Ches. Bay to Ocean City

[cjd]

I am moving the boat from Edgewater MD to Ocean City for the summer sometime next month. Heading north thru the the C&D canal to Delaware river. Has anyone made this trip? How long should it take cruising 17-18 knots. Any tips? I heard the delaware can get nasty at times.
Thanks
CJ

 

[GJH]

Haven't made that exact trip, but should be easy to calculate on your plotter, with some swag for conditions. The Delaware can get especially nasty on an out going tide against a strong southerly wind, and should be avoided under those conditions, even when going with the current, IMO. At the other extreme I have transited it when it was absolutely bath tub flat the whole way down, almost eerily so.

 

[MikeP]

I have been in Del Bay a few times and, unfortunately, never had the opportunity to see it in an un-nasty state! As has been noted here on various occasions - the Hatt did fine; the crew...not so much! I'm not sure you can run at the speed you are talking about in the canal - but maybe so. I can't remember if there was a speed limit there but it would be in the cruising guide. The Del bay didn't get non-seasick-able for passengers that day until probably 15 miles out of Cape May heading toward the canal - about 1+30 for us cruising at around 10K. When we got on the canal we thought we were in heaven!

 

[bobk]

Unless you want to run hard and use lots of fuel, consider an overnight at Chesapeake City (nice marina and anchorage, canal museum etc). Two days at 8-9 knots will do it, and the fuel savings will pay for the stop.

As others have said, watch your weather. The Delaware can force you to slow down anyway.

Bobk

 

[Pascal]

Not sure where you re starting from in the Chesie but I ve done Annapolis to cape may in a day at hull speed. It s around 90nm or so i remember correctly. At 17kts it's an easy day. The canal is unrestricted except for 2 short stretches by Chesie city and by Summit marina.

What often do I anchor overnight at the mouth of the Sassafras, it s a very pretty stretch of water but if you re running faster and coming from further south, Annapolis is a great stop

The lower Del can be very nasty with short steep waves although a Hatt should very well cutting thru with the fine entry. Wet... But no slamming.

The canal is easy, there are a couple of floaties across the ferry terminal to mark some shoaling. Dont miss the red after leaving the canal at the turn approaching the CG station, some people get confused as it s a red but it s left to port

Utsch is your best bet for cheap fuel and dockage, stay close to the breakwater coming in

 

[bobk]

Not sure where you re starting from in the Chesie but I ve done Annapolis to cape may in a day at hull speed. It s around 90nm or so i remember correctly. At 17kts it's an easy day. The canal is unrestricted except for 2 short stretches by Chesie city and by Summit marina. ...
Utsch is your best bet for cheap fuel and dockage, stay close to the breakwater coming in

I suspect the OP is referring to Ocean City, MD in which case Utsch's is way out of the way.

Bobk

 

[cjd]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping leave 0 dark 30 and get there before nightfall. I did it once with a friend in a 33 grady and i think it was 8 hours. Looking at the charts, theres not many convienant places to duck into if weather gets bad or fuel up once i hit the delaware bay until maybe the indian river inlet. I will keep an eye on the tides and weather for sure.
Yes it is OC md. I will be docking at pines point marina in ocean pines, where we have a summer place, to get more use of the boat and do some offshore trips.

Thanks CJ

 

[Pascal]

I now see that edgewater is just south of Annapolis, so at 18kts it s an easy day. Should be 6 hours to the mouth of the del. and another hour and a half to ocean city.

Especially at this time of the year with longer days.

Plan on loosing 15 mins with the now wake zone in the canal, no more. The northern section of the bay into the Elk river is one of my favorite stretch of water, very scenic. Makes up for the boring DEL!

 

[bobk]

You can duck into the Cohansey or Maurice Rivers on the NJ side, or into the Roosevelt Inlet on the DE side. There are two sources of diesel there. Indian River Inlet is a possibility, but if weather is bad, it can be nasty. I once buried the bow of my 41' trawler on the way out of the inlet when wind and tide were opposed. Once outside, it was just fine. It would not have been pretty if I were coming in that morning.

Bobk