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<\/a><\/div>\nWhen planning a long distance delivery you can hope for the best but really never know what you are in for with the weather until you get underway. The forecast called for fairly heavy winds out of the west with a planned shift to the south. It was our hope that we would be able to catch the westerlies for a run down the Jersey Coast and round Cape May for the run up the Delaware as the winds shifted to the south. But before that Kathy suggested us to get insured, click to read more<\/a> and learn how it can help you later. Amazingly, we actually were able to make that work.\u00a0\u00a0 The truth is that it’s the first time I have ever been able to sail that distance.\u00a0\u00a0By the time we stopped yesterday we had covered 232km at an average speed over the bottom of 7.25kts, and most of that under sail.<\/p>\n Here’s a view of the Chrysler Building.\u00a0 I wonder what old man Chrysler would have to say about the state of the domestic auto industry.<\/p>\n We motored into a fresh west wind from the club in Norwalk down to the East River and the past the east Side of Manhattan, by Governor’s Island, through the upper NY Harbor and out around Sandy Hook. To our delight, the winds began to fill in more from the west as we rounded the Hook. We killed the motor and\u00a0turned south.<\/p>\n As we rounded Sandy Hook a large school of bottle nose dolphins crossed our bow. I have heard that dolphins are very playful and often seem to be having a great time jumping out of the water just for the apparent joy of it. Well it sure looked like they were having a ball. One after the other they jumped clear of the water and generally having a great time. For once I was actually able to get a few terrific action shots.\u00a0 So often I get out my camera only to find that the whale, dolphin or some other creature disappeared before I could get a shot. The harbor porpoises in Maine are much more shy and not nearly as fun loving as this group. Perhaps it was hearing about all those seasons of Flipper that got to them. Perhaps not. Quite a contrast from the big city to see these beautiful animals.<\/p>\n If you have spent much time on the water you will know that it is\u00a0really rare to be able to sail for nearly 24 hours straight but that\u2019s exactly what we were able to do as we headed down the Jersey coast. After a full day of sailing on a beam reach at 8+kts, our highest sustained speed through the water was 9.7kts.<\/p>\n As we were abeam of approached Atlantic City at about 2AM the winds began to die and back clockwise around to the South. If you want to see a real contrast try seeing Atlantic City all lit up on\u00a0dark night.\u00a0 Everywhere you look it’s black and then…ablaze is the city.\u00a0 Now that’s an impressive carbon footprint.\u00a0\u00a0 I wonder if Al Gore owns stock in any casinos.\u00a0 Hmm….<\/p>\n Amazingly, as we approached Cape May the wind picked up out of the south and we sped up the Delaware River to the north and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the C&D. That\u2019s just beyond lucky\u00a0as the timing was just perfect. Winds backing from the west to the south on cue. On top of that, the night was fairly clear and the moon, just one day from full was nearly bright enough to read by. A magical time.<\/p>\n We had set up a watch schedule for the overnight hours with two on deck at all times and two down below sleeping. Our schedule called for Denise and Jason on from 8pm until midnight. They were enjoying the night so much that they didn\u2019t get me and Cathy up until almost an hour after that, at 1am. Cathy and I stood watch from then until nearly dawn when we both crashed, exhausted into our bunks. I didn\u2019t want to head below until we were well into the channel to head up the Delaware, a very narrow cut down the middle of the bay.<\/p>\n Even though the bay is really wide, over 10 miles, widening to over 15 miles wide before narrowing again some 45 miles up where the canal cuts over toward Baltimore, it’s really very shallow. It’s only the constant dredging that keeps the river open to commercial traffic. In spite of the massive size of the river, much of it is under 10 feet deep. As we rounded Cape May I had to head way out from shore in order to avoid the shoals that would surely put us aground. With the constantly shifting sands I found that the water depths really weren\u2019t consistent with what he charts said should be there. At some points we had less than 10 feet under the keel in spite of being more than 5 miles from shore. It was a bit nerve wracking.\u00a0 I have my depth finder zeroed to the bottom of the keel so when it says 2′ remaining, it means it.<\/p>\n As we sped down the coast I was also thrilled to past boat after boat that couldn\u2019t keep up with Pandora. The same thing happened on the Delaware River as we steadily overtook and passed a number of boats making the same trip. Pandora generally can outrun most boats, and some much larger, when the winds are right. It\u2019s nice to be finally have a boat that doesn\u2019t always arrive last into a harbor.<\/p>\n Continuing up the Delaware on a broad reach we screamed along with a favorable tide making\u00a09.5kts over the bottom. As we entered the Delaware bay the water turned the color of coffee, so different from the deep blue of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n Just before the canal we passed the Salem Point Nuclear Power plant. What an imposing structure! It made me happy to be down wind from all that steam. With a drive for \u201cgreen\u201d I wonder how many more of these will be popping up in the coming years. I am guessing that the fear of global warming and rising electrical rates will trump a fear of glowing in the dark. You can\u2019t very well unplug those curling irons and espresso makers can you?\u00a0 A girl’s (and guy) gotta live, right?\u00a0 Makes you want to go out and get a hybrid Suburban,\u00a0and a 60″ flat screen, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n By late morning we reached the canal, dropped the sails and headed into the calm waters of the C&D.\u00a0The canal was built (dug?)\u00a0back in the early 1800s and has gone through several transformations to bring it to it\u2019s modern form of over 200\u2019 wide and a controlling depth of over 30 ft. The current runs hard so we were pleased to hit it as it began to turn west, in the direction we wanted to go.<\/p>\n I had read in the cruising guide that the town dock in Chesapeake City offered free overnight dockage on a first come, first served basis so we decided to make\u00a0the\u00a0stop and spend the night.\u00a0 Besides, the prospect of heading south to Annapolis against 25kts of south wind on the nose wasn’t appealing in the least.<\/p>\n The tiny harbor and town of Chesapeake City just off of the canal was about 3 miles short of other end of the C&D so we were able to cover much of the distance with the tide an we pulled up to the dock just after noon.\u00a0 There’s a sand bar at the entrance to the harbor and we nearly bumped so I was very pleased that it wasn’t completely low tide.<\/p>\n The\u00a0crusing guide\u00a0said that the town was very quaint and friendly. Well, they weren\u2019t lying. What a beautiful spot. This shot was taken from on board of the town green. Not a view that I see every day, I can tell you.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a>Back in August we visited Rockland Maine and you may recall seeing pictures on an\u00a0earlier posting\u00a0that I took at the Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show. At that show I saw a really high tech 70′ sailboat that had been built\u00a0on spec\u00a0in Booth Bay (oops, bad time to be trying to find a buyer for a multimillion dollar toy) and was now looking for a willing would-be owner. Well, it’s a very small world and there it was,\u00a0that very same boat passing us\u00a0in the East River.\u00a0 While I feel pretty smug about how fast Pandora is, that boat passed us like we were\u00a0sitting still, they just zipped by. It\u2019s ironic that the boat is named \u201cAvailable\u201d.\u00a0 That’s a good name as\u00a0it seems they are still looking for a buyer.\u00a0We shouted across to them as they zoomed by and they confirmed that they were indeed\u00a0headed to Annapolis for the boat show next week.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n