Yesterday afternoon we were at anchor off Reedy Island in the Delaware, waiting for the passage of a cold front before we continued down the river toward Delaware Bay.
What looked very dramatic on the approach wasn’t too bad in actual fact. Winds did not get over 28 knots or so, and lightning was very scattered. Rain was extremely heavy for a short time. A few miles to the southwest of us reported waterspouts, hail and gusts to close to 40. As this system passed over us, the air temperature dropped 15 degrees in 20 minutes, and the wind shifted 180 degrees. Setting us up for a much nicer ride the next morning.
Our trip down river was easy, and quite quick. It is about 9-1/2 hours, so you can not ride a favorable tide the entire way, but we did make the most of it, anchor up at 10:30, and anchor down in Breakwater Harbor at 20:00. Motoring for the entire trip was limited to 45 minutes in total for maneuvering at the beginning and end.
We had a peaceful night at anchor, and today is cool, breezy and sunny. Cool enough it does not make a great beach day, but just delightful to hang out.
Late this afternoon, we will be anchor up, and headed out to the ocean. Our first destination will be about 70 miles to the southeast, at the very edge of the continental shelf. A the “canyon” is 1000 foot deep notch in the underwater geography where fish of all kinds congregate. We hope to leave for points north with a few of those fish in our freezer 🙂
Our next planned stop after that will be Provincetown, out on the end of Cape Cod, although intermediate harbors might call out for our attention.
fetchinketch 
Will and I are wondering how powerful those waterspouts are?
The horizon looks scary.
Safe sailing you two.
Cheers!
Will and Theresa Hill
Hillsview Gardens
Oregon
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Waterspouts seem to come in two flavors. Small, weak, sometimes out a clear blue sky. These are akin to a dust devil in the desert. Unexpected to see, and not very intimidating. Then there are those spawned by the same processes that make tornados. Water does seem to change the equation. The spiraling winds very quickly suck up lots of water, water is heavy. The weight or the entrained water slows the whole system down. It’s not free of hazard for small boats, but I have never seen or heard of a waterspout being as destructive as a terrestrial tornado. We have seen a big violent one from much closer than we would have liked, and they certainly inspire respect.
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hi Bill. I have Sailed the Delaware – C&D – Chesapeake route in both directions on other people‘s Boats many times. It can be very nice if you have a lot of time to anchor and wait out time and tides, but it can be a terrible slug if you were on a schedule. Do you ever sail direct, like straight from Newport News to Cape May without going all the way north? Especially if you intend to head to New England
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Richard, If I was in Newport News or Hampton heading north, I wouldn’t consider the C&D as an efficient option to head northbound, unless I specifically wanted to spend time exploring the Chesapeake. Running up the Chesapeake, through the canal, and down the Delaware is over 300 miles. A straight shot offshore is less than half that. On the other hand, starting a trip north up in Annapolis (as we did), that calculation is pretty much reversed.
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