My new boat is now at Cape May! Sun is feeling good this morning:)

[Garffin]

Sitting here at Utsch’s Marina!
Hello all from Cape May. Pulled in here around 8pm ish last night. I left Barnegat two days ago. I stopped over at Atlantic City. There is a cool little anchorage right east of the bridge. You go up this little river and it opens up into a nice little area with enough room for maybe 8 or more boats. It’s narrow but very doable. I left Atlantic City around 12:30 pm heading for Cape May. I was a little worried about arriving at Cape May under the darkness but the forecast was good and I rode out with Fuda Passage. 30’ ketch from Nova Scotia. Phillip is also single handling his boat but he has the advantage of an autopilot. Man what a great day it was to sail. We hand west winds 15-25 all the way. Sailed right up to the red light for my run inside at Cape May. It’s amazing at how keen you get while sailing at night. It’s now getting dark at around 6ish. Oh I didn’t get stuck in Barnegat Inlet it was on the ICW coming into Barnegat Inlet about 4 miles SSE of the light house. I think I was near buoy 35 or 33. The new prop works well even though it’s not 100% right. The inner shaft is a little longer so I was not able to put one of the screws on. I put a washer and one screw on it. I have to be careful about going in reverse I guess. I have checked it twice already and it seems to be doing well. The boom fix I did turned out ok although I am going to redo it later but it is holding up ok also. There is so much I could write about just not enough time. Its 7:14 right now and I really want to leave Yesterdays sailing was freaking awesome. I want some more. Oh I used 2 gal. of fuel yesterday. Man that was nice. I started out with just the Jib but the wind came down to around 15 so I put up the main and I was flying. Fuda Passage had his jib up and was motoring a bit but not me I mostly sailed. Anyway Atlantic City sucks only stop there if you like lights. Lots of lit up buildings there. Cape May seems to be a cool little town. I tied up for about 1 hour last night to go to the store to get some cigs. I walked around abit and the homes look nice south of the marina. So thanks again guys and I will try and send another email in a few days. Not in a big hurry to get to NC but will leave in a split second if the winds are right. So long and good winds Dan

[pdqaltair]

Originally Posted by Garffin

Sitting here at Utsch’s Marina!
Hello all from Cape May. Pulled in here around 8pm ish last night. I left Barnegat two days ago. I stopped over at Atlantic City. There is a cool little anchorage right east of the bridge. You go up this little river and it opens up into a nice little area with enough room for maybe 8 or more boats. It’s narrow but very doable. I left Atlantic City around 12:30 pm heading for Cape May. I was a little worried about arriving at Cape May under the darkness but the forecast was good and I rode out with Fuda Passage. 30’ ketch from Nova Scotia. Phillip is also single handling his boat but he has the advantage of an autopilot. Man what a great day it was to sail. We hand west winds 15-25 all the way. Sailed right up to the red light for my run inside at Cape May. It’s amazing at how keen you get while sailing at night. It’s now getting dark at around 6ish. Oh I didn’t get stuck in Barnegat Inlet it was on the ICW coming into Barnegat Inlet about 4 miles SSE of the light house. I think I was near buoy 35 or 33. The new prop works well even though it’s not 100% right. The inner shaft is a little longer so I was not able to put one of the screws on. I put a washer and one screw on it. I have to be careful about going in reverse I guess. I have checked it twice already and it seems to be doing well. The boom fix I did turned out ok although I am going to redo it later but it is holding up ok also. There is so much I could write about just not enough time. Its 7:14 right now and I really want to leave Yesterdays sailing was freaking awesome. I want some more. Oh I used 2 gal. of fuel yesterday. Man that was nice. I started out with just the Jib but the wind came down to around 15 so I put up the main and I was flying. Fuda Passage had his jib up and was motoring a bit but not me I mostly sailed. Anyway Atlantic City sucks only stop there if you like lights. Lots of lit up buildings there. Cape May seems to be a cool little town. I tied up for about 1 hour last night to go to the store to get some cigs. I walked around abit and the homes look nice south of the marina. So thanks again guys and I will try and send another email in a few days. Not in a big hurry to get to NC but will leave in a split second if the winds are right. So long and good winds Dan

It's unique, and it doesn't all close up in winter. Just go straight southwest on the road in front of the marina (becomes Lafayette) for ~ 1/2 mile, then south when you get to the town center, or when it dead ends into Jackson Street. My father is an artist, and we spent countless summers there.

My Dad's painting site (Ken Frye - Artist)
There is some stuff on my blog, below, as well.

The fisherman's supply house (Sea Gear Marine) across the street from your marina is an interesting stop, too. Good glove assortment. Go upstairs.

But good help you if you need sailing hardware in Cape May; for all of the off-shore boats there are on ~ 6 sailboats in-season.

[xort]

congrats on a successful run

Have you looked into the back way out of Cape may into Delaware Bay? Saves a lot of time and avoids going out and around the many shoals. I think you have a short enough mast to get through but you need to verify for yourself. It's teh Cape May canal.

[edguy3]

Go to the port side out of the marina, closely hugging the sea wall where they dredge, and turn into the west-bound channel immediately after the sea wall ends. Stay near the channel as it is pretty shallow elsewhere. I do not recall waiting for any bridges, and I'm about 10+ft taller. It is about three miles to the bay. As you approach the bay, stay away from the ferry terminal - they're too busy earning a living to fuss with us.

Be careful, even with charts, I grounded about 100 yards straight out from Utesch's. My wife, on land, was panicked and wanted me to get a $150 tow into the marina. (She spoke to the marina and they told us about the seawall route; I originally had approached this way, but as the depth dropped, i retreated and chose the straight way in from where the bigger sailboats were anchored. ) I spent about 90 minutes waiting for the tide to come in and then simply floated away.

/ed

[pdqaltair]

Originally Posted by edguy3

Go to the port side out of the marina, closely hugging the sea wall where they dredge, and turn into the west-bound channel immediately after the sea wall ends. Stay near the channel as it is pretty shallow elsewhere. I do not recall waiting for any bridges, and I'm about 10+ft taller. It is about three miles to the bay. As you approach the bay, stay away from the ferry terminal - they're too busy earning a living to fuss with us.

Be careful, even with charts, I grounded about 100 yards straight out from Utesch's. My wife, on land, was panicked and wanted me to get a $150 tow into the marina. (She spoke to the marina and they told us about the seawall route; I originally had approached this way, but as the depth dropped, i retreated and chose the straight way in from where the bigger sailboats were anchored. ) I spent about 90 minutes waiting for the tide to come in and then simply floated away.

/ed

to the other side of the channel. It can be quite shallow. I saw less than 5' mid-channel this September at MLW. They tend to leave the screws on while loading, to stay tight to the dock.

[MJBrown]

The Cape May canal has two fixed bridges both at 55' clearance at mean higher high tide. When you leave Utch' s stay apx 2-30' off their wall until you hit the channel. Your depth finder will tell you when you're in the clear. Watch for power boat traffic in canal, especially near the railroad bridge. Shouldn't be a problem this time of year though. If it's low tide keep to the center of the canal unless passing or being passed. The ferry will announce on CH16 when they're leaving. Once you're out of the canal set a course of 330 degrees. It will take you right up to the Salem Nuclear Power plant on the NJ side. The C&D canal is only a couple of miles above that. There are two marinas in the C&D canal worth staying at. The first is Summit North just past the railroad lift bridge. You can get fuel and pumped out. There's a resturant and bar on site or you can order in from local pizza shops. The other is apx 5 miles east Chesapeake City. No fuel or pump out available. Resturant and bar on site with a couple of other resturants a couple of blocks away. Good luck running up Delaware Bay. With any luck you'll have good winds. If they're out of the NW be prepared to get your butt kicked by some serious short, steep chop.
Good luck