Atlantic City

We took a gamble and went the inside route (ICW) from Cape May to Atlantic City. We really didn't have much choice since once again it was very windy & the ocean was forecast to be very rough. We would rather face low water & low bridges instead of big rough ocean waves & wondering if the boat will break.

The New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway is very protected, however, very shallow, with many areas 

3-4ft. at low tide. It is recommended to only travel these waters on a rising tide.

We knew to travel these waters on a rising tide, but we started out a little too early. An hour into our journey we hit bottom. We were right in the middle of the marked channel. Fortunately we were going slow & the bottom was soft mud. Al was able to back the boat off into deeper water without damage. We backtracked & tied to a pole to wait for the tide to come in some more. We had breakfast while we waited. While waiting a local guy in a small boat came over to offer help. He told us the water was deeper way over on the right side of the channel. We tried it again & were able to get through. The whole rest of the day Al had his eyes glued to the depth gauge & his hand on the throttle to slow down if needed. In many areas there was only 5-6 ft. of water at high tide. When we got to Atlantic City Al needed a strong cocktail to calm his nerves. We stayed at the Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget.

We looked at the chart & saw that there was no way we could continue north on the inside. The ICW north of Atlantic City in some spots is only 3-4ft. at high tide. From here we will have to go out in the ocean.