Berkeley Island, NJ

First thing on Monday morning,  September 28, Jonny called the marina that our friends had recommended to us to see about getting Zendo fixed. Unfortunately they were totally booked but they gave him another recommendation.  So Jonny called Good Luck Point Marina and they said they could take us anytime.  Good luck for us!  Next, he called Sea Tow who said they could be here in 90 minutes.  In the meantime, Jonny went to work off some of his energy/anxiety by going for a paddle. Of course, Sea Tow arrived when Jonny was out of sight but after a few loud blasts of Zendo’s horn, he returned.

The very competent Sea Tow captain had us tied up in no time and we made the 6 mile journey to Good Luck Point Marina without incident.

We were met by two mechanics who helped us tie up and came aboard to discuss our problem.

Because Jonny had done so much work already to rule out a number of issues, they quickly determined that one of our thru-hulls was probably clogged with debris.  The remedy included a haul-out so they could unclog it.  Of course this coincided with lunch time so we had to wait until they returned from lunch to tackle the issue. That was not a problem and as soon as they returned, Zendo was hauled out.

Sure enough, the engine thru-hull was clogged with cabbage grass.  They pressure blasted it and picked and scraped at it. It was packed in so tightly and that’s why it didn’t budge when Jonny blasted it with the reverse cycle on the wet vac the day before. Happily and before long, Zendo was back in the water, good as new!

By then it was almost 3:00 and we headed out to see how far we could go.  But anchorages with protection from southern winds are are few and far between on New Jersey’s ICW, so we decided to stop at Berkeley Island, a nice calm anchorage near Tom’s River.

Jonny was much relieved that the issue was resolved.  We relaxed for awhile and later in the afternoon Lynn made a new recipe from the New York Times collection of recipes to make during Covid. This one was another “homey” one pot dish with tuna, cannelloni beans, and  cheese flavored with wine, fresh herbs and anchovies. It turned out to be quite savory and delicious.  That, along with a salad, constituted dinner.

We spent another evening with Madame Secretary and went to bed early anticipating an early start and a long journey the next day bound for Atlantic City.