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