Beating Down the Delaware (or..the Delaware beating down us) June 16

Delaware Bay has a reputation. And any place that has a reputation we pay special attention. At Chesapeake City, we spent some time with Charles and Laurel and their boys from the sailboat Alice, talking about the upcoming weather and our thoughts on getting down the Bay. It would be 73 miles from start to finish – our longest run. The combination of a fairly shallow but very large body of water, strong ocean tidal currents and winds makes for a potentially rough ride. The weather for Tuesday was looking the best for the next 5 days –10 knots from the east. After some deliberation “Alice” decided to leave at 4:30am and we decided to follow about a half hour later.

With our running lights on and the sun still hidden beyond the horizon we nosed out into the second half of the C&D Canal, with the knowlrdge that the forecast wasn’t as favourable – the winds were going to be stronger than we thought. The current was against us now so the 13 canal miles were a bit slow. When we hit the Delaware river the current had turned in our favour and we accelerated to over 7 knots. Both sails were raised and we upped our speed to over 8 knots. YES!! A couple of hours later the Delaware river poured us into Delaware Bay and the real fun started. Actually not that fun – but awfully exhilerating.The wind current combination turned our rapid ride into a wet and wild show. The east wind was now on our nose and we had to angle off to keep wind in the sails. The waves quickly built up and were steep with a short space between them. Our smooth sailing Tiffany Rose was now bucking up and down in the waves. As they built up more her bow started to pop into the air and then dive down into the next one sending a gushing spray over the deck.

Christopher was down below working on something on the computer as it started. When he came up to the cockpit he was looking a bit off and so we stuck him in his favourite corner to try to nap. This short sleep did the trick and he came back to life. What this looked like then was laughing enthusiastically as a wave would run over the bow and spray over the dodger and hit me or Shirley in the face. Great fun!! You'll notice the distinct lack of pictures for this post, partly because of the wet and part becasue our hands were busy doiong what we had to do.
Shirley and I were trading off at the helm – it was tough work keeping the course, trying to keep wind in the sails and control the wild throws of the waves. But then she had to go below to attend to something. That pretty much did her in. The wild rocking and working in close quarters turned her stomach upside down and I watched in anticipation as she clung to the lifelines ready to give the Bay a taste of her breakfast. “That’ll teach it!” But she was able to bring things under control and kept her much needed honey nut flake nutrition. Usually it is best to take the helm when you get seasick. But today it was so wild at the helm as the stern would plunge down and then fire back up into the air, it wasn’t having the desired calming effect. So I kept my place there and rode us on down the Bay. The wind had turned too much on our nose and we furled up the jib, but left the main flying. Of course the engine had been running all along as well. More than close hauled now we were still able to squeeze 5.5 knots, except when the GPS would read 2kts when we slammed another wave. After about 7 hours of this pounding we could see the land forming Cape May. We thought for sure as we got closer things would subside, but it kept blowing. Sure felt a lot stronger than the 15 knots they were forecasting. It wasn’t until we reached the Cape May canal that everything suddenly went flat and my white knuckle grip on the wheel relaxed. We breathed easy over to the anchorage next to the Coast Guard Station and joined a number of other boats. Now to wait for the next "good weather day" to head into the ocean and start up the coast.