C & D Canal & Delaware Bay

From Castle Harbor Marina on Kent Island we headed north toward the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.  We stayed at the Summit North Marina on the C&D overnight, a very protected marina in bad weather, but no air movement, so it was very hot. Heading out the next morning for Delaware Bay, the weather was good and the Bay was pretty flat. We went past the Salem Nuclear Power Plant, and passed a few freighters.  This is the first time in many months that we throttled up and actually got on plane.  We have travelled at trawler speed for most of the trip, which is approximately 7 - 8 knots.  So it was fun to pick up the speed a little.  From the Delaware Bay we entered Cape May Canal and into Cape May Harbor.  I have heard that the houses on Cape May are beautiful.  We are looking forward to exploring Cape May.

Oil in Pensacola

I received these pictures from my cousin Cindy, who lives in Pensacola.  We had visited with them for Thanksgiving and of course the beaches were beautiful.  It is sad to see such devastation. What a difference a day makes.

Next day

Kent Island, MD

The trip to Kent Island took about 5 hours, and started out a bit rough.  The weather improved as the morning passed and it turned out to be a very pleasant day on the water.  Castle Harbor Marina is where we are staying,  Jim's cousin Dennis keeps his sailboat here.  The marina is quite large with a beautiful pool, good thing since the temps have risen to a sizzling 103 degrees. 

Dennis and Daniela came down on Wed. and gave us a ride to and from the airport.   We headed to Chicago for our nephew Connor's graduation party over the holiday weekend.  It was a nice break from the boat, and we enjoyed seeing family and friends. 

On Thursday afternoon they took us into Annapolis for dinner.  We enjoyed watching the boats on the water, and had a wonderful dinner at McGarvey's.   After dinner we walked around the town, definitely a place to re-visit.

What would we do without our family and friends.  Dennis and Daniela have been amazing, they picked us up from the airport on Monday and we enjoyed another good dinner at the local rib place.  They went back home on Tuesday, but left us one of their cars to do some sight seeing and shopping.  We went to St. Michaels, Baltimore, and Ocean City by car.

The following pictures are from St. Michaels.

The following pictures are from our trip into Baltimore, most of them were taken from The World Trade Center's observation floor called "The Top of the World", it's the 27th floor.  The view was incredible, and with the temperature and humidity unbearable outside, it was the perfect place to spend some time.

This next set of pictures were taken in Ocean City, Maryland, a very fun place to people watch. 

Oxford, MD

Our journey continues north to Oxford, MD where we stayed at Hinckley Yacht Services.  They have certified Volvo Penta technicians to help us diagnose the issues we are having with the starboard engine.  Long story short, we fixed the starboard only to have the port engine act up.  I suppose nothing is ever simple, after a few days of eliminating various scenarios, they came up with a solution.  So we ordered more parts, and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

Oxford is a peaceful quaint town, whose main business is tourism.  If you want to go somewhere quiet, this is the place to be.  You can stroll down the picturesque lanes with their brick sidewalks and admire the old houses.  In 1683 Oxford was the first port-of-entry on the Eastern Shore, a prominent international shipping center, moving tobacco grown in nearby plantations.  A century later, with advances in the  food packing industry and the railroad, Oxford's oysters became a nationwide product. 

Our first night at the marina, we had a little excitement.  There were sirens going off in the town, which turned out to be the siren that summons the volunteer fire dept.  And lo and behold the fire trucks came to the marina.  Turns out in the office they had some flea bombs that went off and set off the smoke detectors.

We stayed in this wonderful small town for a week, due to the engines.  The weather has been in the 90's with 80% or better humidity, so hot is an understatement. The marina does have a pool, so I really can't complain too much, especially after such a cold winter in the south. 

 Our next stop was supposed to be St. Michael's, and I was really looking forward to that.  Due to the fact that we need to be in Kent island by the 30th, we decided to bypass St. Michael's, at least by water. On 6/29/10 we headed to Kent Island and Castle Harbor Marina, where we connected with Jim's cousin Dennis.

Cambridge, MD

Most of Monday was spent temporarily fixing the broken window.  We called Carver for replacement glass, hopefully we can have that sent to us soon. 

 Afterwards we walked around the town, the homes are old and very large.  Many of them have been turned into Bed & Breakfast Inn's.  The church's are very ornate, with large stain glass windows and well kept.  Cambridge is filled with art galleries, restaurants, shops, and is bursting with authentic timeless charm of the Chesapeake region.