November 2006
New York - Chesapeake Bay, USA
We left Great Kills Harbour for Atlantic Heights on 1st November, a pleasant short sail on flat calm water at around 4 knots.
Spent two nights at anchor in Atlantic Heights and then set off earlyish on 3 rd for the 88 mile run down the coast to Atlantic City. Very bumpy heading north past Sandy Hook in the strong NW wind, but having rounded the Hook the seas were flat and we had good sailing with two reefs in the main to start with, in company with three other yachts. It true what they say – when two or more yachts are sailing in the same direction it’s a race! The fun ended when the wind died late morning, but it picked up again at 15.00 so we romped along under full sail on a broad reach at 7 and 8 knots – perfect! Sunset is now around 17.00 so the last 5 hours were in the dark. Finding Atlantic City is not a problem as the lights on the hotel buildings can be seen as a broad, smeared red band from about 20 miles out.
The current in the river was strong (2 – 3 knots) when we anchored and I made a big mistake. I held the boat stationary relative to the land when I dropped the anchor with a tripping line with a small fender attached. The anchor was swept under the boat and the tripping line disappeared but the anchor set and (luckily it turned out) I put the engine in neutral to let the current set the anchor, which it did very effectively.
The problem came the following morning when I tried to raise the anchor. I pulled up most of the spare chain, but shortening it allowed the tripping line to float backwards and wrap round the prop. The anchor wasn’t fully up and we were drifting slowly back into shallows. I couldn’t reset the anchor as it was now in effect tied to the prop by the tripping line. A minute’s frantic digging in the forepeak locker brought the spare anchor (a 20 lb Danforth) on deck and this was deployed in double quick time. It’s amazing how far you can throw a 20 lb weight if there’s enough urgency! It held first time and stopped us with 3 feet under the keel on a falling tide with increasing current.
I didn’t fancy going in to sort it in that current so I called Towboat US whom I’d joined a few weeks earlier. They arrived in around 30 minutes and by now we had 2 feet under the keel. We managed to get the tripping line off the main anchor and back on Gypsy Dancer. We towed the boat to deeper water and still couldn’t get the line off. We needed to get the boat out of the current so Gary (the Towboat US guy) could dive on the prop. He suggested a little side creek which turned out to be too shallow - we were ‘towed’ aground and pulled off three times – how strange is that! Then we went into one of the seriously expensive marinas in Atlantic City ($6 per foot per night!) and tied to a dock while Gary went in and cut the rope off.
With that all sorted out it was 14.00 and we’d missed the slot for Cape May so another night at anchor in Atlantic City. We didn’t go ashore as it really doesn’t look like a very enjoyable place – all big hotels and casinos – and the temperature went down to freezing.
So what did all this teach me? The main mistake was in stopping the boat relative to the land when I dropped the anchor. I should have stopped the boat further upstream and let her drift back with the current letting the anchor go when we were drifting at the same speed as the current. Then the anchor would have dropped vertically and the tripping line would not have been swept under the boat. I’d got into the habit of rigging a tripping line in the Great Lakes where there’s a lot of deadheads (waterlogged lumber) on the bottom from logging days. Since Atlantic City I haven’t used a tripping line at all. One big advantage is that no one needs to be on the bow to retrieve the tripping line which makes raising the anchor much easier, especially in tight anchorages. I will now only use a tripping line in places where there are known problems, or to mark a second anchor.
The sail down to Cape May was good to start with and 4 and 5 knots until the wind dropped leaving us motor sailing through a maze of lobster pots around the approach channel. The approach channel was busy and very bumpy. The anchorage is shallow and right beside the main channel so it was a little rolly, especially when all the sport-fishing boats came back in for a fishing competition weigh in at 17.00.
Cape May Harbour is another quaint touristy town with pastel painted wooden houses but not much in the way of useful supplies close at hand. It’s a long row down to the dinghy landing (look for the big TV mast and then the little sandy beach by the fisherman’s memorial statue) and a mile or so walk to the main section of town. We met two other English boats in Cape May. One was a 50’ wooden trawler that Hazel and Dave McCabe had refitted themselves. Inside was like a log cabin complete with log burning stove. It was the warmest I’d been for weeks!
Next day we motor-sailed round Cape May itself (not through the Cape May Canal because it has a 53’ bridge) and up Delaware Bay, then a few miles up Cohansey River, one of the few anchorages along Delaware Bay. I would have like to go ashore there as the town of Greenwich is old and quite historic but the holding in the river is suspect and the currents very strong.
The following day was forecast for lots of rain and flooding rivers so we set off down river and out across a very wet and foggy Delaware Bay. Conditions were sailable but we had to have to the motor on to use the radar so we motor-sailed. I spent some time talking to a large fully loaded upbound oil tanker on Ch. 13 who seemed to be organising traffic in the shipping lane and agreed with him when to cross ahead of him. For some nerve-racking minutes I could hear his engines and fog signal but not see him in the murk. The shipping lanes are quite narrow here and I had just reached the other side when his bow appeared out of the fog about ½ a mile away. This was the first time I’d used the radar in anger on this trip and it proved very comforting. I also confirmed that the oil tanker could see me on his radar which was very comforting.
With that out of the way all I had to do was to find a small gap in a submerged (it was high tide) breakwater between two channel markers about 3 boat lengths apart south of Reedy Island in visibility that was now down to 200 metres.
Vector electronic charts scored heavily over raster versions of the paper charts as I could zoom right in to get a clearer idea of the separation of the two buoys which were shown virtually overlapped on even the largest scale raster chart. It was quite a relief to finally drop the anchor. This experience, plus the fact that buying Garmin Mapsource regions is expensive (and I'd need five more just to get down to Florida - at $116 a time,) convinced me that I needed a new GPS chart plotter to use at the helm. The Garmin 492C comes with the complete set of US coastal Bluechart vector charts and cost about the same as five Mapsource regions. It's also waterproof and has an internal antenna version which can be used at the helm with minimal installation.
The next day was bright and clear for the motor along the Chesapeake - Delaware Canal to Chesapeake City, about 2/3 of the way along the 14 mile canal. There’s a good anchoring basin at Chesapeake City and also a town dock where you can tie up for free for 24 hours. The chart shows 4 feet depth going into the basin but it was dredged in late 1995 to around 12 feet throughout. This friendly town has some very neat late 19th century wooden houses many of which have been turned into touristy gift shops but no grocery shops at all – I couldn’t find anywhere that sold bread apart from a local restaurant which was prepared to let me have a loaf. There was however a good computer shop (sales and repairs) with free wifi access about a mile out of town.
The rest of the canal soon passes and opens out into the head of the massive Chesapeake Bay. This is really a drowned river valley system that offers many secluded anchorages in side rivers and creeks, and also the attractions of the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis - the east coast yachting centre where I hoped to add a few goodies to Gypsy Dancer.
A night at anchor off Turner Creek in the Sassafras River took me down to anchor in Back Creek, Eastport / Annapolis where I spent 6 days ordering storm sails, buying a GPS chart plotter and visiting Washington DC – a 30 mile $4 bus ride away. During those 6 days a large depression went through with 55 knot gusts (top end of force 10) and torrential rain through the anchorage. My 45 lb CQR held OK but the smaller boat next to me dragged into a marina and in between two pontoons before it was captured by the marina staff. I spent a few hours fully kitted up with the engine warmed up until I got fed up with it and made a curry to pass the time.
On 18th November with sails ordered and GPS delivered a reasonable forecast allowed me to leave Annapolis to see a bit more of the bay. A very pleasant sail across to East Bay and into Miles River took me to St Michaels, a small town which is full of expensive clothes shops and up-market gift shops, but at least has a supermarket within easy walking distance of the dinghy dock (which is just west of the Crab Claw restaurant). The maritime museum is worth a visit to see the cottage style lighthouse, the oyster fishing display and the wooden boats. It includes a working boat-building shed where craftsmen make two models of small wooden boat and you can join in as an apprentice for the day.
The following day we sailed back, beating down the St Miles River avoiding shallows before turning westwards onto a great reach down East Bay. A long beat up Chesapeake Bay brought us back to anchor in Back Creek, Eastport / Annapolis. The new storm sails have been received and I took the opportunity to add a 60 lb CQR anchor and a telescopic Forespar spinnaker pole to use as a whisker pole. The anchor and the pole where both purchased from Bacons, the consignment store (i.e. they sell used equipment on behalf of the owners as well as new items) on Legion Drive - an Aladdin's Cave of useful and obsolete boat bits run by some very knowledgeable and helpful, laid back people.
Getting round Eastport and Annapolis to organise my purchases here wouldn't have been possible without the help of Mike Upton and his wife Jan, English ex-pats who live in Eastport and sail a Pearson 39. Mike and Jan typify the unstinting spirit of helping fellow sailors I've found to be so refreshing.
Thanks also to Fred Lewis for finding me a slip so I didn't have to endure two days of wind and rain at anchor in Back Creek and to the Snyder family for welcoming me into their home to share their Thanksgiving dinner in a warm, friendly and lively celebration. Hollace's pumpkin pie was yummy!
Luckily Friday 24th was a beautiful warm day - the first for ages where I could wear shorts! I spent the day preparing Gypsy Dancer to fit the new storm sails. Being in a slip made climbing the mast to re-rig the inner forestay much easier than it would otherwise have been. Of course - as with all boat jobs - it didn't go as smoothly as I hoped. I had to dismantle the roller furler and the radar support on the back stay to adjust the rig to make the inner forestay fit properly. So it goes with boats!
The storm sails are now set up with additional cars on the jib track and turning blocks on the quarters. The new pole is tested and stowed so all is ready for departure.
Mike and Jan invited me to become a part of their team at an Irish pub's quiz night - we came equal first and lost it on the tie-break question. Embarrassing really as it was a nautical question too!
We attempted to leave on Wednesday 29th for a short trip round to Selby Bay just south of Annapolis but came back in when we found the visibility in the Bay was around 150 metres.
Finally managed to leave Annapolis on Thursday 30th when the fog lifted for the 38 mile trip to Cambridge on the Choptank River. At first it was frustrating motoring straight into the wind and tide, but the last part was a good sail up the river in the last of the afternoon sun and a glorious sunset. On the way we passed the St Thomas Point Lighthouse - the last working 'cottage-style' lighthouse.
Cambridge is an old commercial port which is reviving itself with a trendy visitor centre and waterfront condominiums. There's little else there but the free dock is a useful and secure place to sit out bad weather, although its shallower than the 10 feet claimed.