Day 286
As shown in the pictures from my last blog post, Wednesday, 06/23/21, dawned crystal clear and beautiful; the skies being the color of cobalt. The front that passed through yesterday swept out all of the haze, and chilled the air down to 51 degrees that morning. We untied Legacy’s lines from the T-dock at Sassafras Marina at 8:00 am and cruised out onto mirror-smooth waters. We headed west on the Sassafras River back toward the Chesapeake Bay. We again passed Georgetown Yacht Basin, Duffy Creek Marina, and Skipjack Cove Marina. Farther down the river, we cruised past Half Creek, Old Field Point, Rattlesnake Point, Little Marsh Point, and Big Marsh Point, MD, as we entered into the mouth of the Sassafras River, which grows wider and wider until it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
The Sassafras River in Maryland is apparently bald eagle country, as we saw SIX of them out fishing for breakfast within a thirty-minute time span, though of course I wasn’t able to get any pictures. We passed Back Creek and Foreman Creek, then Ordinary Point, and Grove Point Wildlife Sanctuary, before finally leaving the Sassafras for Chesapeake Bay, proper. Out in the Chesapeake, we encountered a north wind (behind the front) and 1-2 foot waves. We even saw white-capping and — of course — crab pots everywhere! AARGH!
At its very northern end, the Chesapeake Bay splits into three separate rivers; the Susquehanna, the North East, and the Elk, which is the easternmost. Our course that day followed the Elk River to meet the C&D (Chesapeake and Delaware) Canal, via Back Creek, not far south of Willowstone, MD. Along the Elk River, we passed Hyland Point and Piney Creek Cove, MD. To my delight, the banks of the Elk River and surrounding waterways rise up into bluffs that sit anywhere from 25 feet to 200 feet above the waterline. Beautiful homes with well-manicured lawns and pastures adorn the tops of these bluffs. We were both surprised at all the farmland on the northern Chesapeake, as we had expected this property to be high-end vacation retreats, and much more heavily-populated.
We passed Herring Creek before we entered into Back Creek, which was extended by humans to become the C&D Canal, which was created as a short-cut connecting the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River, originally completed in 1829. Over the years, this canal has gradually been improved (deepened and widened) in multiple projects as needs arose. It’s latest improvement was completed in 1996. After bouncing along out in the bay, the smooth, calm waters of the C&D Canal were appreciated by both of us. The temperature had also begun to warm up, though the humidity remained nice and low.
Along the C&D Canal is Chesapeake City, MD, at the Maryland Highway 213 bridge. Farther along the C&D, we crossed the state line between Maryland and Delaware, and passed Summit North Marina, Lorewood Grove, and Saint Georges, DE. Just beyond the DE Highway 9 bridge, the C&D Canal widens considerably and opens into the Delaware River. On less stellar weather days, this intersection, along with the Delaware River and Bay, have a reputation for being dicey, cruising-wise. But thanks to the expert planning of my captain, the waters we encountered on this day were just as smooth and placid as a pussycat, as we steadily cruised out into the massive Delaware River. The whole time we were on the Delaware, I kept thinking back to when George Washington so very famously crossed it, not realizing until later that the place where Washington actually crossed was much further north than we were, and considerably narrower. D’OH!
We turned to port and headed north up the Delaware River for about two miles to Delaware City Branch Channel, upon which Delaware City Marina is located. We arrived Delaware City Marina about 1:00 pm, where we tied to a very long wall. Because the current is so strong in this channel, the marina advises arriving captains of larger vessels to head into the channel, come up next to the wall on the boat’s starboard side, and switch off the engines. The marina dock-hands will then take lines from the boat’s bow and stern, and actually manhandle the boat in a 180-degree turn to where its port sits next to the wall, where the boat is then secured. This process seemed rather unorthodox, but the marina explained to us there had been so many mishaps with captains misjudging the current strength in that narrow channel, that it was much easier and SAFER for the marina to spin the boats manually. That was fine with us, as we already knew how difficult it can be to successfully maneuver a large boat in a narrow channel with strong current. We did NOT want any damage done to Legacy or the docks. The dock-hands did an excellent job with Legacy (you could tell they’d done it before), and prevented a possible disaster, which greatly lowered my stress level.
Once we tied-up, hooked-up, and showered-off, we walked into the tiny adjacent town of Delaware City for drinks and a shared appetizer, as Steve needed to be back at the marina office by 5:00 pm for the daily Delaware River/Bay weather briefing that was given by the harbor master at this marina. (We both find local knowledge extremely helpful, obtain it wherever we can, and take it seriously.) After the briefing, we walked back into town for dinner, where Steve informed me that the weather briefing he’d just received told him instead of continuing on the following day, Legacy would stay right there at Delaware City Marina. 10-12 foot waves were predicted for Delaware Bay on 06/24/21, which neither of us had any interest in traversing!
Position: N 39° 34.319, W 75° 35.407
Distance traveled: 44 SM
Total distance traveled: 4044 SM
Total marina nights: 262
Total nights at anchor: 23
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 28