Today we made the run to the entrance to the Chesepeake & Delaware canal; it was a long 12 hour day.
We all woke up refreshed with more than 9 hours of sleep under our belt. After a brief discussion of our options for the day, we all agreed to leave and get to our next major stopping point, the C&D canal. Getting off the dock was a bit of an adventure -- the wind and tide and narrowness of the marina all conspired to make it difficult; with some help from a friendly dock-mate and some close order maneuvering, we managed to exit the place with no scratches on My Weigh or the other boats in the marina.
We had to sail out and around Cape May because My Weigh's mast is too tall to fit under the bridges of the Cape May canal, which provides a shortcut to the Delaware river. Once we turned up the Delaware we encountered a strong current against us; it slowed our rate of progress considerably, roughly doubling out transit time. The Delaware is very wide where it meets the Atlantic, indeed you are essentially out of sight of land when you are in the middle -- needless to say, the long featureless trip against the current was tedious but the crew handled it well by handing off the helm in shifts and reading, napping and snacking its way through the tedium.
We arrived at the mouth of the canal after 8pm -- too late to enter for the 12 mile run to Chesepeake City. We dropped a hook just outside the entrance and Sue became an instant heroine when she volunteered to cook the rest of the crew dinner (she had eaten earlier, just before her last stint at the helm). Let's hear it for Sue :-)
About 10:30 a strong front came through with high winds that pushed the boat around quite a bit; fortunately, the anchor held and the long day ended with no additional drama.
We all woke up refreshed with more than 9 hours of sleep under our belt. After a brief discussion of our options for the day, we all agreed to leave and get to our next major stopping point, the C&D canal. Getting off the dock was a bit of an adventure -- the wind and tide and narrowness of the marina all conspired to make it difficult; with some help from a friendly dock-mate and some close order maneuvering, we managed to exit the place with no scratches on My Weigh or the other boats in the marina.
We had to sail out and around Cape May because My Weigh's mast is too tall to fit under the bridges of the Cape May canal, which provides a shortcut to the Delaware river. Once we turned up the Delaware we encountered a strong current against us; it slowed our rate of progress considerably, roughly doubling out transit time. The Delaware is very wide where it meets the Atlantic, indeed you are essentially out of sight of land when you are in the middle -- needless to say, the long featureless trip against the current was tedious but the crew handled it well by handing off the helm in shifts and reading, napping and snacking its way through the tedium.
We arrived at the mouth of the canal after 8pm -- too late to enter for the 12 mile run to Chesepeake City. We dropped a hook just outside the entrance and Sue became an instant heroine when she volunteered to cook the rest of the crew dinner (she had eaten earlier, just before her last stint at the helm). Let's hear it for Sue :-)
About 10:30 a strong front came through with high winds that pushed the boat around quite a bit; fortunately, the anchor held and the long day ended with no additional drama.
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