesting bird.  We've seen lots of them here on the Jersey Coast, and in contrast a lot of wildlife I've mentioned in this blog (manatees, wood storks) gannets are NOT on the endangered species list.  Hey, a good-news story!

What? This is NOT the world's largest rooftop solar system?  Well, it's definitely the prettiest.

We're in New Jersey (Motto: "Second only to California in solar capacity.")  The casinos in Atlantic City are over the top--and so are the solar arrays. Really. The world's largest rooftop solar system was just installed here.

Before we left Cape May on Monday, we stopped at a marina for a pump-out.  The dockmaster, Bob, scratched his head over our solar propulsion system.  "I've got solar panels on my house," he said. "Never seen them used to run a boat!"

So I'm trying to blog about alternative energy issues here! But you, loyal reader, you tell me that you prefer it when I channel trashy tabloids and offer you a bikini diet.  I promise to keep delivering both.

Check your charts: This bit of real estate is called Artificial Island.  Really!

We're anchored in Ocean City, New Jersey today, after a wild and windy ride north up the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway from Cape May.

Early Monday, we were coasting down Delaware Bay with blue skies overhead but deep fog all around. And our tour of eastern nuclear plants continued! The cloud of steam from the Salem Nuclear Plant bulged above the rim of fog.

The Salem complex includes two nuclear reactors.  Another reactor is being considered.  About 5.5 million people live within 50 miles of this facility.  (Did you notice that some experts are recommending evacuation within a 50-mile radius of the Japanese plants?)

These reactors were shut down for a while in the 1990s because of maintenance problems.  And they were shut down twice this past week, for the same problem:  bits of plant matter floating in the Delaware River clogged the cooling water intakes.  (Officials call the problem "grassing.")

Try the SlowBoat Workout.  No spandex or yoga mat needed!

One of the challenges of this trip is taking our boat where canal boats were never supposed to go. Like 50 miles down Delaware Bay.

We had a grueling day yesterday: left early, spent long hours in the fog; arrived in Cape May late, after more long hours bouncing over the big rollers coming in from the Atlantic.  Woke up bone tired, as if we'd run a marathon.

Which suggests the good news: You too can be fit and slim for swimsuit season! Just follow the SlowBoat Workout Program!  These three easy exercises bring guaranteed results (IF it's ever warm enough to remove your sweatshirt and windbreaker and show off your sculptured abs.)

1) Anchor Lift (Clean and Jerk):  Stand at the bow of the boat.  Apply hands firmly to anchor line. Jerk upwards to lift 50-lb anchor (plus attached 50-lb chain) clear of muddy sea floor. When anchor is level with gunnel, hold for 5 minutes with left hand. With right hand, lift scrub brush and scrub anchor clean of mud. Repeat daily, till biceps scream.

Look!  A canal boat on the C & D canal!

Happy Earth Day from SlowBoat. How did you celebrate?  Please let us know.

On this end, SlowBoat spent Earth day docked in Delaware City, DE. Ironically, the crew were off burning fossil fuel.  But we believe it was for a good cause.

We attended the first-ever Berger Family Reunion. About 30 of us piled onto a yellow school bus to drive past the homesites and graveyards and textile mills that the Berger family once knew in the fading industrial towns of Lawrence and Haverhill, MA.  Lawrence is the site of the famous Bread and Roses strike of 1912. The strikers, led largely by women, appealed for both fair wages AND decent working conditions (hence the slogan: "We want bread, but we want roses too.")  Family founder Joseph Berger was hit by a rock and lost an eye during the strike.

Now we're back on the boat and about to make a run down Delaware Bay. Did raw materials for those Massachusetts factories--wool, cotton, leather for the shoemakers--pass through this port? Probably.

I was thinking about Earth Day when we first docked here last week.  The water at the head of the Chesapeake--right before we entered the C and D canal--was chocolate brown with mud.  And where we passed the mouths of rivers draining into the bay, the water was loaded with debris, mostly tree branches and even some tree trunks.