Thursday, May 22, 2014

Annapolis MD to Cape May, NJ

Moving north
The Voyage of Chantey V has resumed. Daragh, along with sister Carolines partner Des Wiley (thanks Caroline!) have re-launched Chantey V after her long winter layover at Herrington Harbour , MD. Alas, Cathryns teaching commitments prevent her from joining us until July, when our plan is to cruise north to New England and the Maritimes. Job 1 was to repaint the anti fouling and also the many other chores needed to prepare for another seasons cruising. After numerous visits to the much too convenient located West Marine store Des declared she was "good to go" back into the water.
Nice paint job Des!
First stop was at our favorite anchorage in the Inner Harbour, Baltimore - best address (and rates) in town! We next renewed our US Cruising Permit with the very helpful folks at CBP Baltimore, and still had time for a ramble around the downtown.
Irish sailors seen in Baltimore
Our stay was a little longer than expected as a gale blew through - testing both our ground tackle and nerves for the night. We decided to press on next afternoon for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal with an extra anchor stopover at Worton Creek.
Sunset at the Worton Creek anchorage
Some good sailing so far, Des has proved to be a great asset with a keen eye for sail trim - not to understate his skills in the galley!
We have upgraded our SPOT tracker for the DeLorme InReach Satellite Communicator - this means we can now send and receive SMS texts when offshore or otherwise out of cellphone range. Follow the links from the "Where are we now?"  map to send us a text.
We had a fairly good trip down the notorious Delaware Bay to an overnight stop at Greenwich which is 3 miles up the serpentine Conahasey River.
Sailing down the Delaware
This proved more exciting than expected as their were no daymarkers whatsoever once you crossed the bar at the entrance. Not as advertised in the Waterway cruising guide! More excitement next day when we tested our 54 ft air draft against the 55 ft clearance fixed bridges in the Cape May Canal. Phew - we fit!
54 ft does fit under 55 ft Bridge !
Michelle, Des and Brandan - Cape May

"The best things in life cannot be seen or even touched,
They must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller



We met Cape May locals Brandan and Michelle who very kindly took us on a guided tour of Old Cape May, beautifully maintained Victorian architecture everywhere and well worth a visit. Thanks again for the great hospitality guys!