October 14th & 15th- Atlantic Highlands NJ to Chesapeake City MD

It’s always tricky planning our trip south along the New Jersey coast. This time of year, the days and the weather windows are short. After checking the weather 1000 times we decided it was time to go. A small armada of boats left Atlantic Highlands for points south. Winds were light for parts of the trip and brisk at other times. We had some gusty north winds late into the night. We knew the wind switch was going to happen so were set up for it. Evergreen soared on into the night with our new genoa pulling us along. Eventually I had to slow the boat down as the steering was getting difficult and I didn’t want to break our autopilot (again). 

Sunrise at Cape May Light House.

The approach to Cape May was rough. We were concerned about what the sea conditions were going to be at the southern tip of NJ. It was beautiful. We had about 30 minutes of flat water and watched a nice sunrise. Then we hit the the standing waves and rough chop of Delaware Bay. If I was voting for “least favorite bay”, the award would go to the Delaware Bay. It always surprises me. We blasted into a wave as soon as we rounded Cape May and I got soaked. The whole boat had waves blasting over the bow. We sailed up the bay with these conditions until about noon on the 15th. The rest of the day was spent motoring up the bay and transiting the C&D Canal. Upon entering the C&D we had an unfortunate incident. We hit a 10′ log. Twice. We hit. It bounced somewhere and hit the hull again. We were not going slow. There doesn’t seem to be any prop cavitation so I think the propeller was spared. They made these old boats with thick hulls.

We wrapped up the voyage in Chesapeake City,  Maryland. We needed a break. It’s been a busy few weeks. 

October 17th- Chesapeake City MD

We’ve been relaxing and taking a break in Chesapeake City. The Admiral and I have been dinghying into town for lunch at the Cafe on the Bay. We’ve also been going for walks and hanging out with boat friends. 

Last night was a little less relaxing for an hour. We had a small squall as a weather front pushed through. All the boats changed direction. Our friend’s boat was swinging into another boat. Then, we were swinging toward a boat. I decided to move as the other vessel didn’t have many options. Re-anchoring, in the dark, during a squall is not relaxing.

An hour later we were having an Italian dinner with a glass of Portuguese wine. The wind died down but it rained for the rest of the night (hopefully washing off all of the salt from the Delaware Bay). The wine helped with the memories of the Delaware Bay. 

Halloween decorations in Chesapeake City MD

We visited the Chesapeake City museum. I found this portable drafting table interesting.