Hygge Adventures: 064: Upper Chesapeake

We left Annapolis, MD on May 2^nd, and headed the short sixteen n/m’s northeast over to Rock Hall, MD which was back across to the Eastern Shore. The cynics among you may surmise that we went to Rock Hall because they have a free dock (wall space), and you’d be about ½ correct. We love free docking but the Waterway guide notes indicated that the 30 amp power receptacle was disconnected and that there was no water, so not a whole lot better than anchoring out. Still, not having to deal with the dingy is a plus.

The wall space is limited to probably four boats, but when we arrived it was empty. The 30 amp power receptacles were, in fact, not operable but there were some 20 amp (like your home outlets) that had power and luckily both Katmat and us had adapters for 20 amp to 30 amp, so plug in we did. Not enough power to fully run all systems on the boat, but enough for the ice machine and battery charger, which was fine by us.

The wall itself was “rough” so out came the extra boat fenders that we used for the lock walls. (Later that day two guys came in on a 29’ sailboat with two small fenders. Matt and I helped them tie up and I said, “Those fenders aren’t going to cut it, you need larger ones. I’ll lend you some for the night.” For some things, size most definitely does matter.)

Nancy and I got the bikes down and road “into to town” (if you can call it that) with Kathy. Not much to see but they did have a decent grocery store, fresh produce place, a coffee shop and the ubiquitous ice cream place. I went over to Ace Hardware to buy a nut and bolt to fix my starboard side cockpit seat which has been giving me trouble since “name withheld” sat on it and broke it a few years ago. That night Nancy and I had leftovers and went to bed early.

Rock Hall:

The next morning (Friday the 3^rd) Matt, Nancy and I rode our bikes back over to the Ace Hardware with Matt and I getting our propane tanks topped off. Nancy and I then stopped by the coffee shop before heading into the small, but interesting Waterman's Museum.

Waterman's Museum and statues around town:

Shortly after that we cast off the lines and headed back northwest (zig zag is our theme for the Chesapeake) for thirty-five n/m’s to Havre de Grace, MD. We booked two nights in the marina hoping to enjoy the “Decoy Festival” that weekend and the farmers’ market. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and cold all weekend.

The marina was very exposed to the wicked southeast winds and Hygge bucked and tugged at her mooring lines the whole time leading to less than peaceful nights. The town did have a free trolley that would pickup you up at the marina and take you to the “downtown” and various places of interest. Kathy and Nancy and I took advantage of it on Saturday for the Farmers’ Market (in light rain) and then walked around the small downtown for a bit. The highlight of that excursion was breakfast at a classic style diner (I was “Jonesin” for some eggs and hash browns). Afterwards Nancy and Kathy went over to the Decoy Museum and what was left of the outdoor festivities (raining and cold) while I went back to Hygge and then road my bike 2.6 miles over to the grocery store (in light rain) to pick up a few much-needed staples.

Havre De Grace around town:

Our "chariot:"

In the "colonial" states, if LaFayette so much as sneezed in a place, there is a sign and/or Statue:

Thoroughbred Country:

You like decoys? Havre de Grace has decoys:

By now (May 5^th), Matt’s meeting back in Chicago had been rescheduled for the 8^th, which meant we had to get him within striking distance of an airport. Philadelphia was the closed a/p without back tracking and Delaware City, DE (“DC”) was the logical place to dock the boats for him to het there. We decided to “slow roll” it to DC and our next stop was Chesapeake City, MD (“CC”) nineteen n/ms away on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal which links Chesapeake Bay with Delaware Bay. CC has a free dock wall (power $15) but you can only stay for twenty-four hours, and our plan was for two nights. The first night we anchored out in a nice little bay within dingy-rowing distance from the “downtown,” the dock wall having “no room at the inn.”

The first afternoon we walked around a mostly closed downtown (Sunday) and took a walk over to the C&D Canal Museum, ( https://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Chesapeake-Delaware-Canal/Canal-History/ ) but it was closed. We still had light rain, so with not much else to do, we dinghied back to the boats and had an early night of it with a bonus of a perfectly lovely calm “night on the hook.”

Want a cheap wedding? The world's smallest wedding chapel:

"I've got a mule her name is Sal, fifteen years on the "C&D" canal:

Sites:

The Man needs his morning latte:

The next morning, we tied up to the dock wall after the other boats vacated. This is one place where they actually seem to enforce the twenty-four-hour limit. Nancy and I enjoyed some latte’s at the coffee shop. Later that morning I finally found the damn pesky leak in the dinghy floor that had eluded me for weeks and I patched it up. Celebrating my success Nancy and I rowed the dinghy over to the C&D Canal Museum. Pretty cool place. It was the old lock station when the canal had locks and contains the original steam engine that powered the water pumps.

On the Dock wall:

The cool Museum:

On May 7^th we left CC (after the fog cleared) and headed through the C&D Canal up the fifteen n/m’s to the Delaware City Marina which is basically a long set of dock along a channel that intersects with the C&D Canal and Delaware Bay. We got in early enough for Nancy and I to have lunch at a local place. That afternoon I spent time on my part-time job while Nancy attended to some inside-boat cleaning duties as well as some doing laundry. While were doing that, Kathy got a rental car and took Matt to the airport for his flight to Chicago. The plan was for him to have his meeting on the morning of the 8^th, and then fly back to Philadelphia in the afternoon.

Ospreys love nesting on channel markers:

The town dock from a nearby bridge:

Not fancy:

There isn’t a whole lot at the DC City marina, but they did have a 4:00 pm briefing to advise boaters on the next leg of our journey, crossing Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ (fifty five n/m’s). Aside from the normal challenges of crossing such a large body of water, there is a lot of current from the Delaware River and a large tidal range with tidal currents up to three knots at this time of year. And as I have noted in the past, when wind opposes current, water gets choppy. Nancy and I attended the briefing on the 7^th, but as conditions can change, agreed to attend the next day’s meeting as well.

On the 8^th, I basically worked the whole day on my part-time job and Nancy explored the phenomenal, paved bike path that goes back to CC. I can imagine that on the weekends that bike path is humming with people in tight shorts and colorful shirts! We again attended the 4:00 pm briefing and the advice was that the 9^th was a perfect day to head to Cape May as long as we left early as the winds were going to build and build through the evening of the 10^th. Bottom line, if we didn’t leave on the 9^th, we weren’t going anywhere at least until the 11^th. We decided to leave at 6:00 a.m. and update the KatMat crew when Kathy got back from exploring Philadelphia and picking Matt up at the a/p. When Kathy got back later that night without Matt, she explained that he had another meeting and wasn’t coming back until the 9^th, but if we wanted to go on ahead, they’d catch up with us. So, the crew of Hygge stuck with the 9^th plan.

From Nancy's tour:

Nancy and I awoke on the 9^th at 5:00 am to have some breakfast and prep the boat for our trip. We left the dock at 6:00 a.m. just before sunrise and headed out on the Delaware Bay. The one downside of our plan was that we only got about an hour of “push” from the ebb tide, and by 7:30 a.m. we had the beginnings of a flood tied which meant that the majority of our trip was met with an average two knots of current against us, increasing fuel burn. The upside was that we had a great smooth run the entire way as the winds only started to build after our 2:00 p.m arrival at Cape May. I’ll take smooth seas over fuel economy any day!.

Leaving at dawn: