Day 4 
No rush to get started today.. The plan is to meet Bob at his mooring in Surf City which is maybe 8-10 miles.. I visited The Chicken or the Egg for breakfast – ordered a short stack of pancakes – could have done with an extra short stack! While I was at the restaurant, I read an interesting article that a woman wrote about her family home on 2nd ave in Beach Haven. Three generations have enjoyed the house, and the story was so well written.. The sad part about the whole thing is that Sandy moved the house on its foundation, and the author was told that they would need to jack the house 10 feet in order to rebuild. The property is for sale.. When i left the restaurant, I realized that I was on the corner of 2nd ave, so I searched for the house.. It really did not look like it was in dire shape, but looks can be deceiving, and I did not get to glimpse inside.. It made me ponder about every house on the block… and the life stories that that each could to share..
But, back to the nautical part of the story.. Bob gave me good directions to his mooring area, and he happened to be bringing his boat from the marina to the mooring field , so the timing was great. I found the channel into Surf City and tried to raise him on the radio.. he was not close enough yet, so I just puttered around for a bit and then figured that I might as well set the anchor.. I had rigged the anchor before leaving in the morning – thought that i was ready to go.. but maybe not quite ready enough.. I nosed Adagio into the mooring field and watched as the depth quickly dropped from 15 to 6 to 4 to.. hmmmm found a nice soft spot in the mud to sit and wait for bob 
Feeling pretty relaxed.. I watched another sailboat come in and touch bottom.. but he had a centerboard, and after he had lowered the sail and stowed everything, he just raised the board and continued in to his spot.. I think that this must be his normal routine!
Bob arrived a bit later.. I volunteered to go in and retrieve his dingy because I was going to get wet anyhow.. turned out to be mucky.. with lots of sharp , uncharted, objects SUO’s.. I found a couple.. but it was only when i got back to Bob’s boat that he pointed out the blood in the bilge of the dingy! No wonder that foot was hurting! It was a pretty good sized gash.. when I got back to Adagio for the salvage operation.. I put on my sandals. wonder why I did not think of that sooner! I figured that this was all meant to be.. an opportunity to try kedging.. Using Bob’s dingy, I rowed the anchor out and dropped it in the bay.. took up tension on the line, using the winch… and made very little progress.. but.. this was a good idea because the tide was on its way in, and the wind would have kept blowing the boat ashore.. so the anchor held it from getting in a worse predicament. i jumped off the boat and tried pushing on the bow.. it was was unresponsive to my efforts.. stuck after sitting there for more than an hour.. more so than the previous times.. I pushed on the stern.. very little success.
Bob came up the the bright idea of using the main halyard to tip the boat over.. we tied a few extra lines to it. walked away from the boat ( Bob was wet too at this point.. and heeled the boat over.. as Bob held it there, I went back to the boat and began pushing.. there were little successes.. but it was going to be a challenge.. until, a volunteer detachment of young guys from the beach, led by a kind-hearted soul who gathered them together, came to our rescue. In short time, the boat was free, the anchor was already set.. and life was good again..
Sea Tow 0 Adagio and crew 5
Bob and I went ashore with the intention of getting a pizza, but his wife, Linda , was there waiting for him.. She had another idea for dinner… in the end, we ended up taking Linda’s mother out for a 4th of July dinner, at a nice place, where Bob and Linda’s daughter is currently working.. how nice was that? I am getting to know the whole family, and all because of the internet and the nice folks who set up the CPYOA and our common interest in Com-pac Yachts..
One little detail remained unanswered. would I find a marina close by, or would I moor right where I was.. we stopped by a marina in Surf City . I asked it they had a transient mooring.. the response was ” for a boat?” hmmmm.. with a hint of sarcasm, I said.. did you really ask that question? But then they explained that the have boat slips as well as sport slips and no , due to a town ordinance, I was not allowed to stay overnight on my boat in Surf City.. what?
oh well. I guess that I am a law breaker now.. stayed on my boat in Surf City overnight at anchor.. but only after a wonderful meal, and great company.. and a final chat with Bob in the cockpit.. he asked if i wanted to set a second anchor.. the wind was blowing pretty strong, and we agreed that it would calm down … I told him that I thought I would be fine.. but he was not even on the beach before I started gathering the gear I would need to set the second anchor.. that was for peace of mind..
The night sky was bright with fireworks from multiple towns surrounding the bay, but I was dead tired.. I crawled into my sleeping bag and slipped off to sleep before the fireworks were over..
And what about the prediction that “the wind would die during the evening”… I woke up at 1:15 am.. wind still howling.. went out on deck to check things.. all was secure so I tried to go back to sleep.. up again at 4 am and then again at 6:15. The sun was shining and the wind had indeed died .. finally.. time to get moving.. last day of the trip.. 🙂
lifeat6mph 