Up early again to start out from Cape May for the Delaware Bay, Our original plan was to anchor behind Reedy Island on Friday night, then go through the C&D Canal Saturday morning and anchor somewhere in the Chesapeake like Still Pond Saturday night. Plans change. When we got to the Delaware Bay, we discovered the weather was HORRIBLE. With this small craft advisory we had gusts to 25 (we saw 26 sometimes...) and waves going up the Delaware that would have made anchoring at Reedy very uncomfortable. So, we pushed through, making the canal by 7:30 Friday night, and having our anchor down by 2am Saturday morning in the Sassafras River.
So, the passage was rough. We did have some good sailing early, with the SE winds giving us a pretty good downwind push up the Bay. But, with the wave action pushing the boat around, we did have an unintentional jibe, and the force of the shift broke our traveller and shredded some rigging. Oy. So, we motorsailed with the staysail. The Delaware Bay really has nothing going for it. It is blank to the sailboat passenger, and the ocean-like conditions don稚 fade until north of the Salem Nuclear Power Plant (which is very attractive as these things go...) However, we were welcomed early in the morning by dolphins that escorted us from the Atlantic to the mouth of the Bay. They gave us hope that we could do this. The Canal passage was fairly uneventful, though we were apprehensive at first about entering at night. But it was well lit; we found our way. We did have a couple of towed barges overtake us and a huge tanker come at us without notice. There were a few sailboats -- undoubtedly all headed south to find the elusive warmer weather. (We have been in foulie gear now for two days straight.)
We are now sitting at anchor in the Sassafras off the Chesapeake and the sun is coming out. It is warm and it feels good to be home in THE Bay.
Sassafras River: +39° 22' 25.74", -76° 2' 58.80"
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