Monday 11/5/12:  First and foremost I hope all of our website readers made it through the worst storm of our lifetimes HEALTHY. I know many of you suffered losses due to flooding, or you've lost other pieces of property (boats cars etc.), or some have even lost homes - may god be with you all and if there is ANYTHING I can do to help you - give me a ring.

I would also like to thank the many people who called/texted/emailed me to see how we were doing - you guys know who you are, all of you, and your FRIENDSHIP to me and my family is immeasurable!!!

As for my family and myself, This is the first time I've had internet and TV service since monday afternoon - I've been on the iphone all week checking facebook updates, trying to check email, and answering texts when I've had service. We left Ortley Sunday afternoon, and got up to the condo up north - only to lose power Monday so we've stayed at my inlaws all week who had power but no cable/internet. Gas lines have been nuts - and parts of Bergen county have been hit very hard - trees, power lines down, and severe flooding. The town where I teach looks like a war zone. We know for a fact that the house in Ortley made it through pretty well w/ some minor damage and the water being limited to what we think was the floor of the crawlspace - thank god. The barrier island itself has been devastated - a new inlet has formed at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge and a few other breaches popped up from Bay Head to LBI. I've only seen pictures from my neighbors and friends on facebook, but in certain spots, the destruction was unbelievable. There is no access to our island via route 35, and the mantoloking bridge's base is in pieces at the "new" inlet, and the 37 Tunney/Mathis bridge is closed to civilians as all relief efforts to the barrier island are going across via the TUNNEY side (the big bridge). The mathis side, the eastbound side, has been deemed unsafe and no vehicles are using it. Basically we've been told that we should have access to our homes on the island sometime next week as the national guard and subcontractors are cleaning up the huge mess, and is making the island safe to simply be on. They shut the gas off last week so that's a step in the right direction so the fires up in Normandy were extinguished, and the multitude of gas leaks b/c of regulators throughout the island would be alleviated.   Also, the "new" inlets @ Lyman Street and the Mantoloking Bridge have been sealed up, and Route 35 has again been cleared for vehicles (emergency and clean-up only). 

Reel Class also made it through unscathed, as did all the boats at Clark's. I took a ride w/ my daughter this morning to confirm, and she was fine. The docks are in rough shape, but they are working feverishly to get them repaired. The marina is just getting back up and running, as was the rest of pt. pleasant and pt. pleasant beach. Some marinas took huge losses with boats being thrown or floated hundreds or thousands of feet from where they were secured - such a shame...

Pt Pleasant and Pt. Pleasant beach are definitely getting cleaned up as the effort to restore order has been tremendous, but the flooding and water damage to the homes was horrible. There is no electric, and gas is off, but people are making due. The Route 35 bridge is open, but many of the roads are closed off because of sand and debris.

Steve and the guys at Clark's told me we might be able to go in sometime next week, depending on their progress at Clark's.  We hope to be back in by this Friday.

**Also, there are many shelters and charities in the areas affected by Sandy, namely in Ocean and Bergen County who are housing people who have been driven from their homes in need of supplies - please donate if you can. ***

As a request, if I haven't spoke to you, let me know you and your family made it through this mess with your health - it'll be great to hear from everyone!

We hope to resume sailing this weekend... We'll see how that goes!