On day 151 of our journey, we left the Chesapeake Bay & entered the C&D Canal. This is a 14-mile canal connecting the Chesapeake & Delaware Bays & is considered a shortcut between Philadelphia & Baltimore. This was one of six bridges we passed under on the canal.
After a long 77 mile long day, we anchored behind Reedy Island in the Delaware Bay. Shortly after we arrived, fellow Loopers Grayling joined us in the anchorage. Dinner on the back deck of Phase II was a perfect ending to a long day.
Bright & early the next morning we weighed anchor & headed down the Delaware Bay. We saw many commercial sights along this bay, like these cargo ships & nuclear power plant.
After passing a lighthouse near the entrance of the Delaware Bay, we headed to Cape May, NJ to wait for the perfect, calm day like this one to venture out into the Atlantic Ocean to travel to New York City.
At Utsch's Marina in Cape May, we met up with three other Looper boats. The next day was forecasted to be a great day to take on the Atlantic Ocean, so off we went.
The sunrise was beautiful,
& the approach into the Atlantic Ocean was surreal, with a hint of fog.
Ahead of us was a 130 mile run up the coast of Delaware & New Jersey to the entrance of the Lower Bay & then the Hudson River. We were a little apprehensive about the journey, so it was great to be in a flotilla of five other Loopers.
The day started off perfect, with calm waters & clear blue skies. Then the strangest thing happened . . . in the distance we could see a massive cloud that looked like no other cloud we had ever seen. As we got closer, we were amazed at what we were seeing. It looked like a round tube & was extremely long & low to the water.
We joked with the other boats that we were entering some twighlight zone, questioning whether we would come out the other side. We challenged each other to be the first to go through it.
Passing under the cloud, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees & the water rippled. It was the second surreal moment of the day!
This is a photo of Phase II (taken by Rowe Boat) coming out the other side unscathed! Bizzare is the only word to describe the experience! We later determined that it was a rare "roll" cloud (Google it, you'll be amazed!)
So we thought, what else could happen?? And then the whale sightings! Unfortunately they were too far away to get a good picture, but the sight is burned into our memories! And then out of nowhere, a heavy fog rolled in. Within minutes, we could barely see the flag on the bow of the boat. Navigating solely by instruments was a bit intense, so much so I completely overlooked taking pictures of the wall of fog!
After about an hour of unbelievable thick fog, we regained visual of the flotilla!
And they regained a visual on Phase II.
Twelve long hours after our departure from Cape May, there it was . . . Coney Island off in the distance.
A beautiful sunset at the Sandy Hook anchorage with a view of Staten Island was a great ending to an amazing day!!
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