Heading South September 2012 III Monday, September 03, 2012 Underway in the Delaware Bay Water temperature 78 F

The current and the winds stayed with us and we had the anchor down in Cape May, NJ by noon yesterday. It was a very good ocean passage. Except for the 22 knots for a few hours when we first came out at Sandy Hook, winds were from 10 to 15 the rest of the trip. We ran the engine a few times when the wind died for a bit but we sailed for over 14 hours. Our average speed from Port Jefferson to Cape May was 6.0 knots which is very fast for us. The last four hours we were on a reach in 12 knots of wind with all 3 sails pulling nicely. Ocean sailing doesn't get much better than that.

This morning we had the anchor or before sunrise and headed out the Cape May Canal. The controlling depth in this canal is 6 feet and there are two bridges with 55 foot vertical clearance. Our shallow draft and 50 foot tall mast allowed us to take the canal and saved about ten miles. If we couldn't use the canal we would have had to go back out into the ocean far enough to clear a reef and then back into the mouth of the Delaware Bay.

We have left blue water behind us as we head north up the Delaware Bay. We are heading for the C&D Canal and the Chesapeake Bay.