Sailing a 22ft Cape Dory from Boston to Southern Florida

[Scott T-Bird]

It looks like he will have light winds all week. It will be excellent for motoring in the ICW. He'll probably need to sail outside from Atlantic City to Cape May. When the wind comes up on Wednesday, it looks to be from the south. Friday looks like it moves around to northwest, which would help him. Aside from wind direction, which may not be always very helpful, it looks like very pleasant, settled weather for the entire week. The only day with showers is Thursday, but the weather will be warm. He should be successful getting to the Chesapeake by the end of the week, I think.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Another option is get to Forked River, which is marked with a day marker out front. If he bears right when inside, taking the north fork and goes all the way to the end, he can probably find space at Forked River State Marina, which is right on Rte 9. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with any nearby grocery stores for provisioning. But there are plenty of restaurants in that area.

Within walking distance of the State Marina there’s a Rite Aid, liquor store, and Mrs. Walker’s Ice Cream (which is practically worth the stop itself ). Maybe a convenience store or something like that too. There’s a Shop Rite in the area but it’a 1.25 miles up route 9 and not a great walk.

 

[palcuz]

Captain Fiero continues his journey into the ICW from Hellgate. Thanks to anybody who has offered their assistance. He has been very busy and very tired so he has chosen to push on to warmer weather. He extends his sincere thanks.

 

[jssailem]

Welcome to seamanship 101. Know your boat.

Airdraft The distance from the top of your mast (plus any antenna or other gadgets mounted on top) to the water line.​

Good decision to turn back from an unknown to giver yourself time to assure your passage. As you say 35feet is "ok" but 38 feet is better. I prefer to use my calculated airdraft plus 5 feet. Provides a margin of error should the tide be off a little, a river running a bit full or the water height board being moved from the point of measurement.

Your sharing the information on sails and their trimming is great. I would suggest you explore the works of scientific work of Arvel Gentry (Gentry Sailing | Recalling the research, writing and design of Arvel Gentry). He exposed the errors of popular theory about what makes a sail boat go. He revolutionized sail trim through the use of aeronautical engineering and fluid dynamics science as applied to a sailboat. Worth the study. Looks like you might have the time as you progress down the ICW towards warmer climes.

 

[palcuz]

Welcome to seamanship 101. Know your boat.

Airdraft The distance from the top of your mast (plus any antenna or other gadgets mounted on top) to the water line.​

Good decision to turn back from an unknown to giver yourself time to assure your passage. As you say 35feet is "ok" but 38 feet is better. I prefer to use my calculated airdraft plus 5 feet. Provides a margin of error should the tide be off a little, a river running a bit full or the water height board being moved from the point of measurement.

Your sharing the information on sails and their trimming is great. I would suggest you explore the works of scientific work of Arvel Gentry (Gentry Sailing | Recalling the research, writing and design of Arvel Gentry). He exposed the errors of popular theory about what makes a sail boat go. He revolutionized sail trim through the use of aeronautical engineering and fluid dynamics science as applied to a sailboat. Worth the study. Looks like you might have the time as you progress down the ICW towards warmer climes.

Thanks for the insight. He doesnt know everything from a complete physics perspective, but Captain Fiero knows a lot about the dynamics of sail.

 

[palcuz]

It looks like he will have light winds all week. It will be excellent for motoring in the ICW. He'll probably need to sail outside from Atlantic City to Cape May. When the wind comes up on Wednesday, it looks to be from the south. Friday looks like it moves around to northwest, which would help him. Aside from wind direction, which may not be always very helpful, it looks like very pleasant, settled weather for the entire week. The only day with showers is Thursday, but the weather will be warm. He should be successful getting to the Chesapeake by the end of the week, I think.

Do you have any information about possible anchorages when heading west into the Delaware bay/River towards the DC canal? Looks like many shallows.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Thanks for the insight. He doesnt know everything from a complete physics perspective, but Captain Fiero knows a lot about the dynamics of sail.

It sounds like he had a bit of confusion over the specifications of his boat. I think he mentioned that his mast is just 25'. I immediately wondered if he was distinguishing between the length of the mast and the air draft, which is 2 entirely different animals (unless the mast is a keel-stepped mast - the keel mount and waterline may be close to the same level). But the real issue is that I think he is confusing the mast length between the 22' Typhoon Senior and the 19' Typhoon Weekender. Based on the videos and your earliest description (22'), he definitely has the Senior model. The "P" dimension of the Senior is 27.5' based on Sailboat Data. Add approximately 6' to the waterline from height of the boom and his air draft is at least 33.5'. I'd say that even a 35' bridge clearance could be a little sketchy if there is any inaccuracy in either the stated height or the water board reading when he is crossing under.

BTW, the Weekender mast length could very likely be 25' as he stated based on the published P = 22' and an additional 3' for a deck-stepped mast. But the length of his (deck-stepped) mast for the Senior model is at least 30' to 31' in actual length (as he measured, I think) based on the published information.

It looks like he made it to Atlantic City at the end of his latest video. At one point he mentioned Manasquan Inlet as the start of his ICW route. I hope he didn't intend to continue along the ICW from A.C. to Cape May. I'm pretty sure that his water draft would be fine, but his air draft won't make it by the Sea Isle City fixed bridge or the Avalon fixed bridge. There are a few other fixed bridges at 35' height and some bascule or swing bridges he could get through but I doubt that he will be able to make it without going outside into the Atlantic. But he has already made it this far, so I'm sure he got by those obstacles by now. Looking forward to the following episodes!

So he experienced the Pt. Pleasant sleigh ride! Here is a little taste for your enjoyment!

Pt Pleasant canal - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

[palcuz]

It sounds like he had a bit of confusion over the specifications of his boat. I think he mentioned that his mast is just 25'. I immediately wondered if he was distinguishing between the length of the mast and the air draft, which is 2 entirely different animals (unless the mast is a keel-stepped mast - the keel mount and waterline may be close to the same level). But the real issue is that I think he is confusing the mast length between the 22' Typhoon Senior and the 19' Typhoon Weekender. Based on the videos and your earliest description (22'), he definitely has the Senior model. The "P" dimension of the Senior is 27.5' based on Sailboat Data. Add approximately 6' to the waterline from height of the boom and his air draft is at least 33.5'. I'd say that even a 35' bridge clearance could be a little sketchy if there is any inaccuracy in either the stated height or the water board reading when he is crossing under.

BTW, the Weekender mast length could very likely be 25' as he stated based on the published P = 22' and an additional 3' for a deck-stepped mast. But the length of his (deck-stepped) mast for the Senior model is at least 30' to 31' in actual length (as he measured, I think) based on the published information.

It looks like he made it to Atlantic City at the end of his latest video. At one point he mentioned Manasquan Inlet as the start of his ICW route. I hope he didn't intend to continue along the ICW from A.C. to Cape May. I'm pretty sure that his water draft would be fine, but his air draft won't make it by the Sea Isle City fixed bridge or the Avalon fixed bridge. There are a few other fixed bridges at 35' height and some bascule or swing bridges he could get through but I doubt that he will be able to make it without going outside into the Atlantic. But he has already made it this far, so I'm sure he got by those obstacles by now. Looking forward to the following episodes!

So he experienced the Pt. Pleasant sleigh ride! Here is a little taste for your enjoyment!

Pt Pleasant canal - Search Videos

www.bing.com

He's through the Pleasent canal. Staging at Cape May to head up to the DC canal. Looking for any advice on anchorages and conditions as he heads up the Delaware bay into the river. He is trying to accomplish short legs to avoid anchoring at night etc. Looks like plenty of shallows and marshland on both sides of the Delaware bay. Do people regularly anchor in the bay? Any best areas. Navionics has very limited info which seems telling.

 

[Davidasailor26]

He's through the Pleasent canal. Staging at Cape May to head up to the DC canal. Looking for any advice on anchorages and conditions as he heads up the Delaware bay into the river. He is trying to accomplish short legs to avoid anchoring at night etc. Looks like plenty of shallows and marshland on both sides of the Delaware bay. Do people regularly anchor in the bay? Any best areas. Navionics has very limited info which seems telling.

That stretch of Delaware Bay is not known for any good anchorages. Best plan is to leave early on a day when you can time the current to make it to Chesapeake City on the C&D Canal in one day. That’s still a long push in a boat that size though.

Check Active Captain. It will show the locations of a couple anchorages along the way. None are ideal but I’ve heard of the Cohansey River and Reedy Island areas as options. From Cape May the Cohansey would be about 35 miles and Reedy Island about 45. All the way to Chesapeake City is about 60. I did the trip from Cape May to Chesapeake City earlier this year and it was very manageable by timing the tide, although that was on a 31’ boat.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

He's through the Pleasent canal. Staging at Cape May to head up to the DC canal. Looking for any advice on anchorages and conditions as he heads up the Delaware bay into the river. He is trying to accomplish short legs to avoid anchoring at night etc. Looks like plenty of shallows and marshland on both sides of the Delaware bay. Do people regularly anchor in the bay? Any best areas. Navionics has very limited info which seems telling.

His best bet is to time the current so he can travel from Cape May all the way to Delaware City and tie up inside the Delaware City branch canal. I don't think he'll find any place comfortable in the bay; however, some folks do anchor inside Reedy Island (Port Penn) on the Delaware side. Most sailors prefer to get all the way thru to at least Chesapeake City, inside the canal, if they can. It's very important to time the tide well, I believe ... especially on a small boat.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Unfortunately the winds on Wednesday don’t look good for Delaware Bay (WSW up to 20), and by Thursday the good departure time for the tide isn’t until about 10:30. I don’t think the next best window for tides opens until around the 28th. Might just need to bite the bullet and find a couple days of reasonable wind to fight the current before then.

 

[palcuz]

That stretch of Delaware Bay is not known for any good anchorages. Best plan is to leave early on a day when you can time the current to make it to Chesapeake City on the C&D Canal in one day. That’s still a long push in a boat that size though.

Check Active Captain. It will show the locations of a couple anchorages along the way. None are ideal but I’ve heard of the Cohansey River and Reedy Island areas as options. From Cape May the Cohansey would be about 35 miles and Reedy Island about 45. All the way to Chesapeake City is about 60. I did the trip from Cape May to Chesapeake City earlier this year and it was very manageable by timing the tide, although that was on a 31’ boat.

Thanks for the input. I passed this along to him. He will attempt to move out of Cape May canal tomorrow morning. His course will cross the bay and he will try to anchor closer to the South west side of the bay as he can only travel 20NM usually during daylight. Thanks so much for the reply.

 

[shemandr]

There is pretty anchoring off Lewes but that doesn't get him up the bay at all. But if he wants the West shore that's a place to stage up. There are several jetty which provide some shelter from Northerly winds but not a Nor'easter. There are also ferry wakes.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

It looks like very favorable weather and wind for the next 4 days. I'd make an early start tomorrow. It looks like a beam reach to me ... That boat should love the conditions!

 

[dLj]

Low tide tomorrow is at 10:15am so he could start before that like an hour or so and then ride the tide up to the C&D. Give him until 4:41 for high tide, perfect time to then go through the C&D...

dj

 

[palcuz]

Low tide tomorrow is at 10:15am so he could start before that like an hour or so and then ride the tide up to the C&D. Give him until 4:41 for high tide, perfect time to then go through the C&D...

dj

He's just entering Delaware bay today. I think it will take him a couple legs/overnights to get to the C&D. We shall see. Hopefully he is surprised and gets there a bit faster than he planned.

 

[Davidasailor26]

He's just entering Delaware bay today. I think it will take him a couple legs/overnights to get to the C&D. We shall see. Hopefully he is surprised and gets there a bit faster than he planned.

Might be a bumpy ride this morning, especially with a flood current going against the wind. Hopefully the wind turns more on the beam over the day.

 

[dLj]

Is it ever NOT a bumpy ride up the Delaware???

dj

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Low tide tomorrow is at 10:15am so he could start before that like an hour or so and then ride the tide up to the C&D. Give him until 4:41 for high tide, perfect time to then go through the C&D...

dj

It seems to be very confusing ... slack tide rarely corresponds with low and high tides. Based on the current table today for the Delaware Bay entrance it looks like he may have been going against an ebb tide until about 11:40 am slack and then riding a flood current until 6:30 pm. I'd suppose that the deeper he gets into the bay, the longer he gets to ride a flood current this afternoon. This morning's ebb tide appears to be a little less than a knot so hopefully he is having some smooth sailing today! I'll be interested to hear how it goes.

 

[dLj]

It seems to be very confusing ... slack tide rarely corresponds with low and high tides. Based on the current table today for the Delaware Bay entrance it looks like he may have been going against an ebb tide until about 11:40 am slack and then riding a flood current until 6:30 pm. I'd suppose that the deeper he gets into the bay, the longer he gets to ride a flood current this afternoon. This morning's ebb tide appears to be a little less than a knot so hopefully he is having some smooth sailing today! I'll be interested to hear how it goes.

Not sure about slack tide, typically I just look at times for high and low tide. If you want more granular info, then you need to look up the specific weather bouys which i did not do, I just did a quick look at the generic tide table for the Delaware Bay without getting specific.

If there is a weather Bouy say at the entrance to the C&D and another down at the mouth of the Delaware, you might get more granular information.

I just looked at a tide app I have on my phone and posted the times it told me. Not sure where the confusion might be. Perhaps however you are looking at the tides uses a different set of bouys than my app...

dj