New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia

We had a beautiful sail down the coast from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Cape May, New Jersey. The coastline is amazing. It is very flat with beaches almost the whole way with people laying on the beaches, people paragliding, planes with banners behind them going up and down the beaches and tour boats and individuals fishing. We certainly notice that everyone is "fly fishing" crazed. They are everywhere in boats as far as the eye can see. They also seem to be going "100 km/hr" causing big wakes which we did not relish too much 😡🤣🤣. I guess being from Newfoundland I have enjoyed my share of fishing and maybe we don't see so many people at it and on our waters because we do not have so many people and we do have a lot of water!!

Cape May was all that our good friend John Dunne said it was. We are so happy that he had given us so much information on places to see!! Cape May is certainly the epitome of people playing on the water. As we entered the channel there was not only a dredger there but also about 20 sea doos and motor boats of all shapes and sizes. People were frolicking and having fun. We had a great night anchored there watching the activity.

Very early the next morning we were still undecided if we would continue offshore down the Delaware coast or if we would go up Delaware Bay, through C&D canal and come down Chesapeake Bay. We took option two and we had ourselves timed with the tides so that we should have the tide behind us as we sped up the bay ( speeding is 7-9 knots lol). Thank god we chose this option because there were numerous marine warnings down the Delaware coast with thunderstorms and hail!!! We had a great sail up the bay and through the canal. We planned to stop in Chesapeake City but it was too crowded so we continued on to anchor in the scenic Sassafras River.

We left the next morning on our way to Annapolis, Maryland .... sailboat capital of USA and also where we came to buy C Whisper (then named Lady Catherine) in 2012. We spent three hot days on a mooring ball right across from Bert Jabin's Boatyard where we got our baby 7 years previously. We tried to relax there to recharge our own batteries (change oil, get generator working again, laundry, groceries, ......) but it was so hot. For anyone who knows me I am always cold and usually wear an inside shirt winter and summer. I always complained about being cold and hated the cold but it has been stifling hot. We had 35.1 c one day and it did not include humidity AND we had generator problems AGAIN so my air conditioner was not working. We spent one day in Uber's finding parts and the second day we rented a car to find more parts and have air conditioning for me and Duke! I am not so sure about the heat now?? Luckily we did find the restaurant we loved when we were here previously (Double T Diner) and there has been a thunderstorm and the temperature cooled so Duke could safely sit in the car while we ate! It was yummy. There is always a positive side to everything...especially when I have good food.

We left Annapolis, Maryland early as we had over 130nm to get to Norfolk, Virginia. Sailing was beautiful but we had one scare... We both thought there was a severe storm as the thunder was the loudest we had heard. We looked at the sky and saw no thunder clouds. Hmmm. We both thought we must be crazy (really we are!). It was fighter jets. This area is a busy military area and ships and jets are seen frequently. The jets were in the sky all day. We also saw a military Hover Craft doing maneuvers and 4 identical military sailboats. It was entertaining for sure.

We did 78nm in 12 hr. We were tired by the time we meandered in less than 10 ft of water to a picturesque anchorage called Mill Creek. It was a combination of Woods Island with people in boats (although not our beautiful dories) waving to us and Bras D'or Lakes. There was suppose to be high winds overnight so I diligently put out 110 feet of chain with my oversized Rocna anchor in 10 ft of water (11 at high tide). I can hear my buddies say now "you don't need that much... that's overkill". I know!!! God help me in tight anchorages.. I guess I have lots to learn🤪🤪.

Shallow water takes some getting use to!! In our bay home it takes 5 minutes to leave our slip and be in 500 ft (or more) of water. In Chesapeake Bay you may have to be 3nm from shore to be able to sail in water over 6 feet. Thank god we bought Towboat US in case we go aground😃🤪.

We experienced Hampton Roads Inlet at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay prior to getting to Norfolk. This is one of the busiest shipping inlets in the east coast as well as a Navy Base. Lucky for us it was relatively quiet but we did see a warship leave the harbour, aircraft carriers, and the biggest ship container site I had ever seen.

This leg of the journey will soon be over. Off we go again; Cathy and Brent we are getting close😘😘😘😘. It is amazing that we left Canada July 17 and we are almost done.

FYI I have been delayed posting and I have been uploading less pictures and have not labeled them as I have used 10 gigs of data in 3 weeks.... hubby is not happy 😘😘😘😘🤣🤣🤣.