I finally made it on the cruise out to the lights of the Delaware Bay/River.

It was a trip sponsored by the NJLHS and there were about 125 of us on the boat. this was nice because the boat holds 175 usually (and the Lighthouse Trops usually go out pretty full since the only do about 10 a Summer).

We took a 5 hour cruise out to Brandywine Shoal,Fourteen Foot Bank,Miah Maull Shoal, Cross Ledge (Ruin-just the base remains. the Seagulls still like it, though), Elbow Of Cross Ledge and Ship john Shoal.

Miah Maull had just been painted in the last few weeks so it was a bright red instead of the pink that it apparently has been in the past.

It was an enjoyable trip- we got to se some Dolphins on the way out to the Lighthouses- some of them were even "bodysurfing" in the wake of the ship.

I won't have pictures for a couple of days since my son had "our " digital camers in CA with him and he got in about 1 1/2 hrs after we had to leave for Cape May.

On the way home we stopped at Hereford Inlet so my wife, Esther, could see how the Gardens were making out in this hot summer.

They looked finr. they must either water a good bit or they picked the right plants. I'm not an expert, or even a novice in this area..

We stopped in Tuckerton where Tucker's Island Light is and had dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Mercurio's. If you are ever in the Tuckerton area and want a great meal this is the place to go. Make sure you're hungry- the portions are large and the food is excellent. We had very good service, except it took a bit longer for our entrees than we expected.

I'll get some pictures in as soon as I get the film developed.

Dennis

Dennis,
I will be in Tuckerton on Thursday and will take your advice on that restaurant. Plan to spend a few hours in the Seaport looking around. Hopefully the heat & humidity will let up by then.

Carol,

Depending on how you come into Tuckerton it's just down or up the road from the Seaport.

If you come in from the Garden State Parkway Exit for Rt 539 it's at the intersection where you intersect with Rt 9. This is where you would turn right to get to the Seaport which is about 1/2 mile south on the Left.

If you are coming into town on Rt 9 from the south it is 1/2 mile north of the Seaport on the same side. The parking is behind the restaurant.

Have a good time.

Dennis

Dennis, Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I went on this cruise two summers ago. We didn't see Ship John Shoal because our cruise may have been shorter. Is that lighthouse a long distance away from the others? How is "The Lighthouse Lady"? How 'bout the mosquitos in Fortescue? When I was there they were selling T-shirts announcing Fortescue as the Mosquito Capital of the state. -Scott

Scott,

Ship john Shoal is the fathest one up the Delaware. It's about 30 minutes from Elbow Of Cross Ledge up to Ship John Shoal and another 35 minutes back.

The Captain said that next year the Lightouse Cruise will be changed- Ship John Shoal will be taken out and they will cross over the Delaware Bay to Lewes for the Harbour Of Refuge Light and the Breakwater Lights by the Ferry.

We did not get to fortesque and I saw no t-shirts like that.

As for "The Lighthouse Lady" I'm assumming that you are referring to Carole Reilly who is a member of the NJLHS and other lighthouse organizations and is at just about every meeting selling her postcards of the Delaware Bay area Lighthouses.

She has been out of circulation this Summer- she had some surgery and according to the Captain of the WhaleWatcher is doing fine, but does not get around much right now.

She's a great lady- always a good time at the meetings when she has her table set up.

I was suppossed to go on this cruise in july of 2000 but something came up and I had to cancel my weekend in Cape May.

Hope you had a good time on your cruise, we did.

Dennis -

Thanks so much for the information and update. I think it's really a shame that Ship John Shoal will be taken off the itinerary for the Delaware Bay and River cruise (especially since there is a great Harbour Lights replica of it). Is there any other way to see Ship John Shoal? As it is now, anyone can see the Harbour of Refuge and Lewes Breakwater Lights on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

When I went on this cruise in August of 2000, it left from Fortesque, not Cape May, and was in a much smaller boat. I had a great time and really enjoyed meeting Carole Reilly, whose enthusiasm for lighthouses is contagious. I wish her well for a speedy recovery.

We got so close to each lighthouse on our cruise that several people on board actually touched every one of them. I contented myself with snapping pictures without the necessity for a huge telephoto lens for once. When John perfects the software he's working on, that I'll dub, "Uploading Photos for Dummies", I'll post some of my pictures...

Good to hear from you, Dennis. I'm still enjoying the Sandy Hook I bought from you a few years ago. - Scott

Scott,

You probably went on a trip sponsored by the Delaware Bay Lighthouse Keeper's & Friends Association .

This is one of the other organizations that Carole Reilly is involved in. This is her first love, actually. They do that trip ocasionally and use a smaller boat as you said. The ship we were on would not be able to get that close to the lights.

I agree with you about the Delaware Lighthouses. I would have been very disapointed if we had not gotten to ship john shoal on the Cruise. I'm glad we went this year, not next year.

As for the pictures- if I can figure it out anyone can. I got my pictures back from the trip.

I'm not pleased with them. They are nowhere near as good as I got with the digial camera in New England. I only had a point and shoot 35mm with a 70mm zoom. The digital has a 10x Optical zoom (about 350mm equivalent). I'm going to play with the pictures tonight and try and get them on the forums.

Dennis

New for next year are mini lighthouse trips.

Just thought I would post this now for any others out there who like to plan way in advance like I do.

2003 Schedule

shirin

Shirin,

Also new is the fact that there are two different regular length trips.

They are going across to the Delaware side for Harbor Of Refuge and Delaware Breakwater and taking Ship John Shoal and the Abandoned Lighthouse out of the mix on most of the trips in 2003.

They will still have 3 opportunities to get to those. The Captain on the cruise this year told us they were changing the route because so many had requested to get close to the Delaware Lights.

So now I've got to go again next year. It's only November and I've got at least 3 Lighthouse Trips planned for 2003 already.

Dennis