TRAVEL DAY 60 - Philadelphia to Delaware City
June 18, 2023
4.6 Hours/40.8 Miles
After 11 days back in Florida to take care of some family and business matters, we were back in Philadelphia and back on the boat. Philly was an interesting "off the Loop" stop but we were ready to continue on our adventure and head towards Cape May. Now for a twist. My crew received word that a family member was not doing well. We decided that it would be prudent to take this opportunity to go visit them. My youngest daughter filled in and came back with me to continue on the trip until the regular crew wrapped up the family visit.
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| Goodbye Philadelphia |
The new crew change would pose some challenges, mostly in training. Although not a difficult trip, once the captain and crew understand the day to day of the Loop the rest is just boat handling & itinerary planning. My new crew had a good understanding of boating as she grew up on the water and had gotten enough experience to run a 20' center console fishing boat. It would be the other things; radio usage, scheduling marina stays, provisioning, etc., that would need to be learned. I had no doubt that these would be easy tasks for this smart chick. Also, it would give us some time together, something you never regret and you never get back.
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| Bright eyed at 5:30 am |
I already had experience with the swift Delaware River current so the best option was to depart at 5:30 am to catch a 2 + mph current almost all the way to Delaware City. That's what we did, in fact it shaved almost 30 minutes off the trip. The new crew was raring to go and we slipped out into the river and made our way on this Father's Day to our destination. Getting there early in the day meant plenty of time to re-provision and set the boat up for the long voyage down Delaware Bay to Cape May.
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| Skipper Zelda reporting for duty |
At 4 pm the owner Tim at Delaware Bay Marina gave us a briefing as to what to look our for and what time to leave to navigate the large Delaware Bay. We were given a good forecast with "...as nice a day as we have seen in awhile". If we wanted to leave at 4 am we could catch a good outgoing tide, but would still end up fighting the current mid way. We opted for a more reasonable 7 am departure. It would mean using some extra fuel and time but would also mean some extra sleep.
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| Philadelphia to Delaware City |
TRAVEL DAY 61 - Delaware City, DE to Cape May, NJ
June 19, 2023
7.26 Hours/61.3 Miles
New Jersey would make state number 9 on this epic journey. We were advised that today was the day to cross the Delaware Bay on our over 7 hour trek, and the advice was spot on. We stayed just out of the main channel as we made our way south to avoid the large cargo ships and huge wakes.
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| Cape May Brewing |
We made Cape May easily and the only "bumpy" seas were probably the last hour as we crossed the opening to the Atlantic Ocean and prepared to enter the Cape May Canal. The canal was purportedly constructed to allow ships during WW II to stay out of the Atlantic and avoid the "Grey Wolves", German U Boats that patrolled the Atlantic sinking merchant ships in an effort to disrupt trade.
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| Cape May Canal |
Once through the canal we located Utsch's Marina and made a call for directions. Then entrance is not well marked and without their guidance on VHF 09 we would have surely run aground. In the marina we took on fuel to top off the tanks and backed in to our new home.
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| That is a lot of Chiquita Bananas |
We connected with the other 2 Loopers that had made the crossing with us. They decided to go on the next day north toward Atlantic City, as it looked like the last decent day for awhile. There are two routes to follow. The first is "outside" into the Atlantic. This tactic is for boats with deeper drafts and requires a good weather window for open ocean navigation. The second option is the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway or NJICW. This should only be attempted by boats with shallower drafts and most preferably on a rising tide. We chose the latter. I began to second guess my decision to stay behind but after receiving word from the other 2 boats that the trip was brutal, I was glad.
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| Cape May Homes |
The next day my temporary crew and I rented bicycles and explored Cape May. There is plenty to do here. We had a great lunch, hit some shops & rode to the cape to visit the lighthouse. After 200 steps up & down and a 4 mile bike ride, we certainly got our exercise for the day.
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| Bike Ride |
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| 200 steps up & 200 steps down |
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Cape May WW II Bunker
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The weather forecast was not looking great and Wednesday promised 32+ knot winds so I extended our stay at the marina for 2 more nights. The first day of summer in NJ brought wind, rain and 60 degrees. We decided it would be a good day for an inside activity so we hailed an Uber and headed for the Cape May Air Museum. Coincidentally, Cape May Brewing was in the same industrial complex! What a stroke of luck.
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| F14 Jet Tube |
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| Zelda The Riveter |
The wind blew steadily from the NE nearly all night with constant rain. The next morning the wind had slowed some but was still howling. With 1 more day in the marina waiting for the winds to subside, we did laundry and prepped the boat for the long trip up to Atlantic City. We crossed our fingers that Friday would be a good travel day.
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| Delaware City, DE to Cape May, NJ |
How exciting!!!! Looks like so much fun!
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