Wednesday June 19, 2024 Baltimore to Salem River. 8.8 hours 79 miles
Off the dock a bit before 8. First stop is the Baltimore Yacht Club to top off the fuel tanks. Price is good at $3.50/gal. and thought it best to have full tanks as we do the Delaware Bay and up the NJ coast. Down the Patapsco under sunny skies. Gonna be a hot one in the 90's. Light winds. Under the remnants of the Key Bridge again. The channel has now been cleared of the bridge structure debris and is fully open to marine traffic. We still took the alternate small boat channel - just too weird feeling to use the main channel. Next up is a charted cut through behind Hart-Miller Island at low tide to get to Middle River. Depth finder gradually went to 0, then showed nadda. But we were still coasting along and charts showed a supposed 7-9 feet. Pucker factor but it soon started reading positive numbers again - just a really nasty shoal developing. Around the bend to BYC and after a pumpout and 260 gallons of diesel we were back on our way.
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Osprey keeping a watchful eye to see if we
ground as passing through the cut |
Final stretch of the upper Chesapeake Bay in familiar territory. This area is our old stomping grounds from our initial foray into boating when we lived in PA. back in the mid 80's. Out the river and around Poole Island then a straight shot north to the entrance of the C&D canal. Getting small swells on the stern from the southerly wind against an outgoing tide. Not a concern - just slows us down a bit. Make it to the canal and initial plan is to see if there is room for us at Chesapeake City free dock. Two other loopers already there so no room for us. It's only 2:30 so we decide to push on through the canal with a favorable current.
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| Plenty of bridges over the C&D but all full height |
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| Large ships can pass through the C&D but this was the largest we saw |
Most loopers head north when leaving the canal and stay in Delaware City. Great helpful dockmaster at the marina with lots of advice for traveling down the Delaware Bay and up the NJ coast. But it's just a narrow fairway where they assist in spinning your boat. We had some damage in the process with our 38' boat so not interested in trying it with this one. We opted for an anchorage across the bay up Salem River. Coming off the bay and up the river we see dredges aside the channel. Always makes me nervous. Shoaling at the entrance extends further than the charts so our depth finder gets another workout. More shallow water as we pass the dredge but plenty of water after them where they have completed work. We round a few bends and anchor at the designated place. Good holding, depths, protection. A bit of road noise but that eased up at night. Overall, a good night's sleep after a longish first day back in the saddle.
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| Journey for June 19, 2024 |
Thursday June 20, 2024 Salem River to Cape May 6.3 hours 62 miles
Not sure if it was the peacefulness of the anchorage or the exhaustion from a long day on the water but we both slept very soundly. Never even woke up for my customary 3 AM anchor alarm check. Martha got some extra sleep as we had no plans for an early departure. Anchor up at 9 AM provided the best time for a favorable push down the Delaware Bay. First few hours we had a light breeze and flat calm but against a slight incoming current. Then it turned and we got a great 1+ kt favorable current the balance of the day.
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| The cooling tower and steam from this power plant is visible for miles |
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| John's Shoal light is a bit spooky but critical for defining the main channel |
Drawback was we also got increasing winds against the current so choppy conditions. Nothing terrible, just choppy. Stayed out of the main channel, dodged a few crap pots and watched a parade of ships headed northbound to Philly.
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| Interesting vessel. The tug tucks into a cutout on the stern |
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| Smaller container ship headed to Philly |
Surprisingly, not a single southbound ship. Only excitement for the day came as we were heading into the Cape May canal. The ferry New Jersey was also heading in from Lewes, Delaware. I was tracking her on AIS making a little better time than us then the GPS unit showed us on a collision course. Decided I didn't want to be behind her and deal with her docking at the terminal so punched it onto plane and stayed barely ahead of her. Uneventful thru the canal and into Cape May.
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| Throttle up to beat the ferry "New Jersey" into Cape May channel |
Dropped the hook at the anchorage just past the Coast Guard station with a number of other boats including three other loopers. Not sure of their plans or ours for tomorrow. Maybe to Atlantic City or maybe put her on plane and do a distance run all the way to Staten Island. Offshore waves turn really bad starting Sunday, so we've got to take advantage of these less than ideal conditions or we're stuck for a week until the next weather window.
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| Sunset in Cape May, NJ |
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| Journey for June 20, 2024 |
Friday June 21, 2024 Cape May, NJ to Great Kills, NY 10.3 hours 136 miles
Two options leaving Cape May. The two-day option would have us hoping this current weather window remained open thru Saturday. The one-day option meant a long run in one day, but with a forecast with a bit more certainty. We opted for a 5:15 AM start and the one day option.
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| Beautiful sunrise, light winds and gentle swells as we begin the day |
Weather says 2' seas to start but growing to 3' as the S-SE winds picks up - especially along the upper portion of NJ in the afternoon. Once out the inlet we push the throttles to 2200 rpm and cruise at 15mph. Fuel costs be damned. We do this for 6 hours at which time we're staying ahead of the afternoon buildup. We drop to 1700 rpm and 12 mph. Still higher than our usual comfortable and economic 1400 rpm. Not much to do on open water passages. The swells on the stern quarter push the boat around a bit so the autopilot and stabilizers are getting a nice workout.
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| Up on plane while conditions are favorable |
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| Making good time as we pass Atlantic City after just 3 hours |
Once around the protection of Sandy Hook the seas flatten allowing a comfortable slow cruise into Great Kills Harbor. We hail Richmond County Yacht Club and receive our mooring ball assignment. N3 on the far side of the bay behind the tree line. Exhausted but satisfied with our decision we toast the day, grill up some dinner, watch Oppenheimer on Netflix and hit the bed for a sound night's sleep not even being bothered by the heat wave taking over the area. Saturday we hail the launch provided by RCYC and head for Frank and Sal's Italian Market. Lots of goodies but we opt for mixed Italian cookies for tonight and NY style crumb cake for tomorrow's breakfast. Lured in by the sign at Goodfella's stating "Voted World's Best Pizza" we opt for a late lunch. Tasty wood fired pizza concoctions but "World's Best" may be an overstatement. Although, the Roma tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, Kalamara olives, mushroom, artichoke hearts and capers was pretty delicious. Rather than heading straight back to the heat of the boat, we opted for a drink and the A/C of the clubhouse bar. We watched in awe as a severe squall line passed through hoping the boat was okay. 50 mph gusts, sideways torrential rain, thunder and lightning, whitecaps in the harbor. Thankfully the mooring ball rigging all held tight in our absence. Rather glad to not be onboard. Only damage upon our eventual return was the missing Gold Looper burgee off our bow staff which the wind gods took as their own. Sunday we'll head over to Great Kills Yacht Club for a slip and power to enjoy some A/C. Forecasted to hit 95 degrees.
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| Journey for June 21, 2024 |
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