We're Home! Well, at Viking Anyway

We left Utsch's Marina at 6 a.m. Winds were 16-18 knots. SOG was 6.2 knots and SOW was 7.1. We motorsailed with a reefed main and full jib at 000 rpms. It was bright and sunny this morning.

Highs were supposed to be in the 70s, but it was cool on the water!

We had to reef the jib. There was too much wind. It was coming from the NW over our beam.

We saw Wildwood off our port side. Winds were 22-23 knots with higher gusts. Seas were 2-3 ft. and there were white caps. SOG was 7. SOW was 7.7.

The kids kept texting us for an ETA. At 9:05 a.m. we were 17 miles from the Atlantic City Inlet and could see the skyline. We were six hours away from our dock. So close, yet so far!

At noon, we went under the Brigantine Bridge.

When we entered Great Bay, the winds were 26 knots! We pulled in both sails. We saw white caps in the bay and it was too much.

Joe, Eva and J.J. met us in their boat and followed us in. Nick was playing with his cousins at the campground. At 2:30 p.m, Ryan called and asked us to switch to VHF 72. One of our dockmates, Faye, wanted to tell us that the kids were patiently waiting for us at the dock and wanted to know how close we were.

We got to the dock around 3 p.m.  All three kids (Sandi, Joe and Ryan), our daughters-in-law (Eva and Catherine), grandsons Jesse and Jeremy, Ryan and Catherine's friends Greg and Lucy, and lots of dockmates were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Sandi was so glad to see us. She grabbed her dad and cried, then grabbed me and cried some more.

It's good to be home. This was such an adventure and we had a blast. I'm ready to do it again, but it will have to be in a couple of years. Maybe on a bigger boat. And next time, we'll have to fly home for the holidays. Chuck won't be away from the kids at Christmas again, he says.

We're exhausted and staying at the dock tonight. Tomorrow, we'll start packing things up and give this poor boat a break. It's loaded down! Then we'll take the trip home in Chuck's truck that Ryan drove to the marina today.

Thanks to all who have supported us on our awesome seven-and-a-half month adventure. We appreciate it more than we can say. We've met so many wonderful people and saw some beautiful sights!