Oct 15

Skipper Bob (the now deceased guru of the intercoastal waterway) recommends that you leave Cape May 2 hours after low tide in order to ride the tidal current all the way up the Delaware River to the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal and that this will also allow you to ride the current through the canal.

The group with whom we had dinner insisted that we should leave only 1 hour after low tide. They were so insistent that we decided to go along even though this meant leaving at 6:00 AM.

What we found out at that ungodly hour was that there are two routes one can take from Cape May. The shorter route involves using the Cape May Canal which has bridges only 55’ high (not a problem for us). The longer route involves leaving Cape May by the Atlantic Ocean inlet and then going around the cape. This longer route adds at least 5 miles and almost an hour to your trip. We took the short route. They all took the long route. Had we left the anchorage an hour later (Skipper Bob’s recommendation), we would have had an even start.

As it worked out, it worked out! The fastest of the other boats (the Great Catsby) caught us about 5 miles from the entrance of the C&D canal. The next fastest, Calypso, also a Manta 42, caught us more or less at the entrance. The tidal current in the canal was almost nil. While this is not as good as a following current for mileage, it is good from the perspective of meeting large barges in a narrow canal in that they will have a relatively easy time controlling their load.

The Great Catsby was just far enough in the lead that they could scout out a relatively deep water (6 or 7 feet deep) passage across the sand bar guarding the entrance to the bay and was anchored when we arrived.

The monos that were travelling with passed up and down the sand bar guarding the entrance but elected to anchor in the mouth of the bay rather than take the risk of crossing. They reminded me of dogs lining up outside a glass patio door wanting in because they can smell the preparation of food, but not being allowed. They looked very sad.

The crews of the monos joined us by dingy, however, and a great party was held by all.

The pictures show some of the variety of craft encountered while transitting the canal. This was on top of the large number of power boats, often moving at high speed. I believe there had been a powerboat show in Annapolis the week before and many of these boats were demonstrators being returned either to their place of manufacture or to a dealer.