Far and Away is in a marina off the Rappahannock River as we work on the boat for a couple of days and wait out thunderstorms. I'm taking advantage of the Wi-Fi to send off a couple of posts. Be sure to check if you have missed any previous posts. Meanwhile, Nico is taking care of some messy jobs - the unglamorous, but necessary, side of cruising...
In order to transit down the East River along the island of Manhattan, you have to pay close attention to tides. The waterway is narrow and all of Long Island Sound is funneling through. You need a fair tide so we headed off at dawn to make the most of it. There is one spot where the Harlem River joins at a curve where the current runs 5 knots. It is called Hell's Gate (a corruption of the Dutch word "Hellegat" which meant "hell channel"). Books advise not going through at the peak of the tide. Years ago they blasted out a ledge but it is still pretty bad. I can't imagine going through in the old days. As it was, we met a tug and barge at the curve going upstream. I radioed him and said we would hug the side and keep out of his way and he radioed back thanking me because his barge was weaving all over the place in the current.
Approaching the Throg's Neck
And out through the Verrazano Narrows
We kept on going after we left the Narrows and busy New York Harbor with its shipping and ferries. We sailed past Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and along the Jersey shore. We continued into the night, a long, quiet passage, broken up by the lights of Atlantic City. By breakfast, we were by Cape May at the southern tip. We were just about to head into the harbor for a well-deserved rest when Nico decided the wind was just right to travel up Delaware Bay - so we kept going. Finally, 36 hours after leaving City Island, we put the hook down in a salt marsh halfway up the bay.
The last time we sailed through Delaware Bay I felt it was devoid of character and the predominant color was gray. It is shallow, without many places to anchor, and it can get quite choppy. There are a lot of ships heading to Wilmington and Philadelphia. It had an industrial feel. This time we had a lovely sail and found a nice anchorage up a small river. We were amazed by the amount of fish. Listen to the sound they make on the video below!
Our anchorage in the marshes
Soon we entered The Delaware/Chesapeake Canal and stopped in Chesapeake City, which we remembered fondly from our last trip. We enjoy the quaint little houses from the 1840's and the museum about the old canal and former locks.
The canal is still a busy place, connecting the two big bays and major cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia but the ships don't have to go through locks anymore.
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