Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay   ...  Monday 8^th October 2012

If you read the guidebooks or talk to cruisers you get the impression that the Delaware Bay has a reputation for nasty seas.  We debated for quite some time about tackling this today.  Our original plan was to leave Cape May on Tuesday when the forecast was for NE winds around 10 knots. This forecast changed to N winds 10 to 15 gusting to 20.  At that point the Monday forecast (NNW winds 5- 10 knots diminishing to 5 knots in the afternoon) started to seem more attractive.  We were underway by 7 am and had reached the point at Cape May (more or less the entrance to the Delaware Bay) by 8 am, some 30 minutes in advance of the start of the flooding tide.  Our thought was that this would avoid the worst of the wind over tide effects at the entrance to the bay.  Apparently planning and forethought only get you so far.  The wind seemed to be more like 10 knots from the NE and the seas were significantly larger than the forecasted 1ft!  On went the foul weather gear to protect us from the spray.  Seasick meds were swallowed and we hunkered down behind the dodger to try to stay warm.  We raised the mainsail and unfurled the genoa hoping to sail.  The wave action meant that we were only doing about 3 knots—not enough to get us 50 miles up the bay to the start of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal(C&D canal). We furled the genoa and continued motor-sailing. Breakfast of a cold bagel did little to lift our spirits. 

Thankfully, after a couple of hours the seas started to subside which made the trip more comfortable if no warmer. As the bay began to narrow the seas continued to flatten, the wind eased a bit but the traffic picked up… We saw three barges and one huge liquified gas vessel as well as many powerboats of all stripes.  Now that we are anchored off Reedy Point, we are happy that we left Cape May this morning.  This was not always the sentiment.  At about 9:30 am Mike said he wanted to label the blog “The Delaware Bay Sucks”.


... a selection of the "delights" to be found in the Delaware Bay

Tug and Barge

Massive Gas Tanker

Nuclear Power Station

Ship John Shoal Light

Close encounters