Day 3 - Cape May NJ - Beverly MA
Magic Friday
Phil, Di and Annelise
Sat 2 Jun 2018 17:37
A lazy day on anchor. A cooked breakfast enjoyed in the cockpit, watching the hundreds of small fishing boats off Sandy Hook point and reading in the early morning warmth of the sun amidst a blue sky . but with some "mackerel" clouds (signs of thunderstorms later in the day).
Sure enough, the skies darkened and the thunder rumbled in the mid-afternoon. A quick operation to set the spare anchor (task completed in 10 minutes!) as a precaution for holding as the wind picked up strength in advance of the downpour. And then within 20 minutes, the rain was gone, all was quiet again. More storms expected later this evening.
A chance to troubleshoot the ship's VHF - utlising the Boat US automated radio check beacon at the Sandy Hook Marina to test transmission (channel 27). Checked the fuse (okay), checked the power supply (12.1V), checked the green transmission light in the control box, re-worked the handset settings.and success - an auto response received! Now, if only we knew which button / setting I had cleared to resolve the problem! No matter, we are able to communicate on the ship's VHFD with the world again (whilst we wait for the long overdue handheld VHF battery to be delivered from Europe)!
Office work done, time for another beach boules game and a walk around the point of Sandy Hook - along the millions of pure white clam shells, admiring the "American" blackbird and rescuing a few horse-shoe crabs left by the receding tide along the way.
Phil and Di
