Cape May, NJ

May 3:  The forecast for several days of wind and waves spurred us to depart Chesapeake City at 6:20 AM for a 62 mile run to Cape May, NJ before the wind could pile up the waves and to take advantage of wind and tide travelling in the same direction at our stern.  Consequently, we picked up an additional two knots of speed and had a quite pleasant journey until the wind began to howl in the last hour of a five-hour run AND we had to cross in a beam sea into the Cape May Canal.  Kapt. Karl remarked, “it isn’t even 11:00 AM and I feel beat up already”.  As luck would have it, we came pushing over the breakwater just in time for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry leaving the dock and taking up most of the channel.  The Ferry Captain radioed that we should snug up close to him so as not to go aground on the shoal.  All ended well with another afternoon at leisure in South Jersey Marina, a well-appointed facility with great staff.  We were told that captains who left Cape May this morning hoping to run the entire NJ Coast only made it as far as Atlantic City 45 miles away.  If you have to be “stuck” somewhere, Cape May trumps Atlantic City any day, unless you are Donna’s Uncle Nick.

May 4:  In 1620 Dutch Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey came upon the peninsula while exploring the Delaware River. Captain Mey named the area Cape Mey after himself; the spelling became Cape MAY City in 1869.

Native American tribes summered here, but a permanent community didn't form in the area until 1685. In 1688, Quakers formed the first government and others came to join the new whaling industry. Notorious pirate Captain William Kidd is known to have stopped in Cape May, during his pirating/privateering days.

In 1761 Cape May officially became the first seashore resort in America and was considered among the top vacation resorts in the country.

Amazingly, Cape May has never experienced major hurricane damage; however in 1878, fire wiped out thirty blocks of the town.  No time was wasted in rebuilding in the modern style of the day...later known as Victorian.

The home of Emlen Physick Jr., completed in 1879, open today as a museum.  A bachelor, Emlen was descended from a famous and wealthy Philadelphia family. Fun fact: His grandfather, Dr. Philip Syng Physick, was considered the father of American surgery and invented numerous surgical procedures and medical instruments still in use today. 

Presidents Lincoln, Grant, Buchanan, Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison all vacationed in Cape May as well as many of you; and now the crew of Santorini is enjoying a layover while waiting for calm seas to continue the journey north.

   

Top of the Bay

April 30 & May 1:  We spent our first two nights at Worton Creek where we were greeted at the dock with cheerful line handling by our friend Harvey and saw first hand where his boat MAKAI is hauled out for the off season.  Handy Harvey does almost all of his own meticulous maintenance.   In lieu of a tip for helping us into the dock, Harvey accepted bourbon and an invite to dinner.

May 2:  We traveled the short distance (25 NM) to Chesapeake City on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (connecting the two Bays).  The town provides a very nice free dock, subject to availability. 

A Canadian couple that arrived just before us assisted us with line handling.  Their boat transom indicated Nova Scotia but it turns out they now live in Kingston, ON.  We will be traveling the same route until they reach their homeport. 

At the end of a fairly lazy afternoon, an additional boat came in to join us at the dock ... one of the many fun things about cruising is you never know who will turn up.  It was our sister ship, HIGH NOON, another Campbell Custom Yacht  domiciled in Connecticut.  She was built five years before our Campbell and has a fly bridge. 

Back in the day, circa 1982 this was the restaurant in Chesapeake City that Karl and Donna visited on ESCAPE, Karl's 20' bow rider that he kept in Elkton, MD.  

NOW, here is the same restaurant as seen from our slip at night.

As we tuck in and say "good night", this is as far north as we have cruised by boat in the past.  Tomorrow begins traveling new waters for SANTORINI.

First 24 hours

Here's Clio, a very happy girl in a comfy place watching TV ... it was the White House Correspondents Dinner. 

House is locked, and provisions stowed on-board.  Spent our first night aboard at our slip in Oxford waiting for an early morning cast-off of lines and departure.  Thank you to our neighbor Dean for the drive and drop off to our boat Saturday night.  Sarah too, for the dockside delivery of chocolate-chip cookies … those cookies will probably not make it past the Bay Bridge tomorrow.  Plus, thanks for all the warm messages from family and friends.  Lastly, a Big Shout Out to all the Downeast Loopers who cruised before us and provided great information and inspiration, especially Duane on the motor vessel DIVA DI … wow, what an amazingly detailed cruising blog!

April 30: Our cruise up the Bay was a little windy, sloppy and overcast.  Here, we are about to pass under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge … not sure which is more dangerous, driving over or cruising under that bridge.  And yes, that is a Cat On Board burgee.