We hugged the eastern side of the bay under overcast skies and turned into the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in late morning. Pulled up to the Chesapeake City Municipal Dock just before noon at high tide.
Even little Chesapeake City can keep their sidewalk clock running. Come on, Chattanooga.
The super high bridge was designed to allow supertankers to pass underneath on their way to the Chesapeake.
At high tide, we had 6 feet of water under the boat at the dock. The bad news was that the tidal range was over four feet. Meaning, at low tide, we would be in less than 2 feet of water. (Invictus needs 3.5 feet). The good news was that the City Docks were free. Our first "free" night of the trip.
So, I decided that I would get up very early on Tuesday morning and start moving the boat when we had 3.5 feet of water under us. The tide table predicted that would happen at 5:00 a.m. If I waited, we would be stuck in the mud until 10:30.
Another huge factor was the current in the C and D canal. It flows back and forth with the tide and has a peak current of over 2 knots. Then, when you enter the Delaware Bay, the Delaware River has its own current schedule. So, if you plot all of that out, we were well served to leave early (at 5 a.m.) to maximize all of these factors for us.
I pulled away from the Marina at 5:15 while Linda and Olive slept below. I probably churned up a little mud as I left the dock, but we made it into the 45-foot deep canal in the pitch black of early morning. The canal was full of debris so I had to motor at very slow speed until I could see. About 6 a.m. I could see the surface of the water in the pre-dawn light. I picked up our speed to make it through the 14-mile canal.
At about 7:00, Invictus turned right into the Delaware River, headed South toward the Atlantic Ocean. We were 60 miles from Cape May. Linda got up about 8:00 and asked me to slow down so that she could use the head and get ready for the day.
We started meeting some huge ships in the Delaware River. Two large freighters and a gigantic Coast Guard Cutter (the Hamilton), among others.
About 10:00 a.m., we made a slight turn at the Miah Maull Shoal toward Cape May. There the NE wind and waves started hitting the boat broadside. The short interval between waves made for a very uncomfortable ride. Olive was not happy.
After a couple of uncomfortable hours we made it into the Cape May Canal where there was a dredge operating and a strong current against us. We pulled into the South Jersey Marina about noon after a 75 mile trip.
The Marina had the nicest bath facilities we had seen in weeks. The owner took us into town in the marina's minivan for a grocery run. She toured us through the pretty town of Cape May. Lots of Victorian houses with painted gingerbread trim. If the sun had been out, it might have really been pretty.
We had a great pizza at a local restaurant and then stopped by the "Lobster House" Fish market. We bought a dozen clams (topped with cheese and bacon) a dozen scallops, a big piece of Flounder, and a half pound of lobster salad...all for $30! We are provisioned for another week.
Everyone here is still talking about "Super Storm Sandy." The effects of the storm on marinas and other shore structures are still visible everywhere.
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