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Calling upon Delaware River cruisers
- Thread starter alanc
- Start date
I have done the Cruise from the C&D canal to Cape May- well marked, lots of freighter traffic, and not a lot of places to duck into. Not an interesting cruise-Light Houses and Salem Nuclear Plant may be the high lite of the bay-from Phila. I would stop at Chesepeake City on the CD canal- nice town-Cape May is a great town-plan to spend a couple days- watch the weather carefully if the bay turns snotty not to many safe places to hide.
Ken
Ken
I can't really be very helpful, as my information is limited and probably outdated. But some general stuff- There is a good ramp about an hour north of Philly on the Jersey side. It is called the Burlington County ramp, right next to Curtins marina. You could probably arrange to store your rig at Curtins Marina. Just down the road, south of the Rancocas River, there are at least three marinas with lifts at Dredge Harbor. They too will store the rig or direct you to a nearby place that will. All these places have fuel Although it's an easy cruise from Philly down to the C&D canal, not much to see, except, of course, the beautiful Philadelphia skyline. At Philly proper, between the Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman Bridges, there are Marinas on both sides (Philly and Camden) I favored the one on the Jersey side, just north of the bow of the battleship New Jersey. Easily spotted fuel dock on Philly side, under the Ben Franklin bridge. . A little further south on the Philly side is (or was) the derelict SS United States. Then a few miles down river the old Philadelphia Navy Yard with it's ghost fleet of WWII ships of the line tied up right on the river. Well that was about 10 or 12 years ago, when both the Iowa and the Wisconsin were there along with some carriers with familiar names. I know the two battleships are gone now. Not much of interest further down, except maybe the airport and the Boeing helicopter plant. I used to enjoy that ride full out, racing the commerial planes landing right over our head. I'm sure others will jump in with more current stuff, but it was fun reminiscing. Good luck, have fun, and watch the weather especially south of the C&D.
alanc":sq76ozz6 said:We are in the 'hot stove' version of chart plotting. Need to float a CD22 from Philadelphia to Cape May (first leg) and beyond. Local knowledge, experiences. cheers and jeers all welcome. Let's here it all. Looking to sail on or about Memorial Day 2012.
#1 Go with the tide
#2 Don't go if winds more than 15 from the East. You will hit square waves all the way down.
#3 Watch out for the big ships, they are traveling a lot faster than you think they are.
You can launch at the Neshaminy Marina in downtown beautiful Croyden,Pa. Nice ramp, as far as leaving your tow rig you could call them about that. Launching and retrieving there (in and out) costs 10 bucks. Right on the north edge of Phila. there is a free ramp at the end of Linden ave. But you need to back the boat off the trailer as there are no side docks, just big honking rocks. So if some one can back you down while you stay in the boat it is a good ramp and it's free. There is a small dock out front for picking up and dropping off passengers,or to let the boat sit while you back down your trailer. In Cape May if you head in the canal past the ferry terminal the first creek on the right just before the big bridge is Spicers Creek make a right and there is a nice free boat ramp there that has parking down on the left. If driving come over the big bridge and make your first or second right you csn't miss it. New Jersey Transit runs buses out of Cape May so you could do a one way trip if you so desired. You can anchor in the canal area over in front of the coast guard station. I try to get in about ten feet of water in there before dropping the hook. Can be a little wavy in the am as the sport fishing fleet heads out. But a nice place to hang out as the world passes by in front of you. We have dinked across from the anchorage to a marina fuel dock and asked to use the showers if you look humble they will usually say ok. The Lobster House is a decent place to eat or their fish market is the best if you care to cook on board. We are going to run the Jersey Coast sometime this summer. Leaving Cape May and running up the ICW and on the outside if the ocean is flat. Part of us trying to pick off sections of our loop trip in small pieces till I retire. Have a fun trip!
D.D
D.D
Maybe Minnow will chime in, I think he keeps his 25' cruiser up at the Bordentown Yacht Club up the river closer to Trenton. I think his club does a annual cruise down to Baltimore. With or with out them you can wander down the river take the C&D canal over to the Chesapeake and head down the Sassafrass river to Georgetown, then down to Rock Hall and Baltimore is almost directly across from Rock Hall. The Henderson Whark Marina at Fells Point in Baltimore is a great place and you don't want to miss a trip to Little Italy for some good eats. You can walk to little Italy and to the Inner Harbor from there. There is a nice boat ramp fairly close to Hendersons wharf marina. Get signed on with Active Captain and get in the interactive cruising mode zoom in and all the marinas, anchorages,ramps will pop up. Then you can click on them for details reviews etc.
D.D.
D.D.
Will-C":3434fssq said:Maybe Minnow will chime in, I think he keeps his 25' cruiser up at the Bordentown Yacht Club up the river closer to Trenton. D.D.
Oh Man! If you go to Bordentown be sure and stop at Mastoris Diner. It is the quintissential Jersey Diner. Go hungry and order anything you want, any hour of the day or night. Dress in a bathing suit or a tux or anything in between. Take home some cheese bread. You are so lucky.
Pat Anderson
New member
Wow, very nostalgic to read this! We lived in Jersey (Moorestown, in Burlington County) for five years, 1970 to 1975, taught two years in the Camden schools (Patty taught for five years) and I went to Rutger Law School in Camden, which is almost right under the Ben Franklin Bridge! In 2005, one of our best cruises was on the Chesapeake Bay. I have been plotting a (theoretical, for practice) route as part of the dream of the Great Loop from Charlie's place near the mouth of the Potomac, up the C-Bay, through the C&D Canal, down the Delaware, across the Cape May Canal, and up the NJ ICW to NYC. We have a good friend in Cape May who we will want to visit for sure!
Pat Anderson":228xau6r said:Rutger Law School in Camden, which is almost right under the Ben Franklin Bridge!
Riverside State Prison is now right under the bridge. Lots of industrial history right there in Camden. Campbell Soup is stilll there I think. Philco (originally the Philidelphia Battery Company) radios and Victrolas (His Master's Voice) were made there. Today there is a beautiful promenade along the river and a world class aquarium. Also the aforementioned marina and the USS New Jersey (BB-62). ...Sorry to hog the thread.
You can come down the river to and down Delaware Bay to the Cape may canal. The Cape May Lewes ferry is right at the end of it. You can anchor out in front of the Coast Guard station or we sometimes stay at the South Jersey Marina which if you come up the canal go under the big bridge and follow the ICW up on your right you will see a couple green and red markers that lead you in to where you will see a commerical fishing fleet. Do not cut the corner if you are going to take this channel that takes you back by the commerical fleet. Go past the commerical boats and then make a left you will see the South Jersey Marina on you right. Nice people nice place. The Lobster House is with in walking distance along with other spots to eat. There is a breakfast joint right at the marina. Get downtown and rent a bike or take a bus tour of the town. After you leave Cape May you will continue out the canal you will come to a split making a left is taking the ICW north staying straight takes you out the inlet to the Atlantic. Most times if you stay in about 35' of water you can sneak up the coast. Be wary of east winds doing this as they are the worst out there. I would plan to stop at Ocean City or Atlantic City going either the coastal or Ocean route. In you run up the ICW stop at beach Haven, Barnegat Light, then on to Brielle. From there you will have to go out the Manasguan inlet and bust a left heading about 30 miles to the mouth of the Hudsen river and on up to New York City past the Verranzano bridge staying right after the statue of Liberty and heading up the East River and into Long Island Sound. Had you thought about having someone trailer the boat up for you? Just a thought.
D.D.
D.D.
Of course, hiring some one to ship the boat for us is indeed an option. My good pal (who's money is NOT buying the boat) is hell bent on us taking this cruise. Myself? I am not a guy opposed to a good adventure , nor do I have doubts about our combined abilities.
All that said, the idea of taking a 300 mile trip in a boat I just bought, without The Admiral aboard is a little daunting. On the other hand, I sure will know that little boat pretty well by the time I get her home. Either way, we have plenty of time to make the right descision. In the meantime, I love all the feedback. Thanks , folks!
All that said, the idea of taking a 300 mile trip in a boat I just bought, without The Admiral aboard is a little daunting. On the other hand, I sure will know that little boat pretty well by the time I get her home. Either way, we have plenty of time to make the right descision. In the meantime, I love all the feedback. Thanks , folks!
Assuming you have no trailer and would consider towing, an alternative would be to contact Winters in Riverside NJ. They were a C-Dory dealer not too long ago. You could order a trailer for your 22 footer, and sail (motor) north on the Delaware right to their marina. They would hawl you out, adjust the boat to the trailer, and you could go up the the NJ Turnpike, across the Verazzano and you'd be home in short order. Just a suggestion.