A Boat Goes Adrift but Juno Holds Tight in a NE Blow

With a strong NE wind forecast today, we weren't about to set out into the Atlantic as our next destination was north and east which would require us to tack our into the wind which is not the most pleasant or terribly efficient. So we decided to stay put in Cape May for the day.  Strong winds from any direction can make it challenging to raise the dinghy off the bow and into the water so that we can go ashore, but the wind wasn’t so strong in the morning such that we were able to put the dinghy in the water and get the engine on.  We emptied about 20 gallons of diesel from the jerry cans into the engine and Harry set off in the dinghy a few hundred yards across the channel to get more diesel so that we'd have a near full tank before heading offshore. While he was gone, I stayed aboard Juno and noticed a sailboat that looked to be aground about 100 yards downwind from us. The next time I looked up, the same boat had drifted up against the seawall adjacent to the Coast Guard station. This seemed to cause all aboard to finally wake up and address their dilemma and they were fortunate that they were able to motor away without any noticeable damage. By mid-morning, winds had picked up to 15 knots, and as the town of Cape May was about one mile downwind of our anchorage and as it would be a very bumpy and wet returning to Juno in the dinghy, we decided to hang out aboard Juno for the day.  I cleaned and updated my inventory of the canned food remaining in Juno’s bilge, read, and enjoyed some time to catch up with family on the phone.

USCG out for a training exercise in Cape May, NJ