Day 431
5330 miles
With new crew member Jim on board, True North left Baltimore on Tuesday morning at 7 am under sunny skies. The Inner Harbor is literally at the end of the Patapsco River so it takes over an hour just to get out of the river channel back into the Chesapeake Bay, mainly because we were dodging debris (a.k.a logs) and could never go above idle speed.
One last tribute to the Chesapeake Bay - written by Captain John Smith in 1674.
Sixty miles later we docked at Schaefer's Marina in Chesapeake City, right after entering the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. We tied up to their long face dock after fighting a wicked current and strong wind that forced us to go past the marina, turn and come in against the flow. Exactly the same conditions we had at Hoppies Marina on the Mississippi River back in September of 2016 - current and debris!
The C & D Canal is a 14 mile man-made waterway that connects the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River. It was built (dug!) to chop off 300 miles for the ships going between Philadelphia and Baltimore. (Philadelphia is up the Delaware River). More than 2,600 men - many of them Irish - hacked away with shovels and pickaxes for seven years and the Canal opened to ship traffic in 1829.
C & D Canal
We passed the Delaware Explorer in the Canal
When we were in Chesapeake City, we were still in Maryland. While on the C & D Canal on Wednesday True North crossed over into Delaware waters. We didn't actually set foot on Delaware soil, but when you are on a boat, being in the waters of a region counts!
Exiting the canal, we were in the Delaware River which led to the Delaware Bay. It's not as large a body of water as the Chesapeake Bay, but big enough to want to cross under favorable wind conditions. This day the Bay was like a washing machine and the boat handled it fine.
Our day ended at Cape May, New Jersey. Several miles out we had to slow to a crawl again as we were in the middle of those pesky crab pots. Being on crab pot watch cuts into my reading, knitting, and munching time. But we were also rewarded with seeing dolphins playing at the entrance to the Cape May Canal off the Delaware Bay.
Crab pot watch. It was FREEZING going into the wind!
Entrance to the Cape May Canal
Cape May Canal. Once again we got to follow another boat through.
I had no expectations of Cape May, other than knowing that every Looper stops there because it is where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. What a treat it turned out to be! We arrived the day before the South Jersey Shark Tournament. Greg got off the boat too early as he would have loved it here, including the on-site captains meeting. The 40 boats entered in the tourney ranged from small center consoles to the big enclosed bridge Vikings. The marina put us on the inside of the fuel dock so we had the opportunity to chat with several of the boats as they came in for fuel. It was fascinating to us (being from shark-free waters!). The boats can go no farther offshore than 60 miles. They cannot bring in a shark less than 200 lbs. Think of that - 200 pounds! If a shark weighs less than that, it has not had a chance to spawn, thus depleting the population. First prize is $110,000 and the Calcutta pays $200,000. The marina normally doesn't open until 7 am, but due to the tournament, it was up and running at 5 am. That meant when we left at 6:15 am today, there were dockhands to help us off. You have to be thankful for the little things . . .
We were able to watch the boats head out for the 6 am start time before we shoved off.
All the fishing boats getting ready the night before
This fishing team had matching shirts. I thought they looked more like a bowling team!
Tournament scoreboard
Notice our shammy pole on the bottom of the picture. The structure middle left is where they hang the sharks when the boats come in. We would have had a front row seat! So tempting to stay and watch but the run in the Atlantic is totally dictated by weather and winds so Thursday was a "go" day.
Since we were only there for one night, we would have missed going into town if we hadn't needed milk and bread!
Bob was also part tour guide. Cape May is the oldest seaside resort area in the nation. It is a wildlife hub for migratory species of all kinds. The town itself is a National Historic Landmark. Lots of things to do if we had more time.
Per Jim's recommendation, we went to dinner at The Lobster House, a Cape May landmark. Thinking it was probably the last chance while in the "land of crab pots", Mike finally ordered crab cakes. Better late than never.
So our 3 states on Wednesday were Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
Downtown pedestrian mall
The United States Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. It is the only recruit training center in the nation as all Coast Guard training functions were consolidated to this station in 1982.
We are on to a new chart book. The New Jersey Coast. We will only use this book for one day!
Enlarge the picture and see Cape May at the bottom. We will start our day on Thursday there and end at the top - number 13. At number 8, will we go by Little Egg Inlet. We thought the boat might steer itself there as True North was built in New Jersey!
"Back in the Atlantic again . . " - sung to the tune of "Back in the saddle again".
We left Cape May early Thursday morning through the Cape May Inlet for the 140+ mile trip to Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island. We are running 3 miles offshore and still have internet coverage so I'm typing as we are traveling. Every boater's hope is "Fair winds and following seas."
Jim at the helm while Mike navigates. Better him driving than me. It was cold today, too!
Atlantic City was our bailout if the ocean was too rough but all was good and we went right past. We weren't as close as this picture looks - I really zoomed in.
By the end of today, we will be in New York!
Unique and Random Photo of the Day:
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