Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Our adventure began on Wednesday, June 20th, with motoring from Chesapeake City, MD through the C&D Canal, and continuing down the Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ. We had a beautiful sunrise, as we were up at 5am doing the last minute preparations for the long day ahead.
Having never been along the Canal, I was very interested in it's history. The 14 mile, hand dug canal was opened to traffic in 1829, with only a cluster of 3 buildings. Over time, a commercial community developed providing services to passengers and shippers. In 1839 a name was given to this area, and in 1927, the canal was dredged to a sea-level waterway, eliminating the need for ships to stop for the locks at Chesapeake City. However this had a dramatic effect on the town flourishing, as did a ship destroying the bridge in 1942, further crippling the area. Later, in 1949, a new high-level bridge only swept travelers high above the struggling town. Then came the 60's when 39 homes were destroyed to make way for a widening of the canal, which by then was the 3rd busiest in the world!
Today CC is the only town in Maryland that is situated on a working commercial canal, and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interesting places to see are the Canal Museum, where the massive waterwheel and steam engines that filled the locks stand in mute testimony, as are replicas of lighthouses that lined the canal in days gone by.
Our delights in traveling the canal, were viewing several herons flying low over the water, coming from the edges of the water too quickly to aim my camera (actually sat in awe at their beautiful flight), the serene shoreline with just a handful of homes doting the edges, and a first for Tim, no one else, coming or traveling along with us! We had the tranquility of the canal all to ourselves:)
Once we came to the Delaware River, things changed as huge cargo ships were busily traversing the waters, heading to Philly, or points further south/north thru the Delaware Bay heading towards the Atlantic.  The breezes were with us all the way down the Bay and was so refreshing. Realizing we had just left Baltimore a few days earlier and knowing of their forecast for upper 90's for today made me feel lucky! Never felt uncomfortable til we went thru the short Cape May Canal, which was a close feeling, humidity....yikes!
We saw an abundance of cownose rays swimming in schools, and alone, right next to the boat! Unbelievable the size of these creatures, and so mysterious in the way they look and flutter about just skimming under the surface of the water. Didn't have a great desire to take a swim, believe me! Will wait for the day's end for that delight.
Record time was made for this first part of the journey: traveled up to 8 knots going through the canal, and the total trip was made in less than 11 hours, which is great time for a 63.3 nautical mile voyage.
Upon arriving in Cape May, the ocean smells and cool breezes made the trip so worthwhile. A quick dip off the back ladder, to refresh after the day's travel, was more than perfect for me.

Thursday mid-morning:
It's warmer today, so we're hoping to rent some bikes and head off to see the sights and ice cream shops of Cape May:) What flavor would you like?

Catch this breeze,
Susan