Summit North Marina to Cape May

We departed Summit North Marina at 0600 to maximize the effect of the current through the C&D Canal and down the Delaware Bay. Once again, we had a favorable wind and the sails were unfurled as soon as we cleared the canal and entered the Delaware Bay. Initially, we had everything going for us:  wind, current and engine power. We wanted to get down the Bay as quickly as possible as there is no where to hide if a storm hit and the Delaware has a nasty reputation in bad weather. The wind built during the day and eventually reached the high teens and low 20s. Small craft warning went into effect just about an hour before we reached the harbor.  We exceeded our previous record for a run down the Bay and top speed for Foreign Affair.  At one point, we reached a speed over ground of 10.3 knots (almost 12 miles per hour).

Wing-on-wing

We were on a broad reach most of the way and eventually, the wind shifted to dead astern which caused us to sail wing-on-wing for an hour before changing course which put us on a reach again.  We skirted the shoals off Cape May and entered the harbor at 1615. Our first stop was at the Canyon Club Resort and Marina for fuel. It is a beautiful marina filled with high end sport fishing boats. We spent one night there when we brought Foreign Affair from Stamford, CT to Herrington Harbour in August, 2014.  We were the only sailboat in the marina that night. This trip, we anchored off the Coast Guard station with other sailors waiting to head north up the New Jersey coast in the morning.

Making Record Time Down Delaware Bay

Trinity went into Utsch's Marina for the night. They stayed there before and preferred it to the anchorage which was pretty crowded.