• 45NorthAmericas Great LoopTraveler
    1Graeme handles the stern line in Baltimore
    Industry along the inner Patapsco River areaKevin Spacey owns this condo development, but it hasn't paid off and he wants to sell. Poor Kevin...I think this is a Baltimore Clipper. Tied up at Inner Harbour.Ferg, alone and lonely in the cockpit, has a late breakfastApproaching the Chesapeake City bridge over the C&D CanalMore bridges. You can never have too many bridges.. The second one here is a railroad lift bridge.A suspension pipeline crosses the C&D CanalThe Conrail lift bridgeMore bridges. You can never have too many bridges...This is known on the waterways as a 'tow'. But the tug pushes the load rather than towing it.Three donkeys at Delaware CityThe Delaware City Marina dockmaster holds our bow line as we swivel stern-outWe've been located a long way down the wobbly wooden floating dockThe right-hand house dates to 1829. The left-hand house must be a similar or identical age.Streetscape, Delaware CityDelaware City streetscapeNo matter your political affiliation, the marina has an armchair for you...

    Day 33: Baltimore to Delaware City

    May 16–17 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    The only reason I came to Baltimore was to visit the renowned B&O Railroad Museum. Now that I've seen it, we can go now.

    We untie in the Inner Harbour at around 0800 and slip down the Patapsco River and out into Chesapeake Bay for the 70-odd mile, 8-hr run via the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to Delaware City for the night. We slide up the upper Bay in calm conditions on a flat sea. By midday we're into the broad Elk River estuary with about 9 miles to run to enter the canal.

    From Elk River we divert into Back Creek (there must be 47 'Back Creeks' in the USA) and the start of the C&D Canal. there is a lot of history to this waterway and it can nowadays handle large ocean-going ships although we see none. After an easy 12-mile voyage--and having passed beneath numerous bridges--we arrive into the Delaware River and turn hard a-port to arrive at Delaware City (NB to Aussies and Kiwis: 'City' in the USA does not mean what it does in our countries). We motor into the northern end of the old C&D Canal to run to our allocated marina berth. The strong ebb tidal flow has the dockmaster on the jetty advising of a slightly (to us) unusual process to dock. But the dockie and Preston know what he wants and we hand him our bow line while Preston jockeys thrusters and engines to swing our stern out into the creek, where the current eventually places us against the dock, facing the opposite direction. Graeme and I already have the port-side fenders and spring lines ready for the dockie. He certainly knows his stuff; we're lying against the dock facing the tidal stream. Our departure tomorrow will be easier.

    We go for a wander uptown, Graeme and I visit the local for a sherbet while Lorraine visits an art gallery that is still open. We return to the ship for a home-cooked dinner that includes Australian lamb chops (NZ ones not yet seen in the shops over here).

    Tomorrow, we'll be looking for an 0700 start to run the nearly 60 miles down the Delaware Bay and into Cape May before the unsettled weather expected in the evening.    Read more