Delaware River and Delaware Bay

Sunday, June 16 - We left the Annapolis City Marina mooring ball just before 8 a.m. and stopped at the city marina to fill 2 of our diesel tanks. By 8:23 we were heading back to Chesapeake Bay. Once in the bay we pulled out the mainsail and after going under the bridge about 40 minutes later we pulled out the jib. The winds were averaging 15 knots and we were on a close haul starboard tact. By 3:00 we were on Elk River that led us to the Chesapeake Delaware Canal. We anchored near the Chesapeake City marina off the canal at 4:40 p.m.

Monday, June 17 - In the morning we dropped the dinghy to walk around Chesapeake City, a quaint little town in Maryland. It sits on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal that was hand dug in 1829. It was a thriving commercial town until 1929 when the government dredged the canal deeper and boats no longer needed to stop for the locks, and in 1949 a bridge was built that bypasses the town. It has comeback as a small destination town with historic homes, restaurants and shops. After lunch we pulled up the anchor and set off for Reedy Point in upper Delaware Bay. The Chesapeake Delaware Canal is narrow and deep, over 30 feet, and we went under 6 bridges, all very tall. At 2:34 p.m. we transitioned from the canal into Delaware River. New Jersey was to our left and Delaware to our right. The water was choppy and the wind picked up substantially to 25 knots (it was 2 knots at the marina and 15 knots in the canal). I’m amazed at how wide the river is. We passed Reddy Island to anchor further down the river, however, the current and wind were strong and the water was deep, which would have made for an uncomfortable night. We turned back to Reddy Island and tucked in by the jetties at 2:30 p.m. The water was a little calmer and the winds were predicted to die down some, it was rolly but not too bad.

Tuesday, June 18 - We moved the boat last night to re-anchor further back on the island where there was more land protection as Kevin was worried it would be too rough. We rose at 6 a.m. and departed at 7:20. We pulled the mainsail out and the jib for a bit until the wind shifted, causing the jib to flap a lot. Around 8:30 a.m. we passed the Mouth of the Delaware River, where the river and bay meet (according to Google Maps). There is a monument on the NJ side representing the merger but I was not able to find it with binoculars. Once we were fully in Delaware Bay we could no longer see land and the wave height increased to 3-4 feet and the winds picked up to almost 30 knots, directly over our bow. We kept only the mainsail out and were heeling at 10-15 degrees most of the day. Our speed varied throughout the day between 4.5 and 6 knots depending on the amount of wind against us. Around 2:30 p.m. New Jersey came into view at a distance. We approached Cape May Point at 4:30, at this point we were now in the Atlantic. We pulled into the cut inside the Cape May, NJ peninsula at 5:30. We anchored at 6:15, I commented that we were rather close to a troller that had very little scope out. After we made sundowners and appetizer Kevin decided we were too close to the troller and wanted to re-anchor - again! 🤪 By that time we were tired, at least I was, and it took awhile to get the right distance from the troller on our port side and a sailboat on starboard, from whom the owner expressed his opinion on where we should anchor. We finally got settled at 7:00.Weiterlesen