Friday and Saturday of this weekend, I had my delivery trip for Seas The Day (425). This was an additional two days of orientation where Capt. Gary would give me "on-the-water" training and guidance as we moved her from G. Winter's Sailing Center to Osprey Point Marina in Rock Hall, MD (see map above).
After having dinner with a student-friend from my former youth group, I headed up to Winter's Sailing to find TWO Seas The Days next to each other at the dock. Another delivery captain had retrieved Seas The Day (315) and parked her next to Seas The Day (425). It was a bit like a little sister and big sister sharing a berth. Unfortunately, it was late and the photo is a bit grainy.
Day 1 - Riverside, NJ to Chesapeake City, MD
I learned right before leaving that due to painting on the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, we would have an early departure on Friday since they wanted our opening to happen early. Gary arrived right at 5:30 AM and we set about getting ready, and with a last glance at Seas The Day (315) we were departing just a couple of minutes ahead of our 6:00 AM goal.
With sunrise expected a bit after 6:30, it was still dark and from the helm, I could only make out the glow from my navigation lights. Gary went forward and talked me blindly out of the slip.
We then picked our way through navigational markers that were mere shadows. The sky slowly lightened as we found our way out of Dredge Harbor. We had timed it just perfect for our 4'11" draft - a boat that was supposed to leave at the same time (with a few more inches of draft) got hung up and couldn't continue on the trip.
The sky glow slowly increased as we made our turn south and headed towards Philly.
After doing some donuts in the river, we stopped just north of the bridge while they stopped traffic and opened the bridge for us.
After going through the bridge, we went under the Betsy Ross Bridge and paused as they finished lifting the railroad bridge just behind it.
We kept our eye out for the sunrise as well...
After getting through the bridges, we continued south on the river watching the sunrise and capturing photos of the various landmarks.
An old generating plant
Approaching Philadelphia
I think this is the Ben Franklin Bridge
(I'm sorry, but a lot of photos on this trip were captured through the windshield... I was steering.)
The Camden Aquarium and the Battleship New Jersey - both on the NJ side.
The USS United States rotting slowly in her berth
(I think she still holds the Atlantic crossing record)
Down past some industrial areas...
The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy
We had some large traffic pass us
And we passed some interesting sights... this is the USCG tall ship The Eagle.
We also passed the PHL airport
The Exxon Mobil refinery in Paulsboro
A fire boat from Wilmington
A container ship the SM Hong Kong
(I had to share this with my god-daughter over there.)
There's a lot of clearance between the top of the mast and the bridge, but it never looks that way. This is the Commodore Barry Bridge
Approaching the Delaware Memorial Bridge
It was a bit of a challenge to pick our way around all the floating debris in the water.
It's a good guess that there is a traffic jam up there.
After a quick nap for Gary, we passed New Castle, DE and rounded Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware.
New Castle, DE - This is the closest approach to our home... 8.4 NM. For those of you who know about the "12 Mile Circle" from the pictured belfry, you'll know that means we live only a couple miles from PA.
Here we entered the Delaware side of the C&D Canal.
We ate lunch on the canal... Gary showed me that the boat came with chip holders!
After going through most of the canal, we entered Maryland (Seas The Day's new home state). We stopped for the night in Chesapeake City, staying at the Chesapeake Inn
We tied Seas The Day up at the Chesapeake Inn. After getting things under control, I took my nap and then we went up to their upstairs bar for dinner. Tommy - the bartender - knew Gary well from all his stops and took very good care of us (even giving us some complimentary cups for our new boat)! This was such a wonderful place, that I HAVE to show it to Vicky sometime soon.
On Saturday we had a more sane departure owing in part to the opening time of Gary's favorite breakfast place. (It was worth waiting until 7:00 AM for - we passed the time watching an old Jack Benny show on our new TV in the salon.) We then headed out and under the bridge that is such a focal point for Chesapeake City.
Reaching the mouth of the C&D Canal ah hour later.
We then entered the Elk River and the view became much wider. I don't know many of the landmarks and it was a bit foggy as we made our way out onto the bay. Also as we made our way out onto the bay, the wind picked up but was always on our nose (directly ahead... impossible to sail with ... well, without wasting a lot of time tacking).
We saw some other sailboats... some who were coming the other way and could sail.
As we reached this section of the bay, we had an interesting time trying to avoid crab pots. (They can get tangled in our propeller... we will have to be more careful in the Chesapeake since there are a LOT more crab pots.
Finally, as we came abreast of Rock Hall, MD we took out the sails for 20 min. or so. Mostly to ensure everything was working well (glad we did... we found a bad winch handle). We tacked back and forth a few times and even tried a few different points of sail. I liked how the self-tacking jib handled, but also confirmed that it was pretty useless when trying to go downwind.
Finally, we brought in the sails and headed in to Swan Creek to our marina.
With a bit of coaching, I backed Seas The Day into her new home - berth B42 at Osprey Point which was newly outfitted with a LOT of dock bumpers (I'm not going to be the one who puts the first ding in her while docking).
Gary snapped a couple of photos of me after docking,
Then we set about connecting electric lines, tying her down and scrubbing her inside and out to be ready to meet Vicky on Monday!
So that's the delivery trip! It was a great experience that was unique and helpful. I'm grateful to Winter's Sailing and Captain Gary for providing this.
Yes, I know I pay more for the boat for this to be included, and yes, after 5 years of sailing, I might have been able to "do it myself" but that would have required a lot more time pre-planning (that I don't have) and having someone so experienced and friendly to know where the crab pots were buried along the way made it a safe and enjoyable adventure instead of an anxiety-prone and un-nerving one. I hope Brian and Glenn from Winter's Sailing read this and give Capt. Gary a big raise!
Vicky lands in a few hours and after a day for her to adjust, we head down to Rock Hall for a week's vacation where I can try and transfer the knowledge to her. We both can't wait.
