August 17 – Friday
We left the dock at 06:10 bound for Rock Hall – we were going home. Polly noted that, to the day, it will be 10 weeks since our initial departure on Friday, June 8. Conditions were not bad and forecast to get better. There was no traffic on the water to speak of, and even the autohelm was behaving its self – it must have sensed that its brain was going to be removed and sent to New Hampshire as soon as this day was over. We passed a couple of north bound tugs pushing barges as we made our way down the Bay and into familiar waters. Only the local crabbers and netters were around to keep us company and remind us that we were back in crab pot territory, big time.
We clicked off the shore features we have become so familiar with these 20 years or so of Bay cruising – Turkey Point, Sassafras River, Fairlee Creek, Tolchester and finally, Swan Point. By 11:00 we were crossing the shallows at the north end of the bar, a short cut to the channel that leads into Swan Creek and FLIGHT’s home port. At 12:00 we were settled into our slip and sitting on the bridge having a celebratory beer.
10 weeks, 1700 NM, 112 locks, 285 engine hours, many new ports many new friendships and countless credit card receipts. When you include ZERO boat problems, it nets out to a great summer cruise.
The blog has been fun as well as helpful. Doing it served as a template for organizing our memories and maintaining a more comprehensive journal of our travels then we might otherwise have done. Knowing that others may be reading it inspired us to be more descriptive than we might have been for our private purposes. We continue to be pleasantly surprised by the number and extent of readers who have followed our Flight North – many folks we have never met. The cruise served us as a test for future adventures and has given us ideas for consideration – maybe a month on Lake Champlain or a cruise on the Trent-Severn, another Canadian waterway. Next year who knows, perhaps New England and some time cruising with new friends Maureen and Peter from Rhode Island in the summer and then head south in the fall for a winter in Georgia, Florida or the Bahamas. Plenty of time to decide and plan during this winter, knowing FLIGHT will be ready to take us.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
August 16 – Thursday
FLIGHT remained in port.
After the Delaware Bucklen household got started on their respective day, we decided we would do a bit of shopping and check each other out on our driving. It had been a long time since we had moved about at speeds greater than 10 MPH. We also had to stop back at the marina to check out the boat and make arrangements for another day’s stay. After a bit of shopping we decided we would handle dinner for everyone that evening and the idea of crab cakes popped into Polly’s head. Where could we get some really good ones? The best we know about in the general area come from J&J Seafood in Rock Hall. Off we went at 50+ MPH and returned with 4 plump half-pounders ready to pop in the broiler later – Cameron prefers chicken nuggets. Another stop at the supermarket for some salad fixings and the menu was all set.
Following dinner and some more playing and visiting, we headed for the boat so we could get an early start on the final leg to Rock Hall and slip D-21 at Spring Cove Marina.
FLIGHT remained in port.
After the Delaware Bucklen household got started on their respective day, we decided we would do a bit of shopping and check each other out on our driving. It had been a long time since we had moved about at speeds greater than 10 MPH. We also had to stop back at the marina to check out the boat and make arrangements for another day’s stay. After a bit of shopping we decided we would handle dinner for everyone that evening and the idea of crab cakes popped into Polly’s head. Where could we get some really good ones? The best we know about in the general area come from J&J Seafood in Rock Hall. Off we went at 50+ MPH and returned with 4 plump half-pounders ready to pop in the broiler later – Cameron prefers chicken nuggets. Another stop at the supermarket for some salad fixings and the menu was all set.
Following dinner and some more playing and visiting, we headed for the boat so we could get an early start on the final leg to Rock Hall and slip D-21 at Spring Cove Marina.
August 15 – Wednesday
We were both up just after 05:00 and decided to get underway as soon as possible to take advantage of the slack tide and then have the incoming tide current with us for most of the way to the C&D Canal. Checking the WX forecast again, it was similar to the night before but higher winds – 15-20 kts. with gusts to 25 in the northern part of the bay. Wave height was also a bit more, but direction was still the same. We were underway by 06:00 and motoring through the canal to the Delaware Bay end. There was a dredge working at the entrance to the canal and we were advised to stay tight to him in order to avoid the gear he had out. It was good to see the work going on – the bay side entrance was very shallow when we passed through in June. As we cleared the canal we were met by the 3’-4’ seas and the SW wind immediately. Because of the more southerly heading we had to stay on in order to reach the deeper water, the seas were in a confused state and wind was on our beam so we had a lot of rolling motion with spray. After about 30 minutes Polly needed to go below for an item so we decided to relocate to the lower helm station where it would be more comfortable. We remained there for the first 3 hours and thankfully, the autohelm handled most of the steering. As we reached deeper water near the ship channel, we were able to turn to a more northerly heading and also by then, we were getting to the narrow part of the Delaware Bay and the sea state was much more comfortable so we moved up to the bridge. Most of the traffic we encountered was made up of ships and tugs with the occasional fishing boat. Because of the crosswind, one particular tug that was towing a barge was having trouble keeping the barge away from the channel buoys while staying on his side of the channel to allow a nearby ship enough space to pass. It made for interesting VHF conversation between the tug’s skipper and the pilot on board the inbound ship. We made a point of running parallel to the channel but just outside of the buoys, to be certain we did not become part of the conversation.
We entered the C&D Canal at 12:00 and as we were passing under the first bridge (St. George’s), we phoned our son, Matt who lives near the marina where we planned to stay, and arranged a pick-up for later in the afternoon. We arrived at Summit North Marina about an hour after entering the canal and in the mean time, the ship we had been listening to on the bay, had also entered the canal and passed us about 10 minutes before we entered the marina. As we watched the ship bearing down on us from astern, it seemed to fill the entire space but as it overtook us, it was clear there was plenty of room for 2 ships to pass and we still could have been in the water, as well.
Matt’s schedule allowed him to meet us later that afternoon in time for us to accompany him to the daycare school where he would be picking up our Grandson, Cameron. Possibly the main reason we decided to make the stop at Summit North, that day.
We spent the night ashore, with the Bucklen’s and were amazed at how spacious a house seemed, after 10 weeks aboard a 36 foot trawler. As much as we were ready for the voyage to be completed, the WX for Thursday was not looking very good for the leg to Rock Hall so we decided to stay another day. Since the car we left behind was in our son’s driveway we thought we could use the day to learn how to adapt to road traffic again, by doing some shopping etc.
Small World Note: Not long after we arrived at Summit North Marina and were washing off some of the Delaware salt spray, another Monk 36 came in and the home port displayed on the transom was a town in Ontario, Canada. In a discussion with the couple who was aboard, we learned they had left their boat in Solomon’s (on Chesapeake Bay) for the winter and were now on their way back home. Furthermore, they had come up from Rock Hall, that day.
We were both up just after 05:00 and decided to get underway as soon as possible to take advantage of the slack tide and then have the incoming tide current with us for most of the way to the C&D Canal. Checking the WX forecast again, it was similar to the night before but higher winds – 15-20 kts. with gusts to 25 in the northern part of the bay. Wave height was also a bit more, but direction was still the same. We were underway by 06:00 and motoring through the canal to the Delaware Bay end. There was a dredge working at the entrance to the canal and we were advised to stay tight to him in order to avoid the gear he had out. It was good to see the work going on – the bay side entrance was very shallow when we passed through in June. As we cleared the canal we were met by the 3’-4’ seas and the SW wind immediately. Because of the more southerly heading we had to stay on in order to reach the deeper water, the seas were in a confused state and wind was on our beam so we had a lot of rolling motion with spray. After about 30 minutes Polly needed to go below for an item so we decided to relocate to the lower helm station where it would be more comfortable. We remained there for the first 3 hours and thankfully, the autohelm handled most of the steering. As we reached deeper water near the ship channel, we were able to turn to a more northerly heading and also by then, we were getting to the narrow part of the Delaware Bay and the sea state was much more comfortable so we moved up to the bridge. Most of the traffic we encountered was made up of ships and tugs with the occasional fishing boat. Because of the crosswind, one particular tug that was towing a barge was having trouble keeping the barge away from the channel buoys while staying on his side of the channel to allow a nearby ship enough space to pass. It made for interesting VHF conversation between the tug’s skipper and the pilot on board the inbound ship. We made a point of running parallel to the channel but just outside of the buoys, to be certain we did not become part of the conversation.
We entered the C&D Canal at 12:00 and as we were passing under the first bridge (St. George’s), we phoned our son, Matt who lives near the marina where we planned to stay, and arranged a pick-up for later in the afternoon. We arrived at Summit North Marina about an hour after entering the canal and in the mean time, the ship we had been listening to on the bay, had also entered the canal and passed us about 10 minutes before we entered the marina. As we watched the ship bearing down on us from astern, it seemed to fill the entire space but as it overtook us, it was clear there was plenty of room for 2 ships to pass and we still could have been in the water, as well.
Matt’s schedule allowed him to meet us later that afternoon in time for us to accompany him to the daycare school where he would be picking up our Grandson, Cameron. Possibly the main reason we decided to make the stop at Summit North, that day.
We spent the night ashore, with the Bucklen’s and were amazed at how spacious a house seemed, after 10 weeks aboard a 36 foot trawler. As much as we were ready for the voyage to be completed, the WX for Thursday was not looking very good for the leg to Rock Hall so we decided to stay another day. Since the car we left behind was in our son’s driveway we thought we could use the day to learn how to adapt to road traffic again, by doing some shopping etc.
Small World Note: Not long after we arrived at Summit North Marina and were washing off some of the Delaware salt spray, another Monk 36 came in and the home port displayed on the transom was a town in Ontario, Canada. In a discussion with the couple who was aboard, we learned they had left their boat in Solomon’s (on Chesapeake Bay) for the winter and were now on their way back home. Furthermore, they had come up from Rock Hall, that day.
August 14 – Tuesday
A beautiful morning with a light breeze out of the north, and we were the only boat in the anchorage. The near shore forecast was unchanged, indicating good conditions in the morning and even lighter winds in the afternoon. Cape May wasn’t that far so we had breakfast at anchor and then decided to try to swing the fluxgate compass and reset the heading in hopes it would work again. The pond we were anchored in was ideal for the task and it worked – as a test, we allowed the autohelm to steer us out of the inlet and all was well with our world at 08:00 this Tuesday morning.
As we headed down the coast we noticed a number of large orange buoys strung out about half a mile off the beach and surmised they probably had something to do with the air show that was to take place on Wednesday. The ride along the southern NJ coast, was visually more relaxing. There weren’t the tall buildings and continuous chain of beach towns that we saw in the north. Also there were very few sport fishing and head boats to avoid. The inlet for Cape May showed up right on schedule and since Polly had phoned Utsch’s Marina earlier for a slip reservation, we knew exactly where we were headed. We entered the marina breakwater and put FLIGHT right into the same slip (next to the old dredge) where she had been in June, when we were heading north and this adventure was just beginning. Very fitting, we thought, to close the circle this way. Even though the seas had been pretty tame, we had picked up some fine spray here and there and the boat had that sticky salt water feel when you grabbed a rail. We had been spoiled by the 6 weeks in fresh water. So first thing we did was give her a good soap and water bath, top to bottom. Following that, we both took advantage of the luxurious bath house facilities that Utsch’s Marina has for guests – literally, large individual full bath rooms, each with large walk-in shower, toilet and lavatory sink. They are decorated with ceramic tile on the floor and walls and have teak benches and air conditioning, of course. They are the best we have ever experienced.
Polly had also made a reservation for dinner at Fresco’s, a nice restaurant we had found a few years ago when we visited Cape May on our sail boat, Purpose. Fresco’s was only about a mile from the marina so we walked to dinner. On the walk back to the boat, we stopped at a food market for a few things and were surprised to see that the store’s parking lot had a ticket booth and gate. Apparently parking space is at such a premium that they charged customers who parked longer than a few minutes allowed to shop.
Wednesday’s forecast for Delaware Bay sounded fairly favorable with 10-15 kts. winds out of the SW and seas 2-3 feet. Also an important factor was the tide current, which would be flooding (going up the bay in the same basic direction we were headed) for most of the morning. That should mean a push to our speed plus have a neutralizing effect on waves since the wind would be flowing in a similar direction to the current. The Delaware Bay can be very lumpy under certain conditions and tide and wind direction are always a factor to be considered. For us, things looked pretty good for the morning.
A beautiful morning with a light breeze out of the north, and we were the only boat in the anchorage. The near shore forecast was unchanged, indicating good conditions in the morning and even lighter winds in the afternoon. Cape May wasn’t that far so we had breakfast at anchor and then decided to try to swing the fluxgate compass and reset the heading in hopes it would work again. The pond we were anchored in was ideal for the task and it worked – as a test, we allowed the autohelm to steer us out of the inlet and all was well with our world at 08:00 this Tuesday morning.
As we headed down the coast we noticed a number of large orange buoys strung out about half a mile off the beach and surmised they probably had something to do with the air show that was to take place on Wednesday. The ride along the southern NJ coast, was visually more relaxing. There weren’t the tall buildings and continuous chain of beach towns that we saw in the north. Also there were very few sport fishing and head boats to avoid. The inlet for Cape May showed up right on schedule and since Polly had phoned Utsch’s Marina earlier for a slip reservation, we knew exactly where we were headed. We entered the marina breakwater and put FLIGHT right into the same slip (next to the old dredge) where she had been in June, when we were heading north and this adventure was just beginning. Very fitting, we thought, to close the circle this way. Even though the seas had been pretty tame, we had picked up some fine spray here and there and the boat had that sticky salt water feel when you grabbed a rail. We had been spoiled by the 6 weeks in fresh water. So first thing we did was give her a good soap and water bath, top to bottom. Following that, we both took advantage of the luxurious bath house facilities that Utsch’s Marina has for guests – literally, large individual full bath rooms, each with large walk-in shower, toilet and lavatory sink. They are decorated with ceramic tile on the floor and walls and have teak benches and air conditioning, of course. They are the best we have ever experienced.
Polly had also made a reservation for dinner at Fresco’s, a nice restaurant we had found a few years ago when we visited Cape May on our sail boat, Purpose. Fresco’s was only about a mile from the marina so we walked to dinner. On the walk back to the boat, we stopped at a food market for a few things and were surprised to see that the store’s parking lot had a ticket booth and gate. Apparently parking space is at such a premium that they charged customers who parked longer than a few minutes allowed to shop.
Wednesday’s forecast for Delaware Bay sounded fairly favorable with 10-15 kts. winds out of the SW and seas 2-3 feet. Also an important factor was the tide current, which would be flooding (going up the bay in the same basic direction we were headed) for most of the morning. That should mean a push to our speed plus have a neutralizing effect on waves since the wind would be flowing in a similar direction to the current. The Delaware Bay can be very lumpy under certain conditions and tide and wind direction are always a factor to be considered. For us, things looked pretty good for the morning.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
August 13 – Monday
I (RCB) checked the weather forecast just after 05:00 and it looked about the same as the favorable one Sunday, so we planned to depart. Water tank topped and power cords in, we battened down everything that could fall or roll and got out our foul weather gear – just in case. Underway at 06:30 we departed the marina through the north end of the breakwater. It is unmarked, but the ferries all use it and I had talked with some local fisherman and they said to just avoid the old pilings that are on the left, but only can be seen at low tide. No worries mate, out we went and headed directly for the point at the north end of Sandy Point Bay. When we got there, there was a large white U.S. Coast Guard Cutter entering the bay so we checked in with them and we would not be in their way so we proceeded with our turn to the south.
We were bound for Atlantic City. The weather behaved all day, just like the forecast said it would, as we proceeded south. We ran a bit closer to shore than we had on the north bound trip – we stayed ¾ to 1 ½ miles off the beach. We could see the volleyball games, but couldn’t be sure who was winning. The day was pretty uneventful but as we approached both Barnegat and Little Egg inlets, we had to abruptly move off shore farther due to the shoaling that these inlets are famous for. At the south side of Barnegat, we could see breaking waves nearly a mile off shore.
Both breakfast (Cheerios & fruit) and lunch (spinach dip and ham with crackers) were served on the bridge as we cruised south. It was to be a long day and the autohelm had not been working properly so we set a timer and did 30 minute watches at the helm. When the timer beeped, no excuses, it was your turn at the helm - so get to the head when you were off watch. At the various inlets we had to contend with groups of boats with fishermen, but nothing like on weekends.
We could faintly see the tall buildings of Atlantic City about 12 miles away and just as the GPS was reporting all day long, we arrived at the entrance of the inlet at 4:08 and by 4:30, were anchored in the same place we stopped on the trip north. After a beer, I (RCB) will set up the BBQ grill and do the fillets we thawed a few days back, but were too tired to have at the end of that day. It should be a nice, cool night and if the forecast holds, we will go to Cape May tomorrow, only about a 5 hour cruise.
I (RCB) checked the weather forecast just after 05:00 and it looked about the same as the favorable one Sunday, so we planned to depart. Water tank topped and power cords in, we battened down everything that could fall or roll and got out our foul weather gear – just in case. Underway at 06:30 we departed the marina through the north end of the breakwater. It is unmarked, but the ferries all use it and I had talked with some local fisherman and they said to just avoid the old pilings that are on the left, but only can be seen at low tide. No worries mate, out we went and headed directly for the point at the north end of Sandy Point Bay. When we got there, there was a large white U.S. Coast Guard Cutter entering the bay so we checked in with them and we would not be in their way so we proceeded with our turn to the south.
We were bound for Atlantic City. The weather behaved all day, just like the forecast said it would, as we proceeded south. We ran a bit closer to shore than we had on the north bound trip – we stayed ¾ to 1 ½ miles off the beach. We could see the volleyball games, but couldn’t be sure who was winning. The day was pretty uneventful but as we approached both Barnegat and Little Egg inlets, we had to abruptly move off shore farther due to the shoaling that these inlets are famous for. At the south side of Barnegat, we could see breaking waves nearly a mile off shore.
Both breakfast (Cheerios & fruit) and lunch (spinach dip and ham with crackers) were served on the bridge as we cruised south. It was to be a long day and the autohelm had not been working properly so we set a timer and did 30 minute watches at the helm. When the timer beeped, no excuses, it was your turn at the helm - so get to the head when you were off watch. At the various inlets we had to contend with groups of boats with fishermen, but nothing like on weekends.
We could faintly see the tall buildings of Atlantic City about 12 miles away and just as the GPS was reporting all day long, we arrived at the entrance of the inlet at 4:08 and by 4:30, were anchored in the same place we stopped on the trip north. After a beer, I (RCB) will set up the BBQ grill and do the fillets we thawed a few days back, but were too tired to have at the end of that day. It should be a nice, cool night and if the forecast holds, we will go to Cape May tomorrow, only about a 5 hour cruise.
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