Circumnavigation of the Delmarva Penisula

[John Singletary]

We are planning a Circunavigation this June. Are there any others that
are planning the same trip this summer?

[Ralph Bibbus]

We've been considering doing it again this summer, this time aboard our P 31-2, most likely mid-July timeframe.

 

Ralph    

---

From: John Singletary <jrsi...@gmail.com>
To: Chesapeake Bay Sailors <chesapeake-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sat, April 2, 2011 5:34:45 PM
Subject: [Chesapeake Bay Sailors] Circumnavigation of the Delmarva Penisula

We are planning a Circunavigation this June. Are there any others that
are planning the same trip this summer?

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[Della Barba, Joe]

I am not doing it this summer, but I have done it:

http://www.dellabarba.com/sailing/GOR.html

 

 

Joe Della Barba  Coquina

 

 

[John Singletary]

This will be my first Circunavagation of the Delmarva. I have been
planning and talking to folks that have done the trip and gathering as
much information as I can. We are sailing a Hunter 27-2, I am
preparing the boat. I have an Ocean racing boat checklist to go by.

My question is: With a 8hp inboard diesel is it possable to navigate
the Canal provided we go with the tides?

John Singletary Sailing the "Surprise"

[Della Barba, Joe]

Sure. In the GOR outboard powered boats did it.
Be careful though - the ship and barge traffic literally has no room to avoid you if you hose around in the center of the canal.
My brother and I were rowing across to the Canal House when a tanker came around the corner and laid on the horn. You have no idea how much more power that adds to your rowing!
Also note there are few to zero good stops between the canal and Cape May. Pick your weather ;)

Joe Della Barba
Coquina

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[Edward land]

John,

We have a 38HP engine and always went with the tides, you will lose about 2
knots going against the tides, gain 2 knots with the tide a differential of
4 knots. You should think about the same advantage for going up or down the
Chesapeake and Delaware bay.

Regards
Ed Land
Finistere IP37-51

> -----Original Message-----
> From: chesapeake-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:chesapeake-bay-
> sai...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Singletary
> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 11:36 PM
> To: Chesapeake Bay Sailors
> Subject: [Chesapeake Bay Sailors] Re: Circumnavigation of the Delmarva
> Peninsula
>

> This will be my first Circunavagation of the Delmarva. I have been
> planning and talking to folks that have done the trip and gathering as
> much information as I can. We are sailing a Hunter 27-2, I am
> preparing the boat. I have an Ocean racing boat checklist to go by.
>
> My question is: With a 8hp inboard diesel is it possable to navigate
> the Canal provided we go with the tides?
>
> John Singletary Sailing the "Surprise"
>
> On Apr 4, 8:41 am, "Della Barba, Joe" <Joe.Della.Ba...@ssa.gov> wrote:
> > I am not doing it this summer, but I have done
> it:http://www.dellabarba.com/sailing/GOR.html
> >
> > Joe Della Barba  Coquina
> >

> > From: chesapeake-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:chesapeake-bay-
> sai...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ralph Bibbus
> > Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 8:59 AM
> > To: chesapeake-...@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [Chesapeake Bay Sailors] Circumnavigation of the
> Delmarva Penisula
> >
> > We've been considering doing it again this summer, this time aboard
> our P 31-2, most likely mid-July timeframe.
> >
> > Ralph
> >
> > ________________________________
>

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[Steve Blakely]

John:

 

On our trip we arrived at the canal around midnight with the tide dead against us. In the conditions we encountered, our 13 hp inboard was able to buck the tide, but not by a lot -- it was a slow slog to the ChesCity anchorage. If you time your passage with the tide, you'll have no problem; against it, depending on your conditions at the time, you might not make it. Also be aware that spring and fall can bring heavy fog in the C&D, which will close the canal (you will see big greed/red traffic lights as you enter -- if it's red, it's for a reason, and you should get the ACE (corps of engineers) on the radio to find out why). I've had friends go through there with land invisible 30 feet away to starboard and tankers passing in mid-channel <100 feet away to port -- not a mellow passage.

 

From ChesCity, our next overnight was in the Cohansey River on the NJ side of the DelBay, which is sheltered but very hard to see in any kind of weather until you're right on top of it. There are very strong tidal currents here, which is why I chose not to anchor in the shelter of the mouth of the river (where you have to pay very close attention to your anchor set when the current reverses), and instead went up to the tiny hamlet of Greenwich. The marina there has a floating dock, great showers, and a very good restaurant when we visited (the Bait Box, which is byob). From there, it was another day's sail down to Cape May. I timed our coastal run to coincide with a full moon, because I don't have radar, which proved to be a wise decision: About 1 a.m. we encountered a dredger running dark, dead ahead, which I had to change course to avoid, and without the moonlight he would have been invisible until we were on top of him.

 

As you probably know from your research, the Delaware Bay can be a very tough place, with extreme weather, nasty shallows, and very heavy freighter and tanker traffic in and out of the Chemical Coast of Delaware, NJ and Phila. Most pleasure boats hug either side of the channel markers and dodge outside if they get squeezed by commercial traffic. We were surprised at just how quickly the Delaware shoals up; the water here lives down to its reputation.

 

One of the best resources I found when I was preparing for this trip was the Maryland School of Sailing's trip reports, onlne at http://www.mdschool.com/ocean_index.htm (scroll down to the Coastal Trip Reports and look for the Delmarva posts). They run several Delmarvas each year as part of their week-long liveaboard ASA 105-6 training cruises, and these reports are helpful because they demostrate the extreme range of conditions you may encounter and also how they organize their crews (everyone rotates through each job on the boat). I forget which trip it was, but one fall they had two big lows stalling around to the north, which caused their boat to hold up at the Lewes breakwater; within a few hours of getting cleared by a good wx forecast and heading out, the two lows unexpectedly merged and dropped south, putting them in full storm condtions for their two-day run down the coast, which pushed them well past Cape Henry. That's unlikely to happen in the settled weather of June when you're going, but it's a good example of what you should plan for.

 

A write-up and some photos of our 2005 trip are online here.

 

This is a great trip and you should enjoy it. Have fun!

-- sb
Steve Blakely
IP 26, Bearboat
Galesville, MD
blak...@gmail.com
Travel clips: https://bearboat.wordpress.com/
Photos: https://sblakelyphotos.wordpress.com/