The Delaware Bay gave us it’s common treatment: messy. Fortunately we had waited until conditions had begun to abate and we made it up the the C&D Canal without drama.
October 20 – 21, 2021 Cape May, Bohemia River and Annapolis Days 9 – 10
OK, so we had been sitting in Cape May for two days and three nights. We had waited long enough for good weather. Conditions were forecast to be better than previous days, although far from ideal. We were ready to move and accepted the fact that we would be bashing up the bay, at least for a while.
Once again, our hopes for a bit of fall cruising in the Chesapeake were foiled by the weather, which compelled us to make tracks while we could. We took advantage of two glorious calm days to cover the miles down the open and potentially challenging Chesapeake, and into the protected ICW.
October 29 – November 1, 2019 Annapolis, MD to Solomons, MD to Portsmouth, VA Days 16 – 19
Making Hay While the Sun Shines
We picked two gorgeous days to run the 155 miles from Annapolis to Portsmouth, Virginia. This was a gift, as the Chesapeake can be a long, hard, uncomfortable slog if the conditions aren’t right.
Annapolis gave us a little bit of everything, as it often does. Lovely fall days, crab cakes, torrential rain, good friends. And we stayed a few days too long, thanks to Amazon.com.
October 24 – 28, 2019 Annapolis, MD Days 11 – 15
We normally don’t stay in one place longer than two or three days, unless there are circumstances beyond our control. We expected to stay in Annapolis for three days. That’s usually enough fun for us. However, both the weather and Amazon.com conspired against us and kept us in our slip right on Ego Alley for five nights.
After a blustery but efficient ride up the Delaware Bay, we made our way into the C&D canal then tucked in to Chesapeake City as the rain began to pour down. The damp evening brought a delightful evening with friends, followed by a fun ride into the Chesapeake Bay to Rock Hall.
October 22 – 24 Chesapeake City and Rock Hall, MD Days 9 – 11
Chesapeake City, MD
A big part of cruising is new friends and old friends. Some of the best emerge from the shadows and take us by surprise. On our way up the Delaware, traveling in loose company with Curtis & Kim on their American Tug Blue Rhapsody and Matt and Laurie with their Nordhaven 46 First Light, we received a Facebook message from Phil.
With plans to spend more time on the Bay in the spring.
Day 20, November 4
We enjoyed our time in the Chesapeake, and leaving as we did, without spending more time and visiting more destinations, left us both feeling a bit let down. How did this happen?
In a word: weather.
This has been a tough first three weeks of our cruise. First, we were bashed to death by westerly gales in Long Island Sound. New Jersey gave us a surprise break with a fair window to get down the coast and up the Delaware, but the Weather Devil assaulted us again in the Chesapeake. The pattern of Small Craft Advisories and Gales called the shots with respect to where we went, and even if we went anywhere at all. It also kept us in protected marinas instead of remote coves. We couldn’t find any rhythm to our trip, and our expectations were tossed in the trash bin. Continue reading Leaving The Chesapeake – Prematurely→
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