Canada Loop – Day 1

Sunday, July 9, 2023

It was not a very propitious start, I’m afraid.  The boat felt sluggish, and we were burning more fuel than we used to.  Partly, we were fighting a foul tide, but Lynn said the boat just needed to “wake up”: it had hardly been used since we got home in April. Mostly, it was being waxed, and varnished, and re-fit mechanically.

Anyway, after a couple of hours, things improved greatly.  We had a very pleasant trip up the Chesapeake Bay and through the C&D Canal.  When we reached the Delaware River, however, the seas got choppy.  About 30 minutes later, we turned south around the Salem Nuclear Plant, into the Delaware Bay.

Here we are crossing under the old and new St Georges Bridges heading east at 11:06 am.

The Delaware Bay is notoriously rough, because it’s shallow, and any unfavorable wind can kick up a nasty chop.  The waves were more than twice what had been forecast – about 2’, right on the nose, with a 5 second frequency.  When you are heading right into the waves, they are effectively hitting you about 1-2 seconds apart.  It was very hard on the boat: rising; slamming down; shipping a lot of spray and water over the windshield.  It was going to be 4+ hours of damaging conditions.

And so – for the first time ever – We simply turned around.

And here we are crossing under the St Georges Bridges heading back west at 1:40 pm!

We are now holed up in a placid marina just off the C&D Canal, and a thunderstorm system is passing overhead.  At least I don’t have to wash the salt water off the boat – the rain is taking care of that.

Lynn reminds me that our last trip had a rocky start – my wrestling with the water pump for the better part of a day.  She says it’s a good omen.  I’m hoping she’s right.

Tomorrow, we finish the second half of the trip to Cape May!