Delaware to Mystic, CT

We left Still Pond and headed to the C&D Canal. In 1829 this man made canal connecting Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay was open. It is 14 miles long, 35ft deep and 450 feet wide. I’ve transited several times, but it is always a thrill to be so close to large container ships that don’t look like they will fit under the bridges that cross over the canal.
We spend the next night across from the nuclear power plant (in New Jersey) on a rather uncomfortable anchorage called Reedy. The following day blessed us with some beautiful weather to descend the Delaware River all the way to Cape Henlopen, a beautiful and well protected anchorage where the River meets the ocean. In both the Chesapeake and the Delaware fierce currents flow so timing your passage with the ebb and flow is vital.
My love for fast planes was cultivated with Tom Cruise in the 1986 film Top Gun, so imagine my excitement as I watched this fighter jet whiz past us on several occasions as we were coming down the river!!
On June 25th (Thursday), we left Henlopen at dawn and were privy to a gorgeous sunrise. We sailed along the coast, on the outside of Long Island Sound and arrived in Mystic/ Noank area, to Ram Island, in the late afternoon on June 26th. We let people know we were in town, and made arrangements to visit Brian’s friends.
On Saturday we saw Keith and his wife Maggie for lunch (at Ford’s/ Haring) and then went to the wooden boat show (via power boat) with Ben and Eleanor (and another couple Ray and Jeff). Then Eleanor and I did a grocery run and we all went back to their house for a salmon dinner. The return back to the boat was 2.5 miles…. in the fog! We had Apple Maps, but then remembered that Navionics was on the phone, so used it to direct us the rest of the way to the boat at 10pm, only seeing her when she was 150ft in front of us.
On Sunday we did boat chores, replacing the dashboard fan, and some yoga after a long passage. We went for a swim in the frigid water and read… a fairly relaxing day.
On Monday we went to Noank to get some oysters at the cooperative, and then to the General Store that Jeff and Ray are opening. Eleanor was there and we went to Carson’s diner afterwards. Then back to the dinghy to Mystic where we visited the used bookstore and dropped off about 20 books for credit (only $22). Then we walked through Mystic, went to Academy Point and tried to see Sidney Vanzant (Sandy died the previous year, the day before we visited). Then to the Mystic Library, where we read on the beautiful 2nd floor for a while. We returned to the boat, after oyster happy hour, with another 10-12 books.
The following day we went into Mystic again and visited with Beatty and Ian (Brenna) who messaged us on No Foreign Land (a boating app). We met then in Cape Brenton in 2024, saw them in Antigua a couple times and had lunch with them on Tuesday at the Mystic Market. Their boat is on the hard and they live nearby in Essex. When coming back to our dingy I went to the bathroom and commented on the showers… we made a quick decision to borrow towels and soap from their boat and enjoy the luxury of a hot shower, before heading back to Lorena and getting ready for an early morning departure.Read more