Chesapeake City, MD to Cape May, NJ

Miles Traveled 72.3

Total Miles Traveled 4238

Day 257

Calm before the storm…..we had wind and rain, but no problem with our anchor holding…..and we have that spot free rinse on the boat too.

We weighed anchor at 6:30 this morning to make the run from Chesapeake City, Maryland to Cape May, New Jersey.  We have been waiting a couple of days for a good weather window to make the crossing.  The Delaware Bay covers about 782 square miles of area and the shores of the bay are largely composed of salt marshes and mudflats.  The open water and limited places to anchor make this body of water best transited in one day. 

We passed this tow in the C & D canal, it’s strange to see the tugboat pulling the barge, in the river system the tugboats push the barges.

We passed a few ships as we were entering the bay.

Behind the ship is the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station.  It is a thermal nuclear power plant located on the same site as the Salem Nuclear Power Plant with a combined output of 3572 megawatts.  The Salem-Hope Creek complex is the largest nuclear generating facility in the Eastern United States and the second largest nationwide.

Ship John Lighthouse took its name from an incident in 1797 in which the “John” ran aground while on the way from Hamburg, Germany to Philadelphia, PA.  The passengers and cargo were unloaded safely, but the vessel was lost. 

Delaware Bay…….at one point we cruised about 2 hours without sight of land in any direction. 

We arrived at the Cape May Canal, a 3 mile waterway connecting Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay.  The canal was constructed during World War II to provide a protected route to avoid German U-Boats operating off Cape May Point and to become part of the Intracoastal Waterway. 

Railroad swing bridge crossing the canal.

After securing the boat at the marina, we walked across the street to the Lobster House for fresh local seafood.