Despite the threat of rain, no one groused as they climbed aboard the Cape May Whale Watcher on a recent Saturday to begin a tour of the Delaware Bay's seven lighthouses.

By the time the vessel was ready to push off from its slip in Cape May City, about 150 people were comfortably seated.

Owned and operated by Jeff Stewart, the Cape May Whale Watcher is the only vessel in Cape May County that offers tours of the bay's unique, romantic and historic lighthouses. Tickets for the Delaware Bay Lighthouse Adventure tour are $52, and the journey regularly sells out.

As the boat takes off from its mooring at the Miss Chris Fishing Marina and heads into a nearby narrow body of water, Stewart gives his passengers an idea of where they are.

"In case you wondered, you're now in Cape May Canal headed toward Delaware Bay. The canal is part of the Intercoastal Waterway, and if you continued straight ahead for 1,300 miles you'd be in Miami Beach," he says.

The words draw expressions of amusement from those onboard, and Stewart steers his 100-foot, 1,600-horsepower boat toward the bay, a wide expanse flanked by New Jersey and Delaware.

Before he turns around, the boat will have traveled 30 miles up the bay - all the way to the Salem Nuclear Generating Station in Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County.

Once in the bay, all the passengers saw was the sky above and the water below - just miles and miles of water, a few boats, an occasional seagull and, of course, the lighthouses. With one exception, they still warn approaching ships of imminent danger.

Lighthouse fanatics will gaze in awe as the Cape May Whale Watcher stops just a few feet from each lighthouse.

Vacationers looking for something different will enjoy the captain's running narrative about each lighthouse's history and the bay in general.

Then there's the matter of the buffet, a mountain of food included in the trip's cost. Among other things, it includes shrimp cocktail, fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, potato chips and finger sandwiches.

Stewart is unlike most captains, preferring shorts, sneakers and a blue golf shirt with Mickey Mouse embroidered on the front to traditional dress whites. Seldom, if ever, does he use nautical terms when addressing his passengers.

"I say `left and right' instead of `port and starboard' and `bathroom' instead of `the head' so I won't have to explain myself," he says. "It just makes life a whole lot easier. After you explain something 5,000 times, the novelty wears off."

Janet Heverle of Morristown, Middlesex County, a self- described lighthouse fanatic, says $52 isn't an excessive amount to spend to bob up and down on the bay - sometimes in the rain.

"I don't know if it's the history of the lighthouses or the thought of lighthouse keepers actually working the lighthouses years ago, but I have a real thing for lighthouses," she says. "When my husband retires, we want to go up the coast of Maine and see all of those, too."

Another passenger, Donna Russo, of Westfield, Union County, could hardly wait to leave Cape May for the tour.

"I love lighthouses, that's why I'm here," she says, peering out at the gentle water from inside the main salon. "My whole house is accessorized with lighthouses. They're in my bathroom, my kitchen, my hallway, everywhere. I have stepping stones with lighthouses on them, plaques with them, soap dispensers with them, towels, salt and pepper shakers - you name it."

The bay lighthouses are visible only from the water, unless of course one has a high-powered telescope or pair of binoculars. Each structure is unique.

Fourteen Foot Bank, on the lower part of the bay, has an outhouse that extends over a side of its foundation. A Victorian home sits atop Ship John Shoal near the Salem Nuclear Generating Station, while Brandywine Shoal just northwest of Cape May Point is surrounded by enormous rocks.

"See those rocks around Brandywine? They come from a quarry in Scranton, Pa., and most weigh from two to 10 tons," Stewart says over the boat's intercom system. "They were put there specifically to break up the large sheets of ice as the ice came flying down the bay."

The only inactive lighthouse is Cross Ledge, which sits off the town of Fortescue and once included a two-story white house. A gray granite base is all that remains.

Again, Stewart explains its history.

"Cross Ledge was used for practice bombing during World War II," he begins, as everyone starts snapping pictures. " They used to bomb it with flour sacks. The Coast Guard burned it down to its base in 1962, and that's all you see now."

The Cape May Whale Watcher has six more lighthouse tours scheduled between June 30 and Sept. 8. The boat leaves promptly at 1 p.m. and departs from the Miss Chris Fishing Marina at 2nd Avenue and Wilson Drive.

The vessel can accommodate 300 people, but Stewart limits the number to 150 so everyone can fit under the upper deck in case it rains.

Since 1995, when he first got started, Stewart estimates he has taken nearly 9,000 people out into the bay, the overwhelming majority of them lighthouse enthusiasts.