Saturday, May 30, 2015 Reedy Island MD to Cape May NJ


Today was a “waffle” day…. We started out from Reedy Island anchorage at about 0700, bound for Henelopen (safe harbor)… at the ocean end of the Delaware… but about half-way down the Bay (Delaware)…. We thought we might just keep on sailing to Atlantic City…. We caught some of the EBB tide going down the Delaware, and were zipping right along….


BUT…………….. the Delaware is that strange body of water, where you might be able to ride the FLOOD all the way up to the Nuc Plant….but you can’t ride the EBB down to the mouth…. Very unbalanced tidal currents….


Anyway…. The wind was NOT our friend today…. Allowing only minor use of the sails…. Motoring ALL the way…. Assisted sometimes…

By the time we got to the mouth of the Delaware the winds were blowing 18 to 23 knots, nearly ON the NOSE…. UG!!! And the tide had turned against us…. While we were going through the narrow cut next to the Cape May lighthouse…. Wild, and confused seas there…with the shoals, and tidal currents…


OH yes… the original plan regarding Henelopen’s and the SAFE Harbor… which I love… went down to defeat, when we considered ‘trucking on’ to Atlantic City…. SO… we ‘re now anchored at Cape May, by the USCG base…. Along with a few trawlers, and two Sailboats….

We got a few “rollers” coming from the shoals to the Cape May entrance channel…. Rollers are when the wave trains come at just the right frequency that they roll the AB from 30 degrees one side to 30 degrees the other side…. Usually resulting in something coming adrift below decks….


This time all that came “adrift” was one of our radar reflectors…. Chafe on a line… the culprit… but the device is OK…and can be re-installed when we get to HON…


Very little broadcast TV here at Cape May… so we watched the movie “Witness” with Harrison Ford, and Kelly McGillis… OLD but Great!!!

Now for some sleep… Just in case we poke our nose out there (in the Atlantic) tomorrow….

Later.