360 Water View

May 27, 2019 – It was a topic every time we’d meet up with other Loopers in Cape May. “When are you leaving?” “How far are you going to go?” “Which way – on the inside or the outside?”

For us, this was our first leg out an inlet and into the ocean. We’d studied the various weather sites, scrutinizing the tides, currents, swells, winds and wave heights.

Go now? Stay? Maybe Monday? By ourselves, or with a ‘buddy boat’?

In the end, there was consensus that Monday looked like the best day, with long ocean swells, and winds that weren’t too high.

We got up early, and the day started with a magnificent sunrise. After fueling up as soon as they opened at 7am, we were underway and headed out the inlet behind another boat. It turned out to be totally drama-free, and we were out in the ocean. The color changed, a couple of times throughout the day, but definitely different from the waters of the Chesapeake that we have boated in for so long.

We passed by the beaches and amusement parks of Wildwood, and then the highrises of Atlantic City came into view. Our original thinking had been that we’d make the ocean trip in three jumps, with the first being into Atlantic City. The forecast seemed so good, however, that everyone leaned toward bypassing Atlantic City, and pressing on to Manasquan, the other Class A inlet that would be safe for us to come into from the ocean (without detailed ‘local knowledge’). A long day, but the ocean conditions couldn’t have been much better.

The ride was very smooth, confirming the decision to make the whole trip in one day, so we left Atlantic city behind us as we pressed on.

We knew that the inlet could be a bit ‘sporty’ when the tide was running, so we adjusted our timing a bit to arrive when the current was lessening, both in the inlet, and in the river where our marina was located. We had called them about 30 minutes out, and were told – ‘take your time, the current is really ripping through here right now.’

Oh, great. ‘Ripping’ wasn’t quite the description of what I was looking for. So, we took our time, and eventually followed a big fishing charter into the inlet, using a lot of power to keep ourselves straight and under control. Then we were in the channel, and looking for the fuel dock at Hoffman’s marina, right before the railroad swing bridge. Right before.

Good grief. This was why we had wanted to stay put on Memorial Day weekend. Boats of all sizes, squeezing through the narrow opening of a railroad bridge, that would close every few minutes after sounding a siren. And we had to come in amidst that mayhem, turn 180 degrees (in a slightly less than ‘ripping’ current, and dock at the fuel dock that is literally RIGHT THERE. Easy-peasy.

After fueling, we ourselves got to transit that railroad bridge, and then dock a short distance on the other side. Another of the big charter boats coming through the railroad bridge wasn’t impressed with how quickly I was moving out of the channel to dock, and gave me a blast of encouragement.

So, after a 101 mile trip from Cape May, we finally settled in at our dock next to the railroad bridge. It was quite a scene to watch the boats get backed up when the train went by, and then jockey to get under the bridge as it came up, with the jetskis and tiny skiffs slipping under the span as it opened, then the larger boats pushing through once it was open.

We thought that maybe all that ruckus would keep us up, but by the time our heads hit the pillow, I don’t think we heard either the bridge sirens or the trains all night.

May 23-26, 2019 – So, here we are at Cape May for the big holiday weekend. What are all the things that we should do at a beach town…?

Eat ice cream cones? Check. Buy salt water taffy? Check. People-watch? Check.

Whew! I think we are done – time to move on…

May 23, 2019 – We had time this morning for a nice breakfast, and then moved less than a mile, from last night’s anchorage, to Utsch’s Marina. We had made reservations for Thursday through Monday, so we could stay out of the crazy, and get recharged for the upcoming legs out into the Atlantic Ocean that will take us to New York City.

We pulled in to find ourselves the 7th to join a row of six Looper boats already at the dock- Balahula, United 771, Here’s To Us, Mimi and Me, Lily Pad II, and It Is Well.

When we checked in, the marina gave us a nice welcome bag with info on the area, a bag of fresh local biscotti, and a bottle of blueberry wine – pretty nice!

We gathered up with several other crews for ‘docktails’ at 5:00 at a gazebo on the dock, then moved onto our sundeck as the ladies determined it was too chilly. Some rain moved in, with some thunder around us, but it soon cleared and a rainbow came out.

Cape May is a historic vacation town, and has many Victorian homes to go see, in addition to all the touristy beach stuff. The next few days will be spent exploring, and getting ready to head north after Memorial Day, so the Captain needs a nap.

May 22, 2019 – We were up early this morning, the band of boaters heading down the Delaware Bay. Some had been here for several days waiting for favorable conditions, while we had arrived just the previous day. Getting off the docks, as closely as they pack boats in together, and into the narrow channel with a 2-knot current, is something that the dock staff here is a lot more experienced with than the average boater who stops here, so they run the departures with a good bit of direction, rather than just let people randomly take off at their own whim.

We were at the tail end, since they still had to turn us around, with lines, whereas everyone else had already been turned. There was quite a convoy of boats, with our group joined by boats coming out of the C&D Canal, having stayed at Chesapeake City or other marinas even further back.

We eventually pulled ahead of the pack, since we needed to run the engines up to higher RPMs in order to keep the turbos healthy, so we ran up on plane for two hours, before dropping back down to ‘trawler speed’.

As we got closer to the Cape May Canal, we could see that there were two ferries at the dock – great, one of them was probably going to leave just as we got there. Sure enough, he started backing out, necessitating that we turned a short loop around the outer marker to make sure that we gave him room to get straightened out. We then headed up the canal, under a very narrow and confusing pair of bridges, and then we were in Cape May Harbor.

Right at an inlet into the Atlantic Ocean, there are a LOT of boats, and it’s an active commercial and recreational fishing area. We saw boats like these coming and going all afternoon (and all night, as it turned out).

Our reservations at the marina were for Thursday, and it was such a nice day, that we anchored out for the night, right off the Coast Guard training base so we could just move over the next day. It is where they do basic entry training for all enlisted USCG members, and we could hear the marching and calisthenics all afternoon, and bugle calls in the evening. A great way to end the day.

May 21, 2019 – Today was a very short day, running the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal, to its terminus at the Delaware River, and just a mile or two upriver to a strange little dead-end canal along Delaware City. The Delaware City Marina docks are a long stretch of floating docks along the canal, and all the boats come in the narrow channel and dock alongside; the staff then manually turn the boats around using lines, so that you are pointed in the right direction to depart.

We’d been there on our trip to Philadelphia last summer, so had a little bit of familiarity with some of the tricks to getting in smoothly; one of those is to call and ask them what time to arrive, so that the current in the canal is conducive–” 11:30 ” the dockmaster said, so it looked like we needed to leave about 9:45.

For the first hour, we didn’t pass another boat in the C&D and ran right up the centerline; then we saw the AIS icon for a commercial vessel coming in the other direction, so we readied ourselves to move to one side before he emerged around a corner.

Yikes! He was a big one, and fortunately running pretty slowly. We steered as close to the edge markers as we could, and even sped up toward a curve so that we could meet him on a straighter part of the canal. Once we were safely by, we thought that we should have taken a picture, so this is view as we exhaled.

After getting docked, we tidied up a bit and then walked along the town’s waterfront promenade to a restaurant that the marina staff had recommended- Crabby Dicks. When we got there, the dockmaster, Jim, from the marina was just setting down to lunch, so that was a good sign.

When we are traveling the loop, we have endeavored to experience some of the local culture and cuisine, and we spied something unique that we just had to try – Crab Poutine (french fries, cheese curds, smothered with cream of crab soup). O. M .G. Delicious! We split a salad after that, though, and had to take advantage of some sidewalk rocking chairs on the way back to the boat.

Conditions look good for our trip down the Delaware Bay in the morning, according to a briefing Jim provided later in the afternoon to all the assembled boaters who had been holed up here waiting for better weather. We all agreed to leave, right behind one another, about 6:00, so we will turn in early and be ready to go at first light.

May 20, 2019 – Up and underway early, to take advantage of good tidal currents up the remainder of the Chesapeake Bay. The landscape is really different as we pass Aberdeen Proving Ground, and the fork that leads to where the Susquehana River empties into the Bay. And when I say empties, I am not talking just water. While not quite this bad, here’s a news clip from last spring that gives an idea.

The Conowingo Dam they mention has had floodgates open in advance of Memorial Day, and we passed one 20′ log about 12 inches around, and many other smaller branches, sticks, and pieces of lumber. Not lined up straight like crab-pots, they take constant vigilance as there isn’t really a pattern.

We made great time, getting almost 2 knots of help, and pulled into Chesapeake City almost 30 minutes ahead of plan, and were able to snag a spot on the free Town Dock wall. We could see a little creamery stand from the boat, but it turned out to be closed on Mondays, so no ice cream for dessert.

We had heard on Sunday that our friends Dave and Caroline were back visiting in Baltimore (from Clayton, NY), and they were going to drive up to Chesapeake City to meet us, and see the boat (again). Dave was our broker and helped us find and make the deal to buy it two years ago; we had fun sitting on the sundeck catching up.

A couple other Looper boats had followed us in around mid-day, but wound up anchoring. About 6:00, in came two more, and one of them was eyeing the too-small space behind us; we hopped off, and moved our boat up a few feet closer to the sailboat ahead of us – they saw what was happening, and moved their boat back a few feet as well. We were able to make the additional room, with about 2 feet between each of the boats, so everyone was secure for the night. The marina adjacent to the town dock is quite the party spot on weekends, but even on Mondays, they are all lit up, having Trivia night, and a couple go-fast boats came and went for dinner.

May 19, 2019 – We wound up staying a bit longer than planned at our home marina, Herrington Harbour North, taking care of some loose ends, but a last chance to see some old friends (“What are you doing here, I thought you had left?”)

More provisioning, for foodstuffs and ‘ship’s stores’, and making sure that everything was ready.

That turned out to be fortunate, though, as we met up again with the crew from TxAu who pulled in on Saturday. We got to show them around, and walked to dinner where we walked right up and got a table about 20 feet from the live band. Greg even snapped some pictures of us pulling past in the morning on the way to the fuel dock before heading north.

It wound up being a gorgeous run up to Rock Hall, with a LOT of Sunday sailboat action to dodge on the way up past the Bay Bridge. We secured a mooring ball on the Swan Creek side of Rock Hall, and spent a relaxing afternoon.

Tomorrow, on to Chesapeake City.

May 14, 2019 – Alright, enough of this patience thing, let’s go.

On Monday, we watched the weather, and while it wasn’t ideal, the winds were supposed to settle in the afternoon up in Herring Bay, and despite some lingering drizzle, we went ahead and kicked out of the Navy marina and made our way back out into the Bay.

Some big targets on radar were coming into the river. A tugboat, a fireboat with hoses running, and a security boat with flashing blue lights. And off to the south, what looked like a big beige apartment complex. Ahhh, they must have just cleared a big liquified natural gas tanker off the Cove Point LNG pier. Glad we didn’t get tangled up with that!

This is a file picture of an LNG tanker – they are humongous – we encountered one on the Bay on a trip to Solomons last summer. It took three tugboats to get it off the pier and headed down the bay. These things can move at 20 knots once they get moving, and it is pretty disconcerting to be able to see them from so far away; you definitely want to stay out of the way.

As we made our way up the Bay toward home, we could see that we were being paralleled by United 771, another Looper boat. We talked by radio, and found out that they were going to Herrington Harbour North as well, so maybe we’d get a chance to meet up.

The marina put us in a transient slip on our ‘home dock’, and except for facing the wrong way, it was kind of nice to come back home after our shakedown trip to Norfolk, for a couple final days of wrapping up details.

We met up for dinner with crews from United 771, Patriot, and Nepidea, and had a good chance to share insights and experiences so far.

We will probably head out on Saturday, so no new posts until then.

May 12-13, 2019 – As the weather had continued to deteriorate on our way up to Pax River, on Sunday we decided to do something that we have not yet had the opportunity to do.

Sit still. Stay in port. Deliberately not move on. Even though we had somewhere we wanted to go. And could have pressed on. We sat. Watched the rain, caught up on some business online. Watched a movie. Chantale baked zuchini bread.

We will have many more unplanned opportunities to lay over, so this was good practice.

May 11. 2019 – We got up early, as the boat swung with the early morning wakes of the watermen leaving to tend to their crab-pots. It was pretty calm, although the wind had shifted overnight, meaning that we’d be going into the waves on the day’s trip up the bay.

The forecast was now calling for a Small Craft Advisory later, with gusty winds and higher waves, so we decided to get an early start as well.

The water was very smooth and it was easy to pick out the crab-pots as we started up the bay. We headed farther offshore, so the C-pPM (crab-pots per mile) factor was lower, and the waves and wind continued to be very benign. We were hailed by another Looper boat, who was paralleling our track, commenting on the apparent discrepancy between the forecast and what we were seeing on the water. We were a fraction faster than they were, and as we each chose our path up the Bay, we got further and further apart. We noticed on the AIS that a boat was coming up behind us at 30 knots, and were surprised upon querying its data that it was a big Army Corps of Engineer dredge boat, a catamaran. He was nice enough to give us some separation, but his wake turned out to be minimal.

Then, just after 11 o’clock, the forecasters were vindicated, as the winds picked up, and the waves ahead of us began to stack up. Pretty soon we were seeing the 3-footers they had predicted, and occasionally a bigger one. Chantale went below to retrieve her latest birthday present, stabilized binoculars, which she declared to to be worth the pretty penny they had commanded. She was easily able to pick out details of markers and other boats, despite the rough conditions.

Clang!

We were hitting the waves sufficiently hard that the bell on the sundeck was occasionally ringing, and spray was coming up all the way on the flybridge enclosure. There were quite a few fishing boats out, and as the conditions worsened, they began to head for home. When we had one last short leg before we turned into the Patuxent River, Ben spooled up the turbos (for the engines’ health it’s good to run them hard under load periodically after lengthy periods of slow going) and gave the boat and drive-train a good workout for 20 minutes. As we got into the river, the conditions improved, and soon we were pulling into the Naval Air Station marina.

A number of other local boaters helped us dock, and we look forward to probably taking Sunday off from travel, as rain and more windy conditions are in the forecast.