Chesapeake City Early Saturday morning we left Rock Hall with Plumpuppet and sailed north up the eastern Chesapeake shore. We said good-bye to Karen and Warren (Sandcastle) at St. Michaels. They were going to Annapolis and then on to Baltimore. At the top of the Bay, we went into the Elk River, then into Back Creek and finally, into the C and D Canal - the land cut joining Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River. Once out of the Bay, we felt as though we were traveling in a wave pool. There is no speed limit along the waterway leading into the C and D, nor in the canal itself, and in this relatively narrow channel, fast boats, large and small, were traveling about as fast as they could go. Some slowed to avoid "waking" us but most did not. That this was Saturday, on Memorial Day weekend accounted for the number of boats: every Tom, Dick and Shirley was out whizzing along on this beautiful sunny day. We were having quite a rock and rolly time. The winds were light, so having given up on sailing, Bob was up on deck putting on the sail cover when a big, very fast boat breezed close by and sent us diving into a huge wake. After hugging the boom so as not to be pitched overboard, an exasperated Bob raised his arm and gave the one finger salute. The boat was just one of many that had passed in a similar way - but this time, Bob was really MAD. By early afternoon, we were glad to get out of the canal and into the calm of Chesapeake City boat basin where we would be anchoring for the night.
We had by passed Chesapeake City in the fall so we were eager to go ashore. I decided to time how fast we had become at this anchor and go to town routine. We arrived about 1:30 - the anchor was set at 1:45. By 1:55, we had the dinghy down, the motor off the rail and had lowered and attached it to the dinghy. We did boat tidy up (open hatches, turn off instruments and cover instrument panels, attach screen/curtain to companionway....), gathered what we needed to take (camera, phone ...) and we were on our way into town by 2:20. Not bad, eh? When you plan to move on the following morning and have only the remainder of the day to explore, you move fast. We've had many such days on this trip. I have to admit, though, that there are times when we get hung up on anchoring and it takes forever. Deciding on an appropriate spot and anchoring in it - the first time - can be a problem on Sea Change.
Chesapeake City: Looking toward the boat basin - that's Sea Change in the centre beside the tree.
The town had a Memorial Day weekend festive air. The Chesapeake Inn and attached marina were hives of activity. As the afternoon wore on, more and more boats came into the boat basin - some to anchor - others to dock at the free dock along the wall or in the marina for an overnight
stay. It was, as Barb described it, "party central". In the late afternoon, the muscle boats began to arrive - big cigarette and other long, sleek and brightly painted boats that couldn't seem to move without a great roar and thrum of engines. As they hovered in the little bay and then maneuvered into a place at the wall, their booming sounds reminded me of jungle animals roaring to assert dominance or as part of some mating ritual. With their noise and amazing hull graphics, these super boats drew crowds on the docks and at the waterfront.It was a noisy and busy place on Saturday, but we enjoyed our time in Chesapeake City. On the other hand, a day's visit was quite enough.
Saturday, May 25th Noon - Traveling Down the Delaware
The chip for our GPS chart plotter includes tide and current information for each area. Along with Barb and Ken on Plumpuppet, we spent a fair amount of time trying to determine when we best might be able to catch a favourable current down the Delaware. In the fall we had traveled up the Bay with the current against us, the wind on our nose and waves at 2-3 feet - a slow going rough day that we didn't want to repeat. On the day we left Chesapeake City, we were able to ride the current until we turned toward the Cohansey River where we anchored for the night. Once settled, we repeated our tide and current searches. Current was something to consider as we moved further down the river and into Delaware Bay but we were especially concerned with tide in the Cape May Canal. There are 2 bridges near the end of the canal that have a 55 foot clearance at mean high tide. Our mast height including the Windex and VHF antenna at the top measures 53 feet above the water. Theoretically, we should be able to get under the bridges at high tide but that's not something we want to chance. There is usually a 6 foot variation in tides (7 right now due to the phase of the moon) so going through at or near low tide allows a comfortable margin of error. In the fall we went out from Cape May into the ocean and around and up into the Delaware rather than chance clearing the canal bridges near high tide. To catch a low tide we would have had to get up and transit the canal in the dark. This time, low tide will be in the afternoon. At this minute - as we move down the bay in calm seas - we have cut the engine back so as not to arrive at the bridges too early. Even so - I know from past experience that from our perspective looking up - it will appear that the top of the mast is going to hit for sure.
2:50 p.m. - Utsch's Marina, Cape May
We're snug in our spot at the marina in Cape May - not the one we stayed at in the fall but a more plebeian marina so a little cheaper and fortunately, also closer to old Cape May. That's some of the good news. It's also good news that the tide was definitely low enough for us to get under the bridges, no problem. It was so much easier to go the 3 miles up the canal than going out into the Atlantic, weaving our way along the "shortcut" through the shoals and then back in through the inlet to the Cape May harbour. Whew!
The bad news is that the low tide meant skinny water where we had to turn toward the marina. The marina lady had told us to turn to starboard and run parallel to and 20 to 30 feet from the marina bulkhead. Plumpuppet was ahead of us by almost an hour - they turned as advised - and got stuck. Eventually they were able to work themselves free and they hailed us to say: stay close into the bulk head - no more than10 feet from it. Along we came an hour later with the tide a smidgen lower and because there were boats crossing in front of our bow - Bob didn't make the turn as tightly as he should have. We grounded well before we reached the bulkhead. It's all mud though and Bob also was able to maneuver the boat free. Whew again!
We'll be here for at least 2 nights. We've missed today's good weather window. It would have been calm seas going up the New Jersey shore to New York City but the forecast for the next 2 to 3 days is mixed. After 16 days at anchor or on a mooring ball, I think we're ready for a marina stay. We'll do laundry (nice not to have to haul it in a dinghy). We'll have dinner at the Lobster House (famous in the area) - and we'll see.
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