Delaware City,  Delaware 

Loopers & Jazz...

May 20, 2023


Danny and I made the decision to bypass Havre de Grace, unfortunately due to weather concerns and the desire to get up to the Hudson Valley sooner rather than later.  This required for a longer than normal day to be on the water going towards the Delaware Bay.  Another very early start and we had a fair amount of fog to travel through from 5:45am until about 8:30am.  You can see how crowded Annapolis is in the harbor and the appreciation of the fog at the US 50 bridge going to the Eastern Shore.


When you get up to the top of the Chesapeake Bay, you go into the C&D Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware Canal) and at the end of the canal, you are in the Delaware River going into the Delaware Bay.  There are special considerations for the Delaware Bay- the tides, the way the current comes in, winds, waves, and BIG commerce ships!  Many loopers associate one person with traveling in the Delaware Bay to get your information prior to travel.  This is Tim who owns and is the harbormaster at Delaware City Marina.  The marina was recognized by the AGLCA this year as the marina of the year.  Any time you meet a looper or previous looper, you say Tim and everyone knows of whom you speak.  When you arrive, Tim and possibly a dockhand turn your boat by hand so you are facing out to leave.  There isn't much room to turn around plus he says he doesn't want you hitting his dock!

Tim holds a meeting every day at 4pm to discuss the 2pm release of information on the Delaware Bay Operational Forecast System which covers the Delaware Bay to Atlantic City.  You can see Tim below with all his charts and reports and then us loopers.  There were 15-16 boats so it was quite crowded but a good time had by all.  You as the captain/owner of your boat make a decision on whether to go down the Bay or wait a day.  The forecast guidance for Sunday was for winds to lay down around 8-9am.  Some wanted to leave sooner and Tim always check the NOAA forecast early in the morning.  We awoke at 7am as we planned to leave at 9am.  I heard 2 guys walking by the boat saying well hopefully tomorrow.  Not a good sign.  Apparently the forecast guidance was off as the winds were not dying down until noon.  Three "fast" boats left at noon.  I would define a fast boat as 15 MPH which is not us!  


We stayed another night and went to another meeting.  Tim brought in a 3 piece jazz band which was great while we enjoyed our dinners out on the patio.  You can see the whole group at the top.
You can see the long line of Looper boats waiting to go!


Tim and I met at the Rendezvous in Waterside where he lectured on the area up to NYC.  He introduces me as the other woman to people when they would approach us as I was of course asking questions.

We left Monday morning at 5:22am with plans for Cape May that changed to Atlantic City.
Leaving Delaware City at civil twilight...

TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED   2875.50 miles
TOTAL DAYS 190























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