(If you’d like to follow our progress, our InReach updates position every 10 minutes or so. DO NOT BE ALARMED if it stops reporting (it likely fell over and can’t see the sky) or if we stop moving (we’re likely anchored, not aground). All is well, I promise.)

NOTE: I’ll add photos in the future, but I’m writing this after a week of not opening the computer and the photos are not uploaded! Check back for pics, I promise!

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks on Calypso, with more to come. Long story short? I’m writing this from the anchorage at Cape May, New Jersey, where we’ve been for a couple of days waiting for the wind to shift favorably for the run to Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. By the time this blog post goes live, we should be well on our way north. Yahoo!

As usual, the last couple of days at the dock were a rush of activity. Those final “get her seaworthy” projects were the biggies. While one went smoothly (installing the fuel tank bulkhead) the other one (installing the head) did NOT; instead of it being a half day job to rerun the old hoses, it was 5 days of cursing, swearing, running and testing and finding leaks and taking it all out to start over. Extra frustrating because this is a job that will be done again in the fall when we haul out, and the “best quality” head hose that we’ll use for the final installation was not available in Deltaville. But. It’s done for now and working great, no leaks to be seen. Whew.

8/9/2021 Our initial thought was to go overnight up the Bay, but radar showed massive thunderstorms and squalls would come through in the evening. Better not to be out in that, thanks. Solomons is a great bailout point.

The decision turned out to be a prudent one, not necessarily because of weather but because the dinghy tow eye (we were towing the dinghy) started leaking, filling the bow compartment with water and threatening to turn the dinghy into a submarine. Before we left Solomons in the morning that needed to be addressed. We can put the dinghy on deck but it’s a massive hassle that restricts access to the windlass and makes the staysail unusable; we tend to tow unless we’re heading offshore.

8/10/2021 A late start on Tuesday combined with very light from-behind winds made it clear we wouldn’t make it to the Corsica River before midnight; radar again showed a line of impressive convection marching its way eastwards toward the Bay. A helpful tip from our friend Dave (of the air-conditioned workshop, skills, and tools!) steered us to the anchorage in Selby Bay; we didn’t quite make it in before the first line hit and were extremely happy for the dodger we’d installed. 45 knots of wind and driving rain led to almost zero visibility for the 10 minutes that was going on. Glad we weren’t in the open Bay for that one.

8/11/2021 Prompt departure from Selby Bay so we had plenty of time to sail to the Corsica and a planned rendezvous with Wendy and Johnny, sailing buddies who live in Centreville, Maryland. The weather had other plans, tossing more severe thunderstorms onto the radar map just about the time we finished up showers. 

8/12/2021 Dinner from the night before turned into breakfast with Wendy, followed by a trip to the hardware store. Jeremy picked up the stainless steel fasteners he needed to install the solar panels; before we picked up the hook from our peaceful anchorage we were sporting 2 panels on the boomkin. We’ve never had solar before and are really looking forward to seeing how they do for us! It was almost midnight when we arrived in Still Pond.

8/13/2021 For the first time, we didn’t have wind to sail. We’re on a bit of a mission to get north, and frankly don’t find this part of the Chesapeake very appealing, so it was fire up the engine and get the miles in. Heading to the C&D Canal with the prospect of the Delaware Bay, with the need to time the current right, beyond it, felt a bit like our first test. Do we stop in Chesapeake City for the night? Can we make it to Reedy Point in time to ride the ebb south? Will we go all the way down the Delaware Bay tonight? We paused in Chesapeake City for about an hour, long enough to go up the mast to tighten the D2 shrouds and to put the dinghy on deck. We wanted all the speed we could to get through the canal. And oh look, here comes more convection activity on the radar!

Dave Tabor to the rescue. He’d been following our track and called to offer some advice on anchoring for the night. “Try the Cohansey River,” he said. “It’s calm and out of the main current.” So we did, ducking in just at sunset and right before a squall hit. The Cohansey reminded us of the marshes of South Carolina, with twists and turns and lovely reeds all around. Very pretty spot that would have been a fun place to explore by dinghy.

8/14/2021 The alarm woke us at 5:30 am and by 5:42 am the anchor was up for the push south to Cape May. Mostly we timed the tide well, seeing a push of a knot or more. Still it’s nice to have the Delaware Bay behind us. By noon, we were anchored outside the channel in Cape May, settling in for an afternoon of people watching. Boats of all kinds parade through the channel, coming and going from the ICW and offshore. It was rocky and rolly from all the wakes, but with no major projects to tackle the movement was merely part of the scene.

That brings us to today (we didn’t move yesterday). I promise I won’t do this kind of travelogue frequently!