Chesapeake & Delaware & CD Canal do's & don'ts

Mark:

We have made this run 10 times or more. It works best like this:

Leg 1:
Chesapeake Bay Rock Hall, Md to C&D Canal, Engineers Cove: anchor or Dock

Leg2:
Engineers Cove to Cape May, NJ. Anchor or Dock at Utsche's Marina

Leg3:
Cape May NJ to Atlantic City. Anchor or Dock at the casino

Leg4:
ACNJ to Barnegate

Options. You could break up the long leg from Engineers Cove to Cape May, buy pushing past the C&D and then anchoring behind REEDY ISLAND. But this requires you to go over the dike stone wall where the Red and Green mark the entrance. Then when anchored behind Reddy Island, you will need to deal with the 2-3 knot tidal switching current. I did this once, and never again. I will deal with the long day.

Current:
The game plan to run the Delaware bay when going SOUTH is to exit the C&D canal at or near slack high tide. The C&D canal runs east and west but the current is controlled by the ebb and flood of the Delaware Bay/River. So, when the Delaware bay is Flooding (flowing in) the canal is flowing west. When the Delaware Bay is ebbing, (draining) then the C&D canal flows East.

The challenge is.....to run the Delaware Bay southbound in the most favorable current. BUT....it is toooooo long of a leg to run it ALL in a favorable current. So, the game plan then is, to decide where you will put in your foul current time? We usually try to run one hour of foul current exiting the C&D into the Del Bay and then by the time we pass the Salem Nuke plant we are slack and then it turns and you get a push for 5-6 hours. Well, at this point you are NOT yet to Cape May. So, now the current switches and you are bashing into the flooding current. This can make for a rough lower Delaware Bay especially if you ran a NORTH WIND south. Wind against current gets very ugly on the south end of the bay.

So, SOUTHBOUND, you want to get a nice beam reach, but most likely it will be the standard SW 10+ knots of wind in the afternoon. SW is OK when the tide floods and it is with the wind.

So there are advantages to starting at Reeding Island as it shortens this long leg.

I have run the C&D canal at 2AM to 5Am just to make the Del Bay at Daybreak, that is easy because it is so well light. It is very easy to run at night. That is another option.

So, study up on your ELDRIDGE TIDES and CURRENTS BOOK and then look for your best times to run.

Hayden

Len:
Running from NY to Chesapeake Bay looks like this.

#1. We use Sandy Hook as our first stop and usually anchor behind the jetty at Atlantic Highlands.

#2. Running south along the NJ shore 1-4 miles off, you will find a south flowing current, we run to Atlantic City and go in there for a full day run, sun up to sun down or more.

#3. ACNJ to Cape May about 5 hours

#4. Cape May to C&D Canal. The cool aspect to this run is if you time the current right, then you can run a fair current all the way into the C&D. So, start with a low tide at Cape May and run the current all the way to Engineers Cove in the C&D. It will still be fair, amazing run.

#5. Engineers Cove, C&D to Chesapeake Bay, Rock Hall, MD or Baltimore area.

You made it. NY to Chesapeak Bay.

We have made this run ten summers+ Rock Hall to NEw England and Back, sometimes NYC some direct.

Hayden