Released for Time Served

We’re all set to return to the scene of the crime. Well, ONE of the crimes anyway…

We get up at the crack of dawn to catch the current through the Chesapeake/Delaware Canal. I’ve been through this canal twice before, and I’m looking forward to seeing again a number of wild birds that live here – heron, cormorants and bald eagles. Rick is mostly thinking about successfully passing under that now infamous bridge he hit a few weeks ago.

The trip through the canal is rather uneventful this time. I have given up on trying to photograph all of the wildlife, since they typically don’t cooperate as models. I don’t need more bad pictures of birds in flight, so I decide to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Rick's favorite bridge

The canal has many bridges, and I can’t quite picture the one that gave Rick so much trouble recently, so I’m glad when he points it out to me. Now that I can see the bridge in person, it seems impossible that Rick wouldn’t have seen that the lowered bridge would be too low for our mast. He admits that in the light of day it seems impossible to him as well. Here’s my theory: there was no moon on the night in question, so it was pitch dark save for a couple of red lights on the bridge. If it was so dark Rick couldn’t see the waterline, then the bridge would seem higher than it was in comparison to his boat. Think I would make it as Perry Mason's assistant?

Whatever was going on in his head that night, he has clearly been a bit traumatized by the event. Going under that bridge now, even in its “up” position feels pretty nervy – although we understand intellectually that we have many feet to spare, our mast looks like it’s going to hit. We both feel quite triumphant when we make it through unscathed!

The rest of the trip to Cape May is a complete repeat of previous years’ voyages. The Delaware Bay is ugly and hot, with fog and mist that burns off before mid-day. The nuclear power plant dominates the scene for hours, and it is a relief to finally leave it at our backs.

We pass a funky little lighthouse named Ship John Shoal that has a distinctively gothic look to it. Perhaps it would seem rather ordinary, but for the birds who have obviously taken over. I don’t think the white paint job on the roof is actually paint, if you catch my drift…

Three or four hours of this eleven hour trip are spent under sail, but with hardly any breeze we end up motoring most of the way. With the engine running, it is much more pleasant to set the autohelm and sit up front where you can escape from that incessantly growling beast. Of course, there’s no shade up there, so I bring my faithful umbrella with us. I must look cool and comfortable under my self-made shade, because Rick ends up using my spare umbrella himself. I knew I could make a convert out of him!

We arrive at Cape May in the dark and find a good spot to anchor. Tomorrow we will need to tackle the problem of the bent hatch cover, but tonight we just need to concentrate on dinner. Steak, corn and tomatoes – who says boat cuisine has to be boring?