Passage from Long Island Sound to the Chesapeake Bay
26 September 2017 | Staten Island, Atlantic City, Cape May and Bear DE
Barbara/variable
August 18- 25 Staten Island NY, Atlantic City, Cape May, NJ Bear, DE
Dear Friends and Family,
To reach our next major destination - the Chesapeake Bay- we did day hops to several of the marinas where we had stayed while going north. During this week of transit, bad weather necessitated staying extra time in Port Washington and Cape May. After leaving Port Washington, time and distance factors made Staten Island rather than Brooklyn a more convenient stop. We chose Mansion Marina in Staten Island NY which proved to be the POOREST excuse for a marina that we have encountered. To our boating friends reading this blog we DO NOT recommend this marina and said so in our Active Captain review! There are other marinas far better than Mansion Marina on Staten Island.
On a more positive note, W.O.W (waiting out weather) in Cape May was a pleasant diversion since it is an interesting town. While there we toured the 18-room Physick House, built in 1879 in the Stick Style of architecture which was viewed as somewhat avant garde for Cape May. The house was built for Dr. Emlen Physick, who descended from a well-known Philadelphia family. Although his grandfather was a famous physician, Dr.Physick never practiced medicine. Instead after receiving his medical degree and subsequently a portion of his inheritance he had the Physick House built and lived as a gentleman farmer with his widowed mother and maiden aunt. The house included many features that reflected the rising income and increased leisure time of the Victorian era. Eerie experiences related to us by the docent we met on our tour substantiated the claim that the house was haunted.
From Cape May we entered the C & D Canal, a 14-mile-long, 450-foot wide, 35-foot deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay. Initially conceived to aid commerce, today more than 25,000 vessels transit the C&D Canal annually achieving this goal. We had a very easy passage on this scenic waterway as only a few ships were in the canal. We stopped for the night at Summit North Marina in Bear, Delaware. We had a pleasant stay visiting the restaurant and bar which had great food and good country music. Early the next morning we walked over to the restaurant where we discovered breakfast is served on weekends only. Two of the kitchen staff well as the chef happened to be there because the Governor was appearing at an event at the restaurant at noon. When the chef found out we were there he insisted on making us breakfast. Thanks Chef Jim for delicious waffles, bacon and coffee! We have met many wonderful people on this trip. After breakfast we were on our way to Harve de Grace, Maryland.
Take care,
Barbara and Captain Pete