October 7 thru October 17, 2006

Out Like a Rocket

Although a sailboat, we roared out of Stonington nevertheless. Twenty kts. of wind, following seas, and a favorable push of 2 to 4 kts. from the Race sped us along at ten kts. down Long Island Sound headed for Port Jefferson. We were grateful as we made the 60 nautical miles to Port Jefferson in record time. The next morning, after a quiet night on the hook, we had a leisurely sail over to Oyster Bay and enjoyed the warm sun and serenity of this well-protected, picturesque harbor. An hour or so of tide and current calculations gave us leave the following day for another terrific ride. With just two other sailboats for company, we rode the current through Hell Gate in the East River, down through New York City harbor and over to Sandy Hook. Our elusive weather window came the next day. We left Sandy Hook at 1:00 p.m. and headed out for the 18-hour passage to Cape May. In the hope of meeting less commercial shipping traffic, we decided to alter our past route to take us between 3 and 5 miles offshore instead of the 5 and 7 miles offshore. This decision paid off as we had to negotiate passing with only one tug and barge at 2:00 a.m. just off of Atlantic City. We arrived at Cape May around 6:30 a.m. the following morning and anchored off the Coast Guard station while waiting for the Utschs’ marina to awaken.

After a couple of days of rest and boat maintenance, we left Cape May and took the long way around the Cape May shoals and up the Delaware. The weather called for 10 to 15 kts. out of the west. About 2 hours into it, the winds started climbing to 20 to 25 kts. Our reefed main and staysail combination worked well as the short steep waves began to break over our port bow. Had it not continued to climb, we would have had a boisterous, but manageable ride, up the Delaware to our anticipated anchorage at Reedy Island. Instead, the wind continued to build. Now 30 kts.--with gusts up to 35 kts.--out of the northwest, we decided to scramble over to our only available sanctuary, the Cohansey River. We tucked tail and raced for the bar which we passed over with plenty of water to spare. Our friends at the Hancock Harbor Marina put us up for the night.

Maintenance Notes: Apart from our normal routine maintenance chores, since the start of the trip, we have replaced the house fresh water pump (pin-hole in the diaphragm) in Stonington, took apart and tightened the seals on our Lighthouse windlass in Cape May after noticing some gear fluid leaking, rebolted the starboard jib fairlead in the Cohansey that was left unbolted by some ship yard worker a few years back causing water to leak into our aft head, and fixed the stopper on the mainsail track that was knocked off by a north west gust while we were bringing out the mainsail on the Delaware. I think we may need to have our mainsail recut to improve its shape, but it’s ok for now.

The next afternoon, still a bit wobbly, but with tides and current in our favor, we left the shelter of the Cohansey river and beat the remaining 20 miles up the Delaware to the entrance of the C& D canal. With relief, as the sun slowly sank in front of us, we motored 7 miles through the canal to North Summit Marina in Bear, Delaware. We tied up on the T-head of B dock and celebrated our achievement. Most cruising folks we talk to don’t particularly like the passage from New York to the Chesapeake, especially this time of year. After our third time making this passage, we agree.

Waiting out a warm front with strong southeast wind and heavy rain, Sandy makes an apple pie. I’m working on an Irish stew with several new ingredients I’ve selected from our available stores. Tomorrow, we’ll start our passage down the Chesapeake on our way to Annapolis and that means crab cakes and Guinness. After that, our next destination may be St Michaels as we work our way south. It feels good to have the Delaware behind us.