Chesapeake City

Chesapeake City, MD
Monday, September 16 - Alarms went off at 6:30 and with coffee tumblers in hand we went on deck, pulled anchor and departed at 7:30. Before turning on the engine Kevin spotted Ken and Eilu’s boat, Antares II, passing by us. He hailed them on the VHS and chatted a bit. They were heading up the C&D Canal also and planned to sail until dusk, we planned to stop sooner so Kevin can take a consulting call. It was cloudier and cooler than the previous day and winds were a good 20 knots. We pulled out the Mainsail and sailed up the Delaware River with the current at 7 knots. It was very windy in the river which made the air cold and the waves rough. By 10:00 we approached the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, pulled in the sail and made the turn into the canal. This was a relief as the wind was much calmer and the temperature warmed up. In front of us were 2 other sailboats, with Antares II directly in front, and another behind us. The canal is narrow, lined with shrubs, trees and a low rock wall. There is a 15 mile nature path that starts in Chesapeake City and runs parallel with the canal where we see a lot of people biking. While in Chesapeake City we learned that the canal is 450 feet wide and 35 feet deep and it is the 3rd largest in the US. We anchored at noon in Chesapeake City, a location we anchored for one night on the way up the East Coast. After lunch we lowered the dinghy and took Pepper for a walk, then early evening we went to The Bayard House Restaurant located on the canal. We had a cocktail at the outside bar, named Hole in the Wall, then went upstairs for dinner. The cocktails and food were both good. Kevin got wild boar ribs and I had the cajun chicken alfredo. The portions matched those of Texas; they were huge! We had an appetizer and combined with that we both brought most of our meals back in a doggie bag, but the doggie did not get the food. The restaurant was cool, it is the oldest building in the town, built in 1780 as an inn and tavern. The restaurant has small rooms of 4 tables inside. We ate on what would have probably been the balcony and was now closed in with large picture glass windows. As we were ordering a LARGE container ship came up the canal, proving that it is still used for commercial traffic.

Tuesday, September 17 - We visited a coffee shop in the morning and on the way back stopped to talk with a boat owner that had tied his boat up to the free town dock, which had a 24 hour limit, to see when he would be moving as we wanted to get water. He basically said he wasn’t moving due to the weather, we kinda hinted it was 24 hour usage and he kinda ignored that hint. He did offer to move his boat to make room for us and help catch our lines. We moved from the Anchorage to the dock around 11:00 a.m. and gave the cockpit a thorough washing; it had not been cleaned since the end of May and was in need of a good scrub down. We also filled all 4 water tanks. I went to the Town Hall to pay for our water usage ($10 for water and $25 for electricity) and in talking with the city worker he kind of gave us the ok to stay 2 nights. Since rain was predicted all day Wednesday, and clouds were already looming in the sky, we decided to stay on the dock 2 nights. It’s a very small anchorage and town, and we figured not many cruisers would come through this time of year. That afternoon we went to the Tiki Bar for Happy Hour at the restaurant by the marina. For dinner we had my leftover pasta!

Wednesday, September 18 - It drizzled all day but never rained hard. Light enough that I could take Pepper for several walks but wet enough to not want to sit outside. It was a good cleaning day; cleaned and reorganized the forward head cabinets and the overhead hatch windows. Late afternoon we visited the brewery Bayheads.もっと詳しく