Rat Bastard!

Shortly after I climbed into bed last night I heard a pitter-patter, pitter-patter on the deck over my head.  Although I hoped it was a bird, I knew it probably wasn't.  So with clothes back on and a flashlight in hand I went out to investigate and saw a rat scurry down the dock and dive into the water.  Little rat bastard!  They are actually cute, smart, and very fastidious creatures, but they belong in their own house, not anywhere near mine.  That's all the motivation I needed to push on, so after a restless night listening for his return, we departed NYC and headed for Barnegat.  It wasn't an awful run, but it wasn't very good either.  We were hammering in to head seas out through the Narrows and around Sandy Hook, then sloshing with a side sea the rest of the way down the NJ coast.

And entering the Barnegat cut was interesting.  Many of the bouys are in very unexpected places causing you to seriously question whether you are going the right way.  Add to that nasty side rollers coming across the inlet, including some that were breaking, and it's a bit stressful.  But we made it in OK and followed the snaking channel back into the bay where we have tucked into a nice marina for the evening.

All we could really do while underway was nibble on some oyster crackers, so promptly after arrival we grilled up some sausages and tortellinis for breakfast-lunch-dinner.  Ahhhh, I feel much better now.

We are now trying to figure out how bad an idea it would be to run inside tomorrow.  I've talked to a few locals but there is no clear answer so far.  Stay tuned......