Right Turn, Clyde!

SHIP'S LOG:

About half way down the Jersey coast from Atlantic City to Cape May, I began to realize that there was no way that we were going to get to Newport News by Saturday and the trains for Bob & Fred. So I suggested that we make a right turn into Cape May, fuel go through the Cape May Canal, up Delaware Bay and towards Harve de Grace/Aberdeen, MD where Doug, who bailed out on the trip lives, and he could get Bob & Fred to AMTRACK in town. So this is what we would do. Unfortunately it meant getting into Cape May in fading light and high wind which wasn't the easiest trick.

The wind continued, but once we got inside the breakwater, the water became very calm and did our "BLIND PEW" imitation inching our water down the waterway to the South Jersey Marina which we got to about 8pm. We fueled up surround by these moving, seagoing condos, all of which were head south too. We hauled the dinghy out, deflated it and secured it to the foredeck. Bob & Fred stitched the Bimini back in place, a permanent fix awaits a grommet kit. I laid in the course for The C&D Canal and we pulled out about midnight to beat the coming weather.

Going through the Cape May canal was a bit nerve racking in that the water was only 14ft deep and it was dark. Bob was on the spotlight , I was on the helm and Fred was asleep. A vote of confidence. The only real problem was when we got to the Delaware Bay end and ran into the wind and the waves from the bay. It was 15 -20 and right on the nosey . . . again.

I did my turn at the helm and then abound our fate to Fred and Bob. I got three hours of more or less sleep before I was back on the helm for sunrise over Delaware Bay. It was actually quite beautiful, though about every 15 minutes or so, we would get a nice wave straight into the cockpit.

Much earlier than expected, we entered the C & D Canal at 11am. We will cruise down the canal until we get to Chesapeake Cit where we will dock at Shaffer's Marina.

LATER THAT SAME DAY . .. .

We got to Shaffer's on the C & D Canal only to fin d it closed! Evidently it has been so for a couple of years, so we decided to press on to Harve de Grace in Maryland at the top of the Chesapeake. We made it to the Tidewater Marina at 5pm. We rook a couple of hours to "clean the boat", actually getting it close to where it should be for me. We went out for dinner with Bob's friend Doug, who blew thew trip off, and got back to the boat at 9:30pm where Bob and Fred picked up their stuff and went to Doug's house so they could catch their trains at 4:19 AM! Me? I'm going to catch some ZZZZ's and then tomorrow head off to a near by cove and drop a hook and really get the boat back together. Then I will head off down the Chesapeake toward Norfolk taking as much time as necessary to get their safely. The really interesting past of this journey will then begin!