It is difficult to time the tides on the Delaware River, the Chesapeake & Delaware canal, and the Chesapeake Bay so that you can easier make the trip in one go on a slow boat. So it is nice to have anchorages on both sides of the Canal to break up the trip. There are many options on the Chesapeake side with Worton Creek and the Sassafras River being prime choices. It’s a different story on the Delaware side of the canal. There really is only one anchorage available about 3 miles south of the C&D Canal at Reedy Island.

A bit of interesting history here. From the beginning of the 19th Century up to the end of WWII this was the quarantine stop for ships headed to Philadelphia. An inspection station and hospital were on the island. Any vessel infected with cholera, yellow fever, tuberculosis, plague or small pox would be disinfected. Steam was used to sterilize clothing, sulfur dioxide gas was piped into ships, and if anyone was sick, everyone was quarantined until they were considered no longer contagious. Not surprisingly, looking at the island today all the buildings were elevated on pilings and connected by elevated boardwalks to stay above the highest tides. When the island was abandoned, several of the buildings were moved to the small village of Port Penn on the Delaware shore.

Other than its history, the anchorage would be completely unremarkable, except for “The Dike”. Extending south from Reedy Island for a distance of about 3 miles is a stone jetty. Exposed at very low tides, most of the time this rock wall is submerged, barely. Over the years the rocks have claimed propellers, rudders, and hulls of several boats that were either ignorant of the danger, or just inattentive.

The anchorage can be approached by boats with shallow draft from either the below the southern end of the dike, or around the north end of Reedy Island. Deeper draft boats have to use the marked gap in the dike just south of the island. There is a red beacon on the north side, and a green daymark on the south. This entrance has a minimum depth of about 12 feet, and a width of about 100 feet. The markers are actually on the ends of the dike itself, so don’t cut the corner! Be careful on the approach when the tide is running strong. In the cross current an inattentive captain could be set on the rocks.

We are sitting here waiting for weather and tide to align for an easy, comfortable trip down the Delaware. The wind has been blowing out of the south, straight up from where we want to go. The cold front that is approaching tonight will have the winds switching to the northwest for an easier ride down stream.