The first rule of cruising: You can sail to a specific destination or a set schedule, never both.
Number of times we have broken this rule: 2 (so far)
Results: Stress, anxiety, questioning of life’s choices, lack of sleep, meeting some awesome people in sweet places!!
The next leg of our journey was going to be a test. We needed to get ourselves into the Atlantic Ocean, down the approximately 100 miles of New Jersey coast, up into the Delaware Bay with a notoriously strong current and shallow depths, through the C&D canal that cuts across the top of Delaware and part of Maryland and then travel 40 miles south in the Chesapeake to Annapolis. A total of about 230 nautical miles. We had just a few days to do it.
Back in the summer, we had invited our friends Ethan, Danielle and Paul (also known as Pablo, Lucas’ brother) to join us at the Annapolis Boat Show in mid October. In August, when we made these plans, it seemed like we had more than enough time to get our butts to Annapolis in time. They booked flights and we made sure to have enough bedding to sleep 5 adults on board. Fast forward to September 12, when we officially left our dock at Toledo Beach, we only had a month to travel all the way to Annapolis – crap. We kept this deadline in the back of our minds as we traveled, trying to make smart sailing decisions based on weather conditions but also trying to keep the boat moving towards Annapolis.
After weeks of travel, we found ourselves on Staten Island on Sunday, October 8. We could still make it to the show but we were going to need a break in the weather and a little luck. Thankfully, we had the help of Randy, my Uncle Rob’s friend, and fellow sailor. We emailed back and forth with Randy multiple times, he has sailed on the East Coast for many years and has made this trip countless times. He helped us find a good weather window and confirmed that our travel plans weren’t too crazy.
We waited on Staten Island for two nights, hoping our forecasted weather window held up and working on some more boat projects. We woke up early on Tuesday, October 10, checked the weather again and cast off our lines as the sun rose. The plan was to travel down as much of the New Jersey shore as we could during the day. There are no good bailout points for our boat along the New Jersey shore until Atlantic City, 80 miles away, so we were going to make a game time decision once we got close – either enter Atlantic City at night (the second rule of cruising is don’t go into a new place in the dark) or continue through the night and enter the next port, Cape May, 100 miles away, at daybreak.
This was to be our first day in the ocean and our first taste of night sailing. Let’s just say we, along with our Moms, were a little nervous for this one.
Nerves aside, the day started out great; beautiful sunrise, nice breeze, and a small swell. We got the sails up early and then turned south as we exited the New York Bay. We stayed about 4-6 miles offshore, far enough away to avoid most fishing vessels and crab pots but close enough that we could see land. Crazy enough, Randy ended up leaving the New York Bay on the same morning that we did. We even sailed next to each other for a while before Randy headed further offshore on his journey to North Carolina. It was very reassuring to see a friendly face out there and we checked in with Randy a few times on VHF. Thank you again for all your help!
As the day went on, the wind and waves kept up, more so than was forecasted. We then had to turn Alaya more to the southwest to stay on course, which meant we were beating into the waves, instead of taking them more to the side of the boat. All this led to some discomfort on board. It wasn’t scary but uncomfortable. I started to feel seasick. The afternoon continued, Alaya and Lucas were champs. I got more seasick. As the sun began to set, the wind and waves finally started to settle down and the ride got a bit more comfortable. We motored into the night. I was still feeling pretty crappy but definitely better than a few hours before. We passed by Atlantic City around 11 p.m. After much discussion, we decided to continue onward.
It was a beautiful night with lots of stars. The lights from the New Jersey shore were pretty but made it hard to spot other boats. I slept on and off in the cockpit. Lucas captained us the entire night. He had to navigate around a bit of marine traffic, including three tugboats and barges. Alaya plugged along and by the middle of the night, the wind had completely died and the ocean swell was present but much smaller.
We arrived at Cape May at daybreak, just as planned. We were a little worse for wear but Alaya had done great. Right as we turned into the channel, we saw a dolphin on the horizon. Our first official sighting on this trip! We laid anchor in front of the Coast Guard’s training center with quite a few other boats. As soon as we were settled, we went to sleep. It had been a long night.
After sleeping for a few hours, we got up and made breakfast potatoes (A Susan Kizer speciality). Between my seasickness and our nerves, we hadn’t eaten a lot in the last 24 hours. Breakfast potatoes hit the spot! After breakfast, we went to sleep again. After our second (or third) nap we felt a little more rested, so we looked at the weather forecast and tide tables. We decided to head out again at midnight.
We’ve heard from many sailors about the importance of timing your entrance into the Delaware Bay to the incoming tide. The entrance is fairly narrow and shallow, so if you try to enter against the current or if the wind is against the current in either direction, steep, short waves can build. Leaving Cape May at midnight would hopefully have us enter the Delaware Bay around 3 a.m., right as the current switched in our favor. We then hoped to ride the current all the way up the Delaware Bay.
We woke up at midnight and pulled up our anchor. It was another beautiful night and the sea state was very calm. We headed back out into the Atlantic Ocean. We both were tired but excited to get this section underway. We motored along and entered the bay just after 3 a.m.. We took turns napping in the cockpit while the other helmed. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the bay. We saw another dolphin once the sun came up. There were quite a few other boats around us, including a huge Chiquita Banana ship…so many bananas. We also listened to the coast guard respond to a personal emergency beacon broadcasting 60 miles of the NJ coast. The coast guard sent a helicopter to the location within 30 minutes of the initial signal detection. It ended up being a false alarm but it was really interesting and impressive to listen to.
We continued to ride the current the entire way up the Delaware Bay, arriving at the C&D canal around 11 a.m.. We both felt alert, so we decided to keep moving. It may have been our lack of sleep but compared to all the other canals we’ve been on so far, this canal was pretty boring. We officially entered the Chesapeake Bay around 2 p.m.
Still feeling good, we turned Alaya south, our goal was to get to Annapolis before sunset. After all this time, we were so close to making our deadline. We were thankful for a fairly uneventful motor down the bay, interrupted briefly by artillery fire at a nearby army testing facility and a few crab pots that we had to dodge. Somehow we managed to ride the favorable current until about 5 p.m.
We pulled into our slip at Safe Harbor – Podickery Point just at last light on Thursday, October 12. Our guests were scheduled to arrive in a few hours. Our plan had worked, we made it!!
Now, it was time to enjoy the boat show and rest up. No more deadlines (for now).
