Sail La Vie, LLC

Atlantic City Trip

The trip to AC

In June our son Michael came home to visit from his Airforce Base in Ohio and we took a boat trip from Forked River to Atlantic City, NJ.  Along for the ride was my other son William and their friend Ozzie.

We left from our Forked River dock about 7:00am and motored across Barnegat Bay and out the inlet.  This is about a one hour ride; 15 minutes out of Forked River, 15 minutes south along the Intercoastal Waterway, then you thread your way along more than 30 buoys as you snake across the bay.  As we approached the Intercoastal Waterway marker that leads to the channel across the bay, there was still fog on the water and we thought we'd have to wait for it to lift so we could see the channel markers, but as we approached the fog lifted as if on que and we saw the first buoy.  On the way out I turned on tracking and set a waypoint next to every buoy so we'll be able to deal better if the fog is not so cooperative next time.

Leaving Barnegat Bay we turned our heading south along the coast, directly into a 10 knot headwind - so much for sailing today. 

The trip down the coast was uneventfull, until we docked at the fuel dock to take on diesel, Michael was at the wheel and as he put the boat in neutral to take off some speed the engine died!  Fortunately we were still into the headwind, stopped just short of the dock and drifted downwind to the next finger dock of the marina, which fortunately had no boat on the end.  It was a tense few minutes, but with the help of people on the dock we secured Sail La Vie and let the enging cool down - and it promptly started?

Night's stay in Atlantic City

We stayed at the Farley State Park Marina which used to be the Trump Marina.  The casino here is now the Golden Nugget.  As I checked in at the Marina office my crew made Sail La Vie Ship Shape which was observed by other sailors at the marina and earned our boat some recognition for it's great crew and made me feel good watching them take charge.

The boys hopped a jitney bus and headed for an afternoon on the Beach.  I finished checking out the boat, then headed to the outdoor bar overlooking the marina - so I could kep a better eye on Sail La Vie.  After finding gin & tonics were rediculously priced, and small, I met a fellow boater at a table on the deck who pointed out beer was rediculously cheap - by the pitcher.  He also noted the beers were going on his friends room tab - his friend just won big at slots! 

So I settled in with my new found friend Greg to await the return of he boys who got back about 7pm.

It was at this time the Yaegermeister girls and Pauli girls showed up with free t-shirts and coasters, the live band started playing and the breeze picked up. 

I mention the breeze because it presented a conumdrum:  We were drinking our beer out of plastic cups and if it got less than 1/3 full the wind would blow it over - so we kept filling them.  However, you had to drink the beer in a timely manner so it would be cold.  We were in this conumdrum till about 10pm when the breeze died and we could stop drinking.

We had a great time.  As the night wore on we attracted more boaters at out table and spread the cheer at the outside bar.

As we left the Golden Nugget it was noted that Ozzie had never been to Atlantic City - so we hopped a jitney and headed for he famed Atlantic City Boardwalk.

My favorite spot is Bally's Blue Martini Bar and the Noodle Bar.  Both have changed since my last visit.  The noodle bar is more of an outdoor restaurant, inside the casino - we all had a bite to eat and the noodles were delicious.

The Blue Martini bar also had changed and did not have a live band, but a sort of a cabaret review with costumed dancers.  We stayed for one show and one gin and tonic.

Waking on the Boardwalk and taking in a few other sights - what happens in AC stays in AC - and we got back to Sail La Vie  about 4:00am.

The Trip Home

With my alarm set for 6:00am, and with two hours of sleep, I slipped the dock lines at Farley State Marina and motored out in a dead calm.  The sun was just rising and with my crew sleeping below I had the sunrise to myself.

As luck would have it, the winds stayed light at about 5 kt. and again we motored.

William came up and relieved me at 8:30 and I went down below to get us some hot coffee and breakfast, turned green and you know the rest.  Later we compared notes of the morning and admitted we both were seasick that morning - It wasn't rough but the night before took its toll on us.

Coming in through Barnegat Bay we noted the buoy numbers for each of the waypoints we had set on the way out.  Someday I'll have to rename the waypoints with the buoy numbers - but they'll probably change next year as the channel shifts and buoys are reset.

A 1:00pm arrival at the dock and another 7:00 hour trip.  As we motored up the lagoon and put Sail La Vie into neutral, the engine stopped again.  Again, Michael was at the wheel and had taken off enough speed so that we did not do any damage.  In speaking with others about this it is commonly agreed that this may be a fuel filter problem and I'll have the filter replaced.  I've tried several times to have the engine repeat this, with the same filter, and can not get the engine to stall.  I suspect that over a long run the system heats up more than on the short runs and contributes to the problem.

A quick washdown and Sail La Vie is secured to her dock awaiting the next trip.