With the last few days of early mornings and late nights it was great to sleep in today. We woke to sunny skies and the promise of warmer weather. D’s enclosed cockpit was 72 degrees and warmer than the rest of the boat, the perfect spot for morning coffee! We did a few chores and took the launch to shore about 11:00.

We heard the town of Atlantic Highlands was kind to boaters with laundry,supermarket, assorted restaurants, shops and movie theater all close by. It did not disappoint! It was a short walk to everything we could have wanted and a charming village of brick walkways adorned with lush flowering planters, lovely homes and beautiful lookouts of Sandy Hook, The Bay and Manhattan skyline. They also had some neat happenings like a Dessert Theater with short plays by local actors and a dessert menu. The Pig Out BBQ restaurant and bar was offering a Christmas Pin Up Photo Shoot Night …. Get your hair and make-up done, slip into a slinky outfit (barely), take a provocative pose and have your pinup photos taken to give as a Christmas gift to someone special. Of course food and beverages are provided! ($200) Now ladies, wouldn’t that be funnnnn! Especially after a drink or two! Wish they did creative stuff like that in our neck of the woods!!! (Note to self… Call The Spillway when we get back to see if they might consider holding an event!!)

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Al and Robin offered to give us a ride through town and to West Marine for the fuse we’ve been looking for. Enjoying a warm, gentle breeze so we opted to walk back along Ocean Ave & Bayside Drive by beautiful homes and harbor look outs. About a 2.5 mile walk back; it was all down hill ;).

We stopped at the lovely Mount Mitchill Scenic Overlook, now a memorial park honoring the local residents of Monmouth County that lost their lives on 9/11. The site was originally a memorial for an early 1800’s explorer, situated on the highest natural elevation on the Atlantic coastal plain providing beautiful views of Sandy Hook, Raritan Bay and the New York skyline.

When the towers were hit people came to this lookout from miles around to watch what was happening in the minutes, hours and days that followed. There were many local residents that commute to work by ferry to the city that lost their lives. Each victim was remembered on the base of a sculpture depicting an eagle holding a piece of a metal beam salvaged from the WTC in it’s talons. Interestingly and sadly, most of the victims were in their 30’s and 40’s. We were all riveted to our TV’s as events unfolded but can you imagine watching from your backyard? It was very moving.

Back at the YC we took showers and enjoyed a quick pizza lunch. We stopped by ” Nightcap II” and met Ruth and Darrell, just having sailed their way down from Nova Scotia. Coincidentally they transited through NYC just 45 minutes before we did, and are headed south on a similar track. We also met Lynn and Captain Scott on SV “Shine” with similar plans. We extended invitations to meet on D Monday morning at 09:00 for coffee to discuss a transit plan. The trip from Sandy Hook to Cape May will cover about 115miles, ie 23 hours @ 5kts, ie. overnight sail. It will be much more interesting to travel together,easier to stay focused and of course, safer! Hope we can coordinate!

Back to town as the sun was setting, Adrien indulged me with a movie, “Taken 2”, (very good with Liam Neeson), then a walk to the local market for a few provisions including coffee cake for tomorrow mornings guests! Back to D for the night. Still delightfully mild temperature with clear skies. We can sleep with the hatch open! Strong SW winds/gusts continue so we are staying put another day! N