Once again we were waiting for Mother Nature to decide what to hit us with next!  After Sandy, we were feeling quite relieved that all was quiet again, until we saw what was coming our way - another storm with winds forecast to be in the 50-60k range.  As with Sandy the water surge was going to be a problem.  When the storms are nor'easters, the high tide comes in as normal, but the water does not recede in the same way at low tide, so when the next high tide comes in it is simply 'building' on the previous tide.  We checked the height of the piles holding the docks again, and were advised by the marina staff that they are good for a 10 feet tide, fortunately the tides were only forecast to be about 8.5 feet, so again we had about 18inches to spare.  

The first day we went for a walk into town, and it was so cold, the first thing I bought was a pair of woollen gloves - my hands were freezing!  The town itself is very pretty with lots of Victorian architecture, it is the second largest collection of Victorian architecture in the USA, after San Francisco, so I am told.  As it is out of season, a lot of places are closed up for the winter, but despite the cold it was a nice change to get off the boat and walk round.  In the evening we went for dinner for the first time in over 2 weeks - a real treat.

We arrived on Tuesday, and the storm was due to hit us on Wednesday afternoon and continue through until Thursday lunchtime or so.  Wednesday morning was dull and ominous, the first thing we did, after checking the forecast, was to check our dock lines and add a few extra spring lines to take some of the pressure.  We also folded back, but didn't entirely drop, the bimini, just in case.  We also filled both of the water tanks to the brim, again just in case.  That done it was back down below where we hunkered down for the day - and what day it was.  The storm did, fortunately, largely pass us by, but the temperature dropped even further, and the wind howled through the rigging - at one stage John looked outside to see that it was snowing - can you believe it?  Again, we were lucky, we only had a few flurries, but 10 miles away they had 4 inches.  

Having spent the whole day on board, we decided to do the tourist bit on Thursday, it was sunny but freezing again, and we walked to town to do the tour of the Emlen Physick Estate, on Washington Street.  This street is lined with Victorian buildings - this house is the oldest, and was built in 1879 - the Americans think this makes it really old!  The house was very interesting, and many of the family's possessions have been returned to the house, making it very authentic.  

Following this we took a walk down the promenade to see the lighthouse and the southern most part of the state of New Jersey.  

That evening we went for pizza at the bar across the road and were again watching the weather channel - it is almost compulsive viewing!  There have been 2 named winter storms this week, one, Brutus, on the west coast dumping tons of snow over there, and one, Althea, dumping snow over the east coast.  The people who are still clearing up after Sandy were inches deep in snow, and more power cuts have occurred.  

We were supposed to leave today, Thursday, and head up the Delaware Bay and through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the Chesapeake Bay but decided it was too cold!  It was still about zero degrees and the wind was still howling, it had not dropped as early as expected, so we hung out here today.  By this afternoon, things were much calmer and the temperature was starting to warm - ironically they are forecasting 20 degrees over the weekend - amazing!

 Wednesday was bleak - it was snowing, but not hard enough to show on camera!

 Not quite sure why this is a historic landmark......

 The Physick Estate on Washington Street

 This 'vintage' US fighter plane flew over as we walked down the beach - there is an aviation museum nearby.

 Cape May is famous for it's beaches - in summer I am sure this is gorgeous

 Since Sandy. a lot of beach sand has been displaced - this sign under normal circumstances is the usual 6 foot height and says keep off the sand dunes

  This is the lighthouse at the southern most tip of New Jersey, interestingly enough, there used to be houses in this area all the way across the bay to the lighthouse.  These were washed away in a storm in the 1960's.  if you go diving here you can still see the streets under the water - how strange is that?