May 23rd

We are in our 8th state, New Jersey!!! I love hearing the Jersey accent!! I left off with our departure from Annapolis on Monday, May 20th for Chesapeake City. In order to transition from the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River and Bay you have to go through the C & D canal (Chesapeake & Delaware). It is the 3rd busiest canal in the world, probably because Baltimore is one of the busiest ports in the country and cargo ships have to come across the canal to get to and from the Atlantic

So we spent one night at the Chesapeake Inn & Marina. It was a remote marina with a great restaurant and Tiki Bar, Jack cannot pass up a Tiki Bar. The next morning we headed out on the C&D canal and soon hit some heavy fog.  We passed only one cargo ship on the C&D and we wondering why. When we arrived at the Delaware City Marina at the end of the canal we found out why. The marina staff wondered how we got through the canal since it had been closed to traffic due to the dense fog. OOPS! We think what happened is that we left at 7 AM just before the closing. 

The Delaware City Marina was great. By the end of the day there were at least 12 Looper Boats at the marina. What was special about this marina is, being at the top of the Delaware Bay, they have a unique knowledge about how to navigate the bay, taking in wind, waves and tides and get safely down to Cape May. Every afternoon at 4 PM the staff at the marina hold a briefing for boaters on the latest forecast for the next day. As it turned out, the next day, Wednesday, May 22 was a favorable day to cruise down the Bay, as long as we left early in the morning.   So we, and several of the other boats left around 6 AM for Cape May. It was a great cruise down the Delaware Bay, which we shared with at least 8 mega barges and tankers.

We had docktails around 5pm and joined 2 other couples for some great wood fired pizza!

This morning I went to a salon to get my hair washed and blown dry because I still can't do that due to my, as the dockmaster in Annapolis called it, broken wing!!

This afternoon Jack I walked 5 miles exploring Cape May. It is a sweet town with Victorian homes and a shopping and dining area called the Washington Street Mall. It is a closed off area at least 5 blocks long.  Tonight we are grilling steaks for dinner and watching the Boston Celtics Tomorrow we plan to do chores on the boat and have dinner at the Corinthian Yacht Club which is a sister club to the St Pete Yacht Club. Then on Saturday we head out for Atlantic City. $$$$$



Trip across the C&D canal







Entering Delaware City




Leaving Delaware City at 6 AM on Wednesday



Barge and Tanker traffic on  Delaware Bay




Cape May, NJ



Some of the Victorian Homes in Cape May



On Saturday we head out to Atlantic City. Because of shallow water in the intracoastal we will be going "outside" meaning up the coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Tomorrow is supposed to be a good weather day. Then we will stay in Atlantic City until the next good weather day to cruise up to Manasquan. From Manasquan we cruise to the Hudson River. When we get there, again, depends on good weather.
So pray to the "Weather Gods" for us!!  

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