Beach Haven, New Jersey

Beach Haven Yacht Club has been a great stop for us!  They have the best fuel price around, friendly staff, laundry and are only a few blocks away from a great market (with Boar's Head meat :-), the beach, parks, museum, arcade, shopping, etc.  They have the most reasonable price in all of Beach Haven too!  You can't beat the great sunsets! 

It’s a sunny day as we prepare for our journey north.  From here we go 45 more miles on the ICW then venture out into the Atlantic Ocean for a 26 mile stretch to Sandy Hook, NJ and from there into the Hudson River.  Made a big grocery run, laundry, gas, water, etc. and just as we started loading bikes into the boat the dockmaster informed us that the Manasquan Inlet was closed.  There was a 64 foot scallop boat that was unable to control his vessel after its hydraulic hose broke, and they lost their clutch and steering and began drifting toward the rocks on Wed. The three men aboard were able to get off the boat with help from the Coast Guard, but it is overturned and blocking the inlet now.  Photo from www.app.com

The Manasquan Inlet is very popular as it’s the most reliable for a marked channel inlet on the NJ coast.  We’ve received very strong advice from many locals and TowBoat not to risk the dangers of the other inlet nearby, Barnegat and warned of hazards in Little Egg Harbor Inlet (which is backtracking anyhow). 

We have decided to stay here for a couple more days and wait out more bad weather storms for the weekend and hoping they can clear the inlet by then. I guess Friday the 13^th wasn’t our lucky day to travel after all.

A fishermen on the dock was filleting his catch of the day and gave us some striped bass to try. It was delicious, but Ryann and Jaxon didn’t enjoy watching him go from alive to the dinner table.

 This inclement weather has made a small craft advisory and hazardous waters in effect for the past few days.  The forecast calls for another storm over the weekend that might linger on through the first part of the week....

This sailboat is set in the middle of many local shops.

The area here is quite pretty, clean and we’re really enjoying our stay.

My parents have a few bottle trees at their home in Michigan.

 Man vs. Food is from the Travel Channel and Adam Richland is a man that goes around the nation to popular restaurants to try new foods or take on their ‘food challenge.’  ‘Chicken or the Egg’ is a local favorite that was featured on the show for the Ludicrous Wing Challenge where you eat 12 super spicy chicken wings in a certain time frame. I think Craig would be a good contender!

The local arcade in town called Fantasyland is truly a kids casino!

We played Wheel of Fortune (see game on right) and won enough tickets so the kids could get good prizes. Jaxon loves his new Transformer and it made for some great laughs and fun times. 

 Storm clouds cover the sky with the sun trying to peer out.  

Provisioning is always more enjoyable when the bikes carry the load.

My nieces name is Dalilah, just like this sport fish boat!

We've been 'stuck' many times on the east coast, but this is a good port to be in and we'll make the most of our stay here.  Hoping now for a good weather window as we talk to locals and watch the weather sites.