May 4, 5 2019 Chesapeake City, MD through the Corps of Engineers’ Chesapeake & Delaware (C & D) Canal to the Delaware Bay Ships Channel to Cape May, NJ.

We are well-known for being early risers, but our 5:30 departure from Shaefer’s Canal House & Marina in Chesapeake City, MD was one of our earliest ever. We were taking advantage of an outgoing tide… that was going to become incoming by 8:30. The 14-mile long C&D Canal, connecting Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay, funnels a lot of water into its narrow man-made cut. Wally and I were seeing Summertime’s typical 8 mph cruising speed move up and up until she was racing along at 10 and even 11 mph. We felt like we were squirting through that canal like a peeled grape! By the time we entered the Delaware River flowing down from Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE, we still had residual tidal flow carrying us out toward the Atlantic Ocean. The fog and the haze kept our visibility down to about 1 1/2 miles. Our chart depicted the Delaware shoreline to our starboard and the New Jersey shoreline to our port, but we only got glimpses of the Jersey side now and again. Instead of running with the “Big Boys” in the 55’ deep ships channel, we ran in the 25’ deep water just left of the channel. We kept track of the lists of nearby boat/ship traffic on our AIS (Automated Information System) readout, but most of the ships and tugs and tows were on anchor awaiting a call to enter a port for loading or unloading. Thank heavens for our auto pilot and the great course Wally had set up for it. We stayed vigilant to take over the wheel if obstacles appeared in our path, but we didn’t have to actually steer Summertime for most of the day. When, at mid-morning, we called Cape May’s Canyon Club Resort Marina to reserve a slip for two nights, the Dock Master ruefully reported that he was currently so fogged in that he couldn’t even see the slips from his office window. By the time we arrived at 2:30 pm, the sun was breaking through. Our nine-hour trip had been trouble-free… and the sun was a welcome sight.
Day Two in Cape May dawned cold and rainy. By 11am we had made our “Two Weeks On Chesapeake Bay” blog post and were ready to stretch our legs and go out exploring. The entire seaside town is a National Historic Landmark City. Being the only takers for the Welcome to Cape May Trolley Tour, we enjoyed all the personalized attention we received from the husband and wife team who shared the stories of their hometown.



Gold Loopers Allen and Lila on Blue Haven had invited us to join them for a drink and route planning later that afternoon. They had been our neighbors back in Portsmouth, VA, but we only got to acknowledge that their Looper status matched ours. We are both about to begin a trek on “the outside” up the Jersey shore to NYC… no ICW for protection. It’s 130 miles and will take two days travel time. Weather conditions play a big part in “go or no go” decisions, so we’ll be comparing notes. What are the strongest predictors saying today… about tomorrow and the next day? Enquiring minds want (and need) to know!