The work on the new dingy davit was finally completed so we said a fond farewell to Annapolis and headed north on June 16. We really enjoyed our month at Bert Jabins Yacht Yard. Bert Jabins had a boater appreciation day while we were there and we had some of the best barbecue ever from Mission Barbecue. We can highly recommend it! During our stay, we took many trips on the dingy to restaurants and we did a lot of walking since we had to walk to the grocery store for food and to the coffee shop to log on to the internet. Our boater friends Vicki and Tom on Grand Baron and Dean and Char on Carrie Rose also visited us. It is great to have time to catch up with friends! We are not sure when we will get back to Annapolis, but it continues to be one of our favorite places we have visited on the Loop. It truly is a boating mecca! Below are some of our favorite pictures from Annapolis.
Now This is the Life!!
cWhen we finally left Annapolis on June 16, it felt so good to be out on the water and cruising again!! The weather was beautiful and the water was calm, so we were happy boaters! We left Annapolis at 9 a.m. and arrived at an anchorage in the Sassafras River by 2:30 p.m. Much to our delight, when we approached our anchorage, we received a radio call from our boating friends Dean and Char on Carrie Rose (32' Nordic Tug) from Chicago. They are spending time in the Chesapeake and they were already anchored in the same area where we were headed. We were able to anchor successfully next to Carrie Rose. Carey deployed the dinghy and brought Dean and Char to Tug LeeLoo for docktails. And we got to show off our new dinghy davit! We enjoyed the anchorage even though the bugs came out at dusk. In the morning, there was a bit of fog that soon lifted.
June 17 - Our cruise to Delaware City was good, although there was rain in the area that we knew could cause us some problems. At one point, we actually slowed down because we could see it raining hard in front of us. We entered the C and D Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware) and found there was a strong following current - we were traveling several miles an hour faster than our normal 8 or 9 miles an hour.
The C&D canal connects the Delaware River / Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake Bay. So ocean going freighters (especially car carriers) heading to Baltimore and can save nearly 300 miles by not having to go all the way south to enter the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. This means you could come face to face with an ocean going freighter in the narrow canal.
To manage traffic in the canal, there are red/green "stop and go" lights at each end of the canal. Fortunately, when we passed through the canal, we had a green light and no opposing ship traffic.
Our goal was to get to Delaware City and lay over there for a day or two waiting for good weather and water in the Delaware Bay. From the C and D Canal, we cruised to Delaware City and docked at the Delaware City Marina which is along the original C and D Canal. Because of the strong current in the canal, on arrival, the dock hands use your dock lines to spin you around to face out before they tie off your boat. That way it will be easy to leave when it's time to do so. We met up with Loopers Jane and Al on InSpeyered 2 at the marina. We had first met them during the winter of 2016 at Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon, FL. Our paths finally crossed again in Delaware City!
Delaware City is a nice little town. The main attraction is a civil-war fort (Fort Delaware) located on Pea-pod Island. We took the ferry there and spent a couple of hours exploring the fort. There were people there dressed in 1864 period clothing. Very interesting. The fort was never fired on and it never fired its cannons on anyone else. It was basically used as a prison for Confederate solders. With the current in the Delaware Bay, there was literally no way for the prisoners to escape.
Every evening, the dock master at the marina gave a briefing of upcoming water and weather conditions on the Delaware Bay to help boaters decide when to leave. The first night we were there, the predictions were rather dyer and we knew we would have to stay a few days for the water on the Delaware Bay to settle down. It turns out that the bay is a big body of water with tides and currents and counter currents and rivers that feed into it. Interestingly, there is not much information in the looper community about the Delaware Bay. So we were surprised about how challenging it was to do this leg of the loop (about 60 miles). We ended up spending 3 nights at the marina. We did enjoy the little town. There were restaurants, bars, and ice cream!
On Tuesday, June 20, we were finally able to leave Delaware City on a rising tide and travel the 60 miles to Canyon Club Marina in Cape May. We traveled with Looper friends Jane and Al on InSpeyered 2. Once again, we cruised fast thanks to a push from the current and were there in record time! The water and wind conditions were good and there were many other boats traveling. It seemed everyone was taking advantage of the good cruising conditions.
The two days we spent in Cape May were very enjoyable. The marina was rather remote from the heart of Cape May, but they did offer a shuttle bus to get there. We took advantage of the service and were able to see the quaint coastal town of Cape May. Close to the beach and downtown, Cape May is full of old Victorian hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts close to the beach. Very nice.
We bid goodbye to Cape May on Thursday, June 22. It started out as a beautiful sunny day, but as we neared the inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, a fog rolled in and the water was very choppy. The Captain had control of the helm, but it felt like it was going to be a roller-coaster ride for a while. Once we were through the inlet and turned north towards Atlantic City, the water settled down a bit and the fog finally lifted. We traveled about 3 miles offshore so once the fog lifted we were within sight of land. The water was beautiful most of the trip! Calm with maybe 2 foot rollers. We cruised 42 miles in the Atlantic Ocean to get to Atlantic City where we docked at Farley State Marina which is part of the Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel property. Of course, we have done a little gambling while we are here!
We took the Jitney (city bus, only $2.25 one way) to the Atlantic City Boardwalk and had lunch at Johnny Rockets. The boardwalk is a shadow of its former self. The only casinos still open were Ballys and Caesars. It was interesting to see the boardwalk but we don't feel the need to go back.
Last night (June 24), we went to a Dionne Warwick concert at the Golden Nugget. It was a short concert (1 hr, 15 min), but Dionne sang all the old songs that made her popular. It was a good concert and well attended.
Once again, we had to wait a couple of days for the water in the Atlantic Ocean to settle down because our trip to Atlantic City and then on to New York City would require cruising in the ocean. The ICW (Inter-coastal Waterway) along New Jersey is very shallow and not recommended for cruising. We plan to leave tomorrow (June 26) for Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island in New York. It will be an 11+ hour cruise on the Atlantic Ocean so we plan to leave at 6 a.m. The water is predicted to be relatively calm so it should be a good day go leave. Wish us luck!
