Sailing up the Delaware River

Saxon Blue's Blog
Harvey Jones and Andrea Stokes
Mon 27 Sep 2010 23:38
39:21.872N 75:26.870W Monday night

Another long day and we're not finished yet. I thought I'd write the blog early so I can get straight off to bed when we anchor up in an hour and a half or so. If last night is anything to go by, I'll be struggling to stay awake soon after that.

We got up for another 0630 start this morning. It was raining - as it has been on and off all day - but we'd chosen a pontoon that was easy to get off from so we didn't get too wet. Atlantic City still looked surreal with the low cloud swirling around the neon-lit casinos. In the light, we could see some more ordinary buildings in amongst the bling and I think it must have looked really pretty before Mr Trump and his mates moved in.

It was much easier to navigate in the light and we even saw dolphins in the entrance, jumping through the wake of the tug in front of us. We passed a strange rig on the way out to sea and then it was just us, the sea and a succession of barges. The wind was almost 20 knots and perfect for a close haul so we put up the jib and most of the main and Andrea and I sailed along merrily until about 1100 with Kali and Sam catching up on some sleep below. As they emerged, I just hit a wall of tiredness and staggered off down to our cabin to collapse for a couple of hours.

After a good snooze and a bit of lunch, I felt a lot better. Kali and Sam had rounded the point of Cape May at the tip of New Jersey and were now heading up the Delaware Bay with the twin headsails up, poled out to either side. We made good progress like that for most of the afternoon as we moved deeper into the bay and then into the river. The channel is very narrow amongst miles of shoals to either side and is marked by a series of old lighthouses - automatic now but they must have been manned until recently. We were passed by some supertankers and a container ship so there is some serious industrial activity further up the river.

We've just had our dinner - pasta with fresh vegetables and smoked salmon - and Kali is doing a watch for an hour while I get a rest. Then I'll take over when we come in to anchor just north of a nuclear power station. Hopefully, that will give us enough shelter from the swell to get a good night's sleep. We're all very tired but taking watches during the day and catching up on sleep is keeping us going. We're all looking forward to reaching Annapolis and having a proper rest.

Harvey

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