Crew Log for May 7th – 9th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Annapolis (Lake Ogleton) to Cape May
• Trip Distance of 116.8 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 4,573.8 NM
Pause. I would like to point out we have travelled over 4,500 nautical miles since we left on August 14, 2022. We have spent 3 nights off the boat and somehow have managed to co-exist in a cramped space, less than from 10 feet from one another over the entire time.
We now resume regular scheduled programming...
Sadly, our stop in Annapolis was brief and despite being a cruisers paradise, our time on the Chesapeake was coming to an end as well. Our return trip through here is analogous to touring on the Interstate. Technically we sailed up through the Chesapeake, but given our impatience for getting north, our experience was limited. Luckily, we saw a bit more on the way down last fall.
We had sunny skies and light wind from the south, perfect conditions for our trek north. We were hoping to get as far north as Chesapeake City, an anchorage right on the C&D Canal, which would set us up for getting down the Delaware River the following day. We’ve learned not to be too casual about the conditions on either the Chesapeake or the Delaware and felt pretty confident with the forecasts for the next few days.
We said farewell to our hosts and friends Corky and Alex who graciously accommodated our early morning departure from Lake Ogleton, Annapolis and made sure we got off the dock safely. As forecasted, we had calm conditions, a light breeze behind us and a nice current pushing us, as we motor sailed northward. Given our progress and calm conditions overnight, we decided to head straight for Reedy Point, an exposed anchorage right on the Delaware River.
As we made our way into the C&D Canal, we started to hear gun shots off in the distance and were being buzzed by incredibly loud cigarette boats racing up and down the canal. The only thing that was missing was banjo music. There is a lot of debris in the water here. Giant logs, building materials and even full sheets of plywood. I’m not sure what the damage would be if one of the high speed boats hit a log doing 50 plus mph.
We were a little early reaching the C&D Canal so we struggled with the opposing current. However, when we did reach the end and made the turn towards the anchorage we were surfing at over 8 knots, aided by 2 – 2.5 knots of current. sv Sensai and sv On Y Va were both already anchored here. We crossed to the Bahamas with Sensai back on New Year’s Eve and had run into them a few times on our travels through the Bahamas, but this was the first time we’d been in the same anchorage as them since February. We were looking forward to reconnecting with them when we reached Cape May.
We found a relatively shallow section at Reedy Point to anchor, that still provided adequate swing room, to accommodate the current changes. The anchor alarm did go off when the tide changed, but we seemed to reset immediately since all was quiet after that. Despite the current, we had a peaceful night on anchor and enjoyed a good rest.
We hauled anchor shortly after 0600 hours to take advantage of the strong tidal currents running down the Delaware. The Delaware River is quite narrow at the section around our anchorage which means the currents can reach 3 – 3.5 knots, perfect if they are with you. At one point, Elizabeth M was “rocketing” down the Delaware River at over 9 knots, and given the winds were relative light out of the northwest, we had minimal chop to deal with. As the river widens out the effect of the tidal current is lessened, but we still enjoyed almost ideal conditions on route to Cape May for what can be a nasty stretch.
There are very few times that being on a small boat have been an advantage, but coming into Cape May is one of them. Because our mast height is less than 55 feet, we can slide into Cape May from the backside through the Cape May Canal, which has a couple of 55 foot fixed bridges. Not only does it cut off several miles, we also avoid having to negotiate the point at Cape May which can be tricky.
We arrived at Utches Marina by mid afternoon and navigated the tight spaces into our slip. Since engine was still warm, I decided to do an oil change. Utches also had a full service marine store right on site that had all the necessary filters for our engine.
We enjoyed a peaceful night in the marina, sleeping for 9 hours straight. We had covered more than 110 nautical miles over the previous 2 days and welcomed the rest.
The following day we were sitting having lunch and heard a knock on the side of the boat. I popped out of the cabin and saw a guy sitting in a kayak. He looked a little weathered, salty, and was flying a orange slow moving vehicle flag and a Norwegian flag. “You from Halifax?” he asks. “Well, the boat is registered in Halifax, but we are from Truro, Nova Scotia”, I replied. “I left from Halifax”, he replied. “IN YOUR KAYAK?”, says me.
Mark Furhmann, left Halifax, Nova Scotia in June 2022, and has kayaked over 9,000 kilometers, through the Maritimes, down the St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, the Mississippi around Florida and up the east coast on the ICW. He travels about 30 – 40 miles a day. You can follow his progress here.
His tour, which he dubs the “Reverse the Bad”, documented on Youtube, has a mission to raise money for charity, including "Captains Without Borders" and "Doctors Without Borders". Fuhrmann’s wife, Kirsten, was an orthopedic surgeon who died of brain cancer in 2013. When we saw him, he was looking for a place to pitch his tent for the night, but indicated he often gets invited aboard “'Loopers’ trawlers”, who are doing a similar loop, albeit, in much more opulent conditions.
sv Beyond arrived later that afternoon and I mentioned meeting Mark to them. They said, “yah we know, we almost ran him over in the entrance to the marina”. Apparently, Mark was paddling back out of the marina, just as Beyond was making the blind turn into the slips. They narrowly missed him. It was funny to hear the story recounted from both sides when the crew from Beyond and Mark met later that evening.
We gathered at the Lobster House for supper with the crews from Beyond, Sensai and On Y Va. The Lobster House, as the name implies, specialized in seafood, could accommodate 8 of us at one table and was conveniently located between our marina and the neighboring marina where Sensai and On Y Va were staying. The restaurant was something right out of the 50’s, from the décor and menu options to the dude milling about in the washroom handing out paper towels. The company was great, the food was forgettable.
The following morning, we were planning to do an overnight sail up the Jersey Coast. The 3 other boats were also leaving in the morning but planned to do the trip over a couple of days. Given they had twice the horsepower as we did, they all travelled between 1.5 – 2 knots faster than we did, so we were on our own, for the 125 trip up the coast towards the Big Apple.
But more about that, next time.
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