August 11, 2012
Cape May, NJ
Starting Out – Leaving Annapolis, MD
Up early, yet delayed. Turns out Pat’s Avon inflatable dingy has a leak in a very unfortunate location. He decided to purchase a new one, and we found ourselves waiting for West Marine to make the delivery. We finally left at 10:45 am.
Under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
Out Back Creek in Annapolis, we cut across the bay to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and headed north toward the C & D Canal. It was hot and there was little wind. We motored the whole way.
Luckily, the tides gave us a big boost and we made great time all the way to the Canal. Originally planning to stop at Chesapeake City, we decided to push on to the end of the canal and anchor in the Delaware bay. A long 12 hour day, for sure, but we put in about 60 miles, got sun burned, and had a great day.
The obligatory Delaware Bay photo of the New Jersey nuke plant
The next morning, we planned to go at it at a reasonable time, but not too early. The tides were against us until around 11:00 am, so no sense starting early and going no where. We pushed on slowly until the tides came around and we picked up speed – speed through the water was 4.5 knots, while speed over ground was 7.2 knots!
Ship John Shoal light – a.k.a. Guano Island
The Delaware Bay maintains its #3 slot as the most god awful bodies of water in the United States. It was hot, there was no wind, it is unattractive, and there’s nothing to see, with the exception of the nuclear power plant, which once you’ve seen it, you don’t need to go back. At 2:00 pm we were so board, we adjusted course slightly just to sail around the Ship John Shoal Light. Covered in sea gulls and the associated bird poop, we quickly decreed the name from this day forward to be “Guano Light.” I wonder who has the job of coming all the way out here and cleaning the bird poop off the solar panels? The charts says there is life saving equipment there – I think I’d rather die than climb aboard that thing.
Sunset on the Delaware
All-in-all, it was a pretty uneventful day. Just a lot of sitting, dodging the few freighters transversing the Bay. Then two things happened that would change everything. First, we ran out of beer! Unbelievable. Then, we ran out of fuel. Not such a big deal. But the beer!!!
We radioed Tow BoatUS and let them know of our situation with regards to getting more fuel onboard. We debated about asking them to bring us beer also, but decided if we had fuel, we could get our own.
I dropped down into the engine room only do discover we were not out of fuel. I primed the fuel lines and the old Volvo-Penta fired back up, causing us to debate whether to ask Tow BoatUS to bring us beer, as we no longer needed the fuel.
The Bathhouse at Utsch’s!!! Love it!
The wind we had been sailing by finally died out and we ended up motoring the last few hours to Cape May. We got in around 9:00 pm. I had called ahead and Utsch’s Marina had a slip ready for us. I had stayed here during our Voyage of a Lifetime cruise and I remembered how nice the bathrooms were. Plus, they are the least expensive marina in Cape May, which is important. As a matter of fact, the rates are the same as they were back then! Yay! I love Utsch’s!
The weather today on the Atlantic is completely placid – not good for a fat ol’ sailboat that likes wind. From here, it is 125 miles to New York City – an overnight passage for us. Tomorrow we are expecting winds 10 – 15 knots our of the east – not ideal, but good enough. We’re planning to leave tomorrow and will be in NYC on Friday. The day of rest will do us good – let my sun burn cool.
Plus, I’ll have the opportunity to take another shower! Maybe even do some laundry.
– Steve