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vacation from her job as a police dispatcher for the Huber Heights Police Dept. The Alberg 30’s are
very sea worthy and strong, and this helped the
neophytes stay out of serious trouble. This is a
story/journal of the maiden voyage to bring the boat
from North Carolina where we found her, to Sandusky
on Lake Erie. Some experiences are scary, but most
are funny, especially looking back on them from 3
years experience. This is but the first trip, after
outfitting, practicing on Lake Erie and getting
married, we set out to see the East Coast and the
Bahamas, but that is another story.
Chapter 10 The Delaware Bay
June 1,
Sunday the weather was great, blue sky, and warm as we
headed into the Chesapeake to Delaware Canal.
The 14-mile long Chesapeake and
Delaware Canal (C & D Canal) crosses the northern
Delaware/Maryland peninsula, and its eastern mouth is at
Reedy Point, Delaware, on the Delaware River, with its
western mouth at Chesapeake City, Maryland, on Chesapeake
Bay. The name of the canal reflects the names of the two
water bodies that it connects.
More
information can be had at
http://www.pennways.com/CD_Canal.html
We stopped
at Schaffers in Chesapeake City for Ice, food and
souvenirs. I had misread the current table by 180 degrees
and now found that we were transiting the canal against the
current. I am glad the new engine had lots of power, and
the biggest propeller the boat and engine could handle, but
still the current added about an hour to our transit time.
With it being Sunday lots of people were out fishing from
the bank, and all the kids like to wave at boats as they go
by, especially sailboats which are going so slow.
We exited
the canal into the Delaware River and started down the river
watching the scenery pass by. We were in a shipping channel
so we were careful to stay to the side, but only one
freighter passed us. As we approached the mouth of the
Delaware Bay, the wind picked up and clouds moved in. Of
course the wind as is its custom came from dead ahead. We
"hove to" and Karen and I checked the charts, and discussed
whether to try for Cape May, or find a close by anchorage
for the night. Karen's words: "If we are going to make Cape
May, we better get going." We headed out into the bay. The
ride got a bit wild, but even with the seas running 3 - 4
ft, we saw fishermen in small open boats clustered around a
beautiful old lighthouse. As the afternoon progressed I
watched our painfully slow progress, slow even more. I
rechecked the Coastal Pilot and found that the Tide was
approaching full flow and would not slow for nearly 4
hours. Our rate of progress was slowed to the point were we
would not reach Cape May until nearly Midnight, and we
changed our plans. Out of Cape May on the North side of the
Bay is Fortesque, NJ. Fortesque is a fishing port, where
fishermen can charter boats to take them out in the Bay and
to the ocean. I called and talked with the Coast Guard who
assured me that the channel was deep enough for my boat.
They checked with the Harbor Master and he had a space for
us.
We headed
for the port in the building storm. What they didn’t tell
us and we didn’t know was enough to fill another chapter. I
mentioned that the tide was running against us, which made
it an incoming tide. With the wind helping the tide along,
there was a really good flow of water headed inland. This
became all too apparent as we neared the entrance to
Fortesque. The dock master had volunteered to meet us on
the dock to take our lines and we waved at him as we shot by
on the “flood tide”. The tide was just roaring into the
inlet, and we had about as much control as a wood chip in a
flood. Past the docks the inlet opened a bit and I was able
to make a “U” turn and head back toward the dock. With the
current against us, our speed was thankfully slowed and
control much improved. But now the problem was to make a
left turn into the little slot between the pilings that
anchor the dock to the bottom. Sounds easy enough but, the
current is rushing past at break neck speed, and when I turn
my little boat, the big keel will be side ways to the
current. Ok, with the engine at full power we fight our way
back to the dock. I ease the tiller and nose toward the
upstream piling, I throw the tiller hard left just a little
too late and we careen off the piling and the current slams
us down on the dock where the dock master caught the line
that Karen had thrown. He struggles and the engine roars
while Karen pushes against the dock and we finally struggle
into the slip. Another good sail, no one got hurt, and
nothing broke, just some creosote on the hull.
54.3 NM 
Please click here for additional information
or if you would like to contact the
author of this article, Earl Lang, owner of the Acme
Bicycle Shop in Punta Gorda. Thank you!
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