Delmarva Loop

GaryPalsgrove

New member
My wife and I are planning to take C-Song down the Potomac River and around the Delmarva Loop - Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, Delaware Bay, North Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay. We plan to leave around the end of March or first of April.

I have all of the necessary charts and have been doing my kitchen table plotting with an eye toward locating "safe harbors" no more then 15NM apart.

Knowing the vast experience possesed by various C-Brat members, I would like to hear your comments/recomendations, etc concerning direction (up or down the Bay first), times to go/avoid, places to see/avoid, etc. Your input will be welcomed.

Gary Palsgrove
C-Song
 
From my several trips in this area, the worse weather comes from the North, thus I would go up the bay, and down on the outside. There are more places to "hide" in the bay, plus the entrances are much easier than dealing with open ocean swells into the passes of inlets on the Atlantic.

Have fun on the trip! Do watch the weather at you destination, more carefully than where you start from!
 
While Mr Bob is right about the worst weather coming from the north and north east on the Chesapeake, the dominant weather starting in April will be southwest...it is a generally good trip up the Bay,lots of places to get in...canal is fine...Delaware Bay is a mess almost all the time...even in good weather...just pick your time. I once laid up at Schaeffers Canal House in the CandD canal for three days...rather than tackle the trip down Delaware Bay...
terraplane,in Rock Hall,Eastern Shore, Md.
 
In addition to the overall weather along the Atlantic coast keep track of the tides and wind at the inlets. Indian river and Ocean City inlets can get sporting with the wind and tides in opposite directions. I am only familiar with these two, other inlets down the coast will probably exhibit the same roughness.
 
Gary, sounds like a great trip! Wish we could go with you! Duck in and see us on the way by, I've got water and power at the pier and you're welcome to overnight if it's in your plans!

Charlie
 
terraplane wrote
" I once laid up at Schaeffers Canal House in the CandD canal for three days...'

Schaeffers is a good place to stop. If I remember correctly they had a great restaurant and fuel. When you exit the C&D consider turn left on the Delaware River. It can be a fun trip up past the Navy Base to Philadelphia and beyond. Visit the battleship New Jersey and the aquarium on the Jersey side near the Ben Franklin Bridge.
MartyP
 
Actually my comment about the worse weather is more important for the Atlantic side--On one of our trips up the Delaware bay, we heard half a dozen May Day's (even in our 62 foot vessel, it was a rough ride)--so the advice is well given about the bay. That day the tide was flooding and wind blowing from the North West, with the full fetch of the bay as we entered around the Cape May side to go up the bay: some of the squarest waves I had seen.

We sailed the Chesapeake for two years in the late 60's, and although we had the occasional squall, the weather generally was what I would consider mild for a 30 foot sailboat or a 16 foot open run-about.
 
Seeing how as you are in a C-Dory which draws very little, I would consider taking the Virginia Inside passage from Chincoteague Island down to the mouth of the Chesapeake (or vice versa). You can actually duck into the inside passage at Ocean City, MD and traverse Chincoteague Bay. Chincoteague is a blast in the summer too, with lots of places to tie up, spend the night etc. There is more to see on the inside passage than in the open ocean, it is protected, well marked, plenty of harbors (Oyster, VA, Willis Wharf, Wachepreague) all about 15NM apart. You can detour to some of the barrier island beaches for a day trip. Anchoring is safe and easy too. On the bayside, don't miss pulling into Cape Charles or Onancock for the evening, both great places and lots of fun with good food and beverages. The biggest issue is to watch the tides and Notice to Mariners as the channel will shoal and you have to go over certain spots at high tide, but in a C-dory it shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
dotnmarty":30dmk4x8 said:
terraplane wrote
" I once laid up at Schaeffers Canal House in the CandD canal for three days...'

Schaeffers is a good place to stop. If I remember correctly they had a great restaurant and fuel. When you exit the C&D consider turn left on the Delaware River. It can be a fun trip up past the Navy Base to Philadelphia and beyond. Visit the battleship New Jersey and the aquarium on the Jersey side near the Ben Franklin Bridge.
MartyP

Someone PM'd me that the restaurant at Schaeffers is closed. It has been a long time. I remember getting fuel there as a flotilla of Navy riverboats with Annapolis Midshipman passed in review.
 
While Schaeffer's is closed, Chesapeake Inn, which is immediately across
from it is a great place to stop. You can either anchor in the cove or
stay at the marina. They do not have fuel, but there are several places
on the Bohemia river to get fuel. That is a shortish run from the C&D.
Going East, I believe Summit North has fuel and Delaware City has fuel.

I have never stopped between Delaware City and Cape May or Lewes. There
are probably some places in Jersey to get fuel or pull in.

Do not get trapped on the Delaware in bad weather. Some of the inlets
are very dangerous.

Be careful on the C&D. For some reason, people feel safe because they are
so close to shore. But, that shore is full of rocks, it is difficult to anchor,
and you have to deal with commercial traffic.

Schaeffer's might be open for fuel, but even still, unless you do not
have a choice, I would avoid it. It can be quite difficult to deal with
that area. It is not uncommon for large sport fishers to ignore the no-wake,
sending a 3' into the docks, while you are trying to manage fueling
in a 5mph current.

The tides can be fairly fast on the upper Chesapeake and the Delaware,
so timing to ride with the tide can be helpful.

I would go up the Delaware and down the Chesapeake.

Mike
 
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