July 18, 2026 Three long cruising days to NY

 Saturday July 18, 2026  Baltimore to Great Kills, NY  267 miles and 28 hours over 3 days

Wednesday July 15, 2026  Baltimore to Chesapeake City  60 miles and 6.9 hours

Said goodbye to Baltimore with an 8AM departure.  Calm seas all day.  Decided on a minor detour up the Middle River to Bowleys Marina for a fuel stop.  Cheap diesel at just $4.25/gal.  Topped off the tanks with 175 gallons.   Middle River was where we first started boating back in late 80's when we lived in Pennsylvania. Bought 3 different boats from Anchor Bay Yacht Sales and kept them at Cutter Marina which is further up the river. Lot of water has passed under our keels since those days.

Tending to crab traps on the upper bay. 

Then made our way up towards the head of the bay.  Short cutted it behind Coles Island off the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.  Heard several ordinances being tested on the base and didn't think much of it until we rounded the northern end of Coles Island and was greeted by lights and sirens from a US Army patrol boat requesting we make an immediate turn to starboard and head outside the yellow markers which delineate the proving grounds waters.  Glad to comply. (Note those sharp turns on the NEBO map after the detour fuel stop)

Lighthouse at north end of Coles Island

Army patrol boat shooing us away from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds

Then on to the headwaters and start of Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal.  Chesapeake City has a free town dock we were hoping would have room for us.  Only accommodates about 3 boats of any size.  Skinny water entering the harbor - less than 1' under the keel as we stirred up mud while spinning the boat around to face out.   Deeper water alongside the dock.  Squeezed our way in-between the two boats already tied up. Able to use an adapter to get 50amps of power to use the A/C.  Critical as it feels like temps were well over 100.   Checked out the new Bayheads Brewery.   Decent IPA.   Then opted for dinner at the Chesapeake Inn.  Pretty good deal as Wednesday is Prime Rib night as well as 1/2 price bottles of wine.  Took a quick walk around the very scenic though small town.  Excellent job on preserving and restoring their historic homes and shops. Nice couple behind us on Boomerang in a Nordic Tug. We'll be traveling the same route the next few days.  

Entering the C&D Canal with Chesapeake City just past the bridge

Beer and bourbon at Bayheads Brewery. Out of River Rat and CnDouble
but the Canal House IPA was refreshing.

Chesapeake Inn and the Tiki Bar.  Party central on the weekends. 

Many of the old historic inns like the Bayard House are now B&B's.

Originally a Bank, then Town Hall, now a candy store

This beautifully restored building now houses an upscale Italian restaurant.  

The opening of the canal generated wealthy merchants
as evident by the homes they built.

Journey for July 15, 2026

Thursday July 16, 2026  Chesapeake City to Cape May. NJ.  73 miles and 7.8 hours

Off the dock at 8 AM.  Looks like fog but actually very smoky and hazy.  Wildfires in Canada now generating unhealthy air quality advisories in the northeast. Should be sticking around at least a few days. Caught a great current through the C&D canal shooting us through with an extra 2mph push. We pass under a multitude of bridges.  Thankfully they're all high rise to allow large ships unencumbered passage.

Smoky hazy morning as we start the day

Bridge that was barely visible in the distance on above picture

Got through the canal without any opposing big ship traffic. 

Once on the Delaware Bay we have an incoming tide which slows us down.  Smoky conditions continue.  Normal sights like the massive cooling towers for the nuclear plant look like a mirage in the distance.  AIS shows a cargo ship heading up the bay and it suddenly comes out of the mist like a ghost ship in a movie.  Even Ship John Shoal lighthouse is only visible once we get much closer.  Of course the smell of bird guano tells us we're approaching from downwind. 

Container ship heading up the bay.  Visible on AIS long before we made visual contact

Passing close by Ship John Shoal Lighthouse. The unique cast iron superstructure
 is of a Victorian Second Empire design.  Completed in 1877.

Make it to the entrance of Cape May canal where we meet the Cape May/Lewes ferry.  Decide not to push our luck and race him in.   Dredging going on once in the harbor.  Unable to tell what was going on as dredge is right at a corner of the channel with markers all around.  Numerous smaller boats around us in the same predicament.   Just stopped and idled to figure it out. Learned my lesson not to just take a guess. Too easy to judge wrong and go aground. Finally, a work boat gathered us all up and we followed him safely through.

The Cape May - Lewes ferry Delaware cutting us off...they're on a schedule, not us!

Tight squeeze through the abandoned RR swing bridge on the Cape May canal

Workboats show us the safe way around the dredging equipment

The Cape May anchorage area is pretty well known due it's easy access to or from the inlet.  Trouble is - it's not a very big anchorage.  Numerous sailing catamarans are already at anchor.  Picked our spot amongst them and dropped anchor.   When we came in we all lined up straight but as wind and currents changed the boats all went cattywampus.  One pointing N, another S, another E, as well as one small sailboat appeared to be dragging anchor.  Decided to raise our anchor and just move closer towards an open area closer to the inlet where Boomerang had settled in.  A little more wave action with sport fishing and sightseeing boats coming in the inlet, but that settled down once it got dark.

Final anchorage away from the crowds as the sun sets into the hazy horizon. 
 That's Boomerang with the blue hull behind us.

Journey for July 16, 2026

Friday July 17, 2026   Cape May, NJ up the Atlantic to Great Kills, NY  134 miles and 13.2 hours

Should be the longest travel day of our trip.  Need to get a very early start so alarms are set for 4:30AM with a 5:30AM planned departure once we have some light.   All good raising anchor and easy cruise out to the ocean.  Waves are forecast at very manageable 2' today.  Temps just into the upper 80's. Last good day to do the offshore run.  Rain is forecasted for Saturday, then wind and waves pick up for a while.  We run 2-5 miles offshore. Smoky day continues, but lets up a bit as the day goes on.   At times we get a glimpse of shore.  Mostly just a lot of open water.   Friday afternoon fishermen are out on the artificial reefs as we pass Barnegat Inlet.  Otherwise, not much going on. 

Trawler returning from an overnight outing as we head out the Cape May Inlet

Yup.  Another smoke-filled hazy morning along the Jersey shore

Sun is up but can hardly break through the smoke.  

The forecast for 2' seas was accurate, making for a long but smooth day. 

Air quality map shows smoke funneling in from Canada

Make our way around Sandy Hook.  Barely able to see the Verrazzano Bridge due to smoky haze.  Then into Great Kills Harbor and find our usual mooring ball, N3.  Made arrangements with Richmond County Yacht Club for 3 days here.  They put us on this same mooring ball every visit as it's designated for larger boats.  Plan on using Saturday as a chill out day then grab the launch and head to town Sunday.  Frank and Sal's Italian Market awaits!!

Secured to a mooring ball in Great Kills watching that big red ball of fire
 slowly being engulfed into the smoky horizon

Journey for July 17, 2026

July 14, 2026 Finishing our time in Baltimore

Mid July 2026  Cleaning, farmers market, museums, food and drinks

Heavy duty wash needed on the boat. Our 4th of July banners bled blue and red ink that required special cleaners and scrubbing.  Hate doing that as it also takes off the wax.   Midges (also known as blind mosquitos) were finishing the season. Thankfully they are non-biting, but they would cover areas of the boat each night leaving plenty of black poop dots that required hard scrubbing to eliminate.  We have learned over time not to try wiping, sweeping or hosing these bugs off as that leaves a bigger mess.  Best method is to use the battery powered blower we have on board for just this problem. Multi-hour process in the heat but boat finally looks good.

Our location is very convenient to a number of shops.  Nice Ace hardware. A large Safeway grocery store makes for easy provisioning.  Had been having issues with the recharge cord being temperamental connecting into my phone which the uBreakiFix store was able to correct. 20 seconds to pull out a tiny dust bunny with a special tool.  Bit of a rip off but seems to have corrected the problem. Made four trips to B'more Licks for ice cream during our stay. Sounds bad but with this heat it was necessary and only averaged out to once per week!

With crowds like this you better believe the ice cream is fantastic!

Been trying to take advantage of the multitude of eateries within walking distance. NiHao was a highly rated Chinese restaurant. Very authentic.  Chopsticks only.  Lots of dumplings and shared plates. Took me back to my time in Taiwan and Hong Kong.  All delicious.  Mahaffey's Pub is one of those small local bars in the corner building in a set of row homes. Wed. happy hour and wings night.  Selected the Honey Old Bay sauce.  A sticky, flavorful, finger licking mess!    Went up to Canton square for an early dinner at Mama's on the Half Shell for some seafood.  Cream of Crab soup was delicious. Way too much batter on my fish and chips but Martha's shrimp tacos were good.  On to Vaccaros's for some Italian pastry - a slice each of Tiramisu and Napoleon.  Then stop at B'more Pies for a slice of Apple Crumb Pie and some Lemon Bars.   Fridge was filled with more desserts than food for several days.  And of course, B'more licks for ice cream a few more times.  

Mahaffey's Corner Pub

Typical corner pub.  A bar, some TV's, and a couple tables.
 Plaques covering the walls honor members of the "100 Beer Club"

Those delicious Honey Old Bay seasoned wings.
And a pint of hazy IPA on the side.  

Fells Point Farmers Market is every Saturday morning. Nice selection of produce plus usual collection of other vendors.  We picked up sweet corn, peaches, tomatoes, and a container of the smallest eggplants I had ever seen.  All consumed within a few days and all fantastic.  Nothing like a BLT sandwich made with a big home-grown beefsteak tomato where one thick juicy slice covers the entire piece of bread. 

 After the market we walked over to President Street Station - Civil War Museum.   First fatalities of the war during a skirmish between a regiment of Mass. Union soldiers headed to Washington and Southern successionist in Baltimore. The soldiers were trying to get from the train station in Fells Point to the one over in Camden.  The mob started throwing rocks, bricks, etc. at the soldiers.  Eventually shots rang out and 4 soldiers and 12 civilians were killed.  

In the mid 1800's tracks and covered stations ran for blocks behind this entrance. 
By the 1930's the building was abandoned, gutted and ready for demolition before it was rescued. 

Education completed we started getting hungry. Continued our walk over to Little Italy for a late lunch.  We had our heart set on Cafe Gia which was supposed to be open for lunch but doors were locked. Opted for Chiapparelli's.  Good meal and quite reasonable.  Waitresses were stereotypical Italian Grandma's.  Kept waiting for one to pinch my cheek and shout "Manga!!" Martha's standard  - Eggplant Parmesan.  John - Penne Vodka with Grilled Chicken. Bunch of walking in the heat.  Over 11,000 steps on the Health App on the phone so at least we're walking off some of the good eats. 

Cafe Gia - love the mural covered outside of the building

Looking for something to do one Sunday afternoon and decided to take a hike over to the Brewers Hill area and check out Mobtown Brewery.  Back in the 70's Baltimore selected the moniker Charm City as part of a marketing campaign.  But since the early 19th century it's routinely been called Mobtown. That civil war story above was just one of many instances where the citizens of Baltimore formed mobs and rioted.  Brewery Hill was a heavily German area with multiple breweries. Most notable was National Brewery who produced National Bohemian beer - a Baltimore staple referred to as Natty Boh.  The brewery closed but the brand is still around having passed through multiple hands.  The building is currently a condo complex but one-eyed Mr. Boh still sits proudly atop the building.  Got a nice flight of beer at Mobtown.   Building is located at the edge of what was once the start of a large industrial complex that provided the blue-collar jobs for so many of Baltimore's workers back in the day.  The Canton area was considered one of the most industrialized areas on the east coast at one time, with copper smelting, steel mills, refineries, auto plants, etc.    According to my bartender the Mobtown Brewery building at one time was used to produce aircraft engines.  Massive overhead cranes still hang overhead.  

The old National Brewery Building.
One time home to Natty Boh and their logo Mr. Boh

Mobtown Brewery.  Abandoned industrial complex property
 in background waiting for redevelopment

My Flight. #4 Breaking Bradish Hazy NE IPA 6.8%, #8 Disco Nap DIPA 8.0%,
 #3Natty Dough Vienna Lager 5.1%, #7 Old Fangs Baltic Porter 8.3%,
and #9 Ay, Caramba Mexican Lager 4.6%

Currently spending time looking closely at multiple weather apps as we get ready to start traveling again.  Need that nice weather window to go around NJ on the outside.  Also busy looking over our notes, guides and navigation charts trying to figure out destinations along the Long Island Sound.  It's been a fun but extremely hot time here in Baltimore. Quickly coming to a close.

July 10, 2026 More of Baltimore

 July 10, 2026  Finding things to do in Baltimore

The Sail 250 festivities left Baltimore and headed up to NYC for the 4th.  We've been stewing here through day after day of 95-103 degree weather.  Not doing much as the heat just doesn't lend itself to walking around the town exploring.   Running 3 of our 4 A/C units on the boat pretty much non-stop.  Just glad we're in a marina with reliable power.  

We come up north to avoid the summer heat. 
Might as well stay in GA if it's gonna be like this!!

Baltimore put on a pretty good fireworks display for the 4th.  Unfortunately, weather interfered as we had a strong storm blow through late afternoon into the evening.  Winds whipped up white caps out in the harbor, couple boats in the marina had bimini tops damaged, then some torrential rain.   Same front that went through Washington DC and disrupted their activities. Finally passed and fireworks originally scheduled for 9PM were reset for 10.  It was supposed to be a 1/2 hour show.  Quite impressive but only lasted about 12 minutes.  Seems like they maybe accelerated everything as it looked like just one long 12 minute finale with constant barrage of multiple blasts. We had a first rate viewing platform up on the flybridge. 

We had another boater tell us about a museum we should visit called the American Visionary Arts Museum.   They couldn't quite describe it but said it was different from anything they had been to before.  Piqued our curiosity and seemed like inside an A/C'ed building on a 103 degree day would be a smart move.  It's on the other side of the harbor over by Federal Hill so got a quick Lyft ride over.  Their focus is self-taught artists - seemed like many picked up art while fighting through depression or traumatic issues.   Lots of unique art and sculptures but nothing that you'd find in a typical art museum. 

Exterior of the museum is covered in 3 large mirrored mosaics

Atop the entrance to the museum - sort of tells you it won't be a normal experience

16' long model of Lusitania made entirely of toothpicks. 
Gap in the middle as artist only had room to build half at a time

This was originally part of a display at the Bergdorf Dept store in NYC.  

They say the human eye can distinguish more shades of green than any other color.

Close up was fascinating as the entire display is made of organic material 
such as the wheat stalks and assorted grains and seeds. 

This was a community art project for underprivileged local kids. 
Took an old Pontiac station wagon and covered it in glass bottles.

I initially thought this was a tree root, but it was an above ground structure
 called "The Phone Booth". Years in the making created by
 methodically bending and twisting tree branches as it was growing.

We learned there was a Baltimore Immigration Museum across the harbor over in the Locust Point area.  Martha had always heard that her grandfather and his two brothers came to America through Baltimore so wanted to see if she could find any details despite having pretty limited additional information.    Baltimore welcomed more German immigrants during its heyday than any other nationality.  Plenty of Poles and other eastern Europeans came through too!!  Museum is in the old German Immigrant House.  A 3-story building built next to and by the local church.  German immigrants could stay until they had a more permanent destination. These houses, which were supported by the local community, were pretty common for each ethnic group. Ran into an issue in her research as the immigration docks burned down in 1914 and pretty much put an end to direct migration here.   She thinks her grandfather came to the US after 1914.  SOooo.... more research to do.  

Learned about the large Polish population that also came through and settled in Baltimore.   Very heavy  settlement in the area we're staying - Canton and Fells Point.    Polish Immigration House in Canton is right on the main street as is the one in Fells Point.  Many of the Polish women and children found work in the local food canning industry.  Men did heavier work as blue-collar factory workers.   Came across the Katyn Memorial during our walk in Fells Point.  Honors numerous distinguished Polish warriors going back to Boleslaw Chrobry in 1000 who was the first crowned king of Poland.  The Katyn Forest Massacre was a horrific story dating to 1940 when 22,000 Polish military officers, police officers, border guards and POW's were executed by the Soviet Secret Police under Joseph Stalin's order and buried in mass graves.   For years the Soviets tried to blame it on Nazi Germany before finally admitting the truth.  The 3 Polish officers at the base represent the victims of the massacre.  The female  figure on the right side is Lt. Jawidga Lewandowska, a Polish Air Force Pilot. She is the only known female to have met the same fate as the other officers.

The Katyn Memorial in Fells Point

Been finding some good murals around town.  

Martha kept telling me to lean back further.  I had to remind her I didn't actually have a rope to grab.

No mistaking what's to be had at B'more Licks.  100+ flavors of ice cream!!