Exit the Chesapeake, Post 25-29
- sondrawinter
- Jul 20
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
St. Michaels, MD (Friday, July 11) to
Block Island, RI (Wednesday, June 25)
360 nautical miles (NM) / 414 statute miles
This week we return to Annapolis, then head north up Chesapeake Bay leaving the bay waters by entering the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. From there we worked our way over to Rhode Island.
St. Michaels to Annapolis
Friday, July 11 – Sunday, July 13
25 NM
Our friends on Quest II needed to pick up some parts in Annapolis, MD, so we popped back across the Bay and caught a mooring ball up Spa Creek, past the bascule bridge, amongst residential neighborhoods of Eastport. It was also neat to return to a harbor for a second time, feeling a little more relaxed with some familiarity in the navigation.
During the quick stay on this return trip to Annapolis, we visited Davis’ Pub, did some shopping, boat chores (of course), and attended a Bastille Party by a couple who sold their sailboat to return to a land-based home after over five years of full-time cruising. It was an enjoyable evening chatting with the new homeowners Ryan and Sophie, along with their friends and neighbors.
Northern Chesapeake Bay and the C&D Canal to Chesapeake City
Sunday, July 13
54 NM
We slipped from the morning ball right at sunrise to catch the 6:00 a.m. bridge opening and to take advantage of the currents as we approached the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal). The winds surprised us by getting high enough to shut off the engine and still maintain speeds over 6 knots for about an hour or two before reaching the canal that was very busy with weekend boating traffic.
Chesapeake City
Sunday, July 13 - Tuesday, July 15
We stopped partway through the canal and anchored in a basin at Chesapeake City, MD. It was a nice little anchorage lined with marinas on one side and government property on the other. During our stay, three other boats anchored near us. There is an interesting current coming from a culvert on the eastern end that creates a circular pattern in the basin, causing boats to sit at different angles when the wind is light. The town itself is small, without the basic cruiser needs like a hardware or grocery store but it does have a few restaurants and is very pretty to walk around. There is also a wonderful museum along the canal side of the basin. The C&D Canal Museum was free to enter and had captivating exhibits for our nerdy engineering brains to enjoy.
C&D Canal, Delaware River & Atlantic Ocean to Block Island
Tuesday, July 15 – Thursday, July 17
285 NM
Tuesday morning brought another pre-six a.m. sunrise departure. This long passage started with motoring in the canal for two hours before reaching the Delaware River. From here, we raised the mainsail to motor-sail eight hours to the Atlantic Ocean. Then we sailed, and motor-sailed, in the Atlantic to Rhode Island. Thursday morning, 53 hours after weighing anchor in Chesapeake City, we had the anchor set in New Harbor at Block Island.
Scenes from the C&D Canal, Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean
Conditions
We timed our departure from Chesapeake City to ensure that we avoided the worst counter-current in the Delaware River. Motoring the C&D Canal was simple, even with the one-knot of adverse current and the large tree trunks to weave around.
As we exited the canal and entered the Delaware River there was a strong current pushing us downstream. This was anticipated, so we pointed upstream until well into the river before turning south. Once in the river, we had three knots of current pushing us downstream. By midday we had some counter current, but it did not last long, and we were being pushed along again as we reached the Atlantic.
After turning northeast into the Atlantic, the engine was turned off and we sailed with various sail plans for seven hours. There was some sea state in the ocean which grew until sunrise, making for a lumpy ride. After midnight the winds diminished as did our speed, so the engine was cranked up, and stayed on until late afternoon. The mainsail stayed deployed to help balance the boat in the seas.
Wednesday afternoon the wind returned, allowing us to have another several-hour break from the engine. The sea state Wednesday afternoon was lovely, and the sailing was very enjoyable. However, the lumpy seas returned in the night and stayed with us until we entered Block Island Sound.
Events
Overall, this was a good trip, although not entirely uneventful.
Whisker Pole
While deploying the whisker pole Tuesday evening, it fell from the mast connection and landed on the bow pulpit. I am really surprised that the railing was not dented, and very, very glad it did not land on either of us. I suspect that the release pin was activated when we pulled it from the mast, even though the pin was taped down after the last time this happened. Since sunset was approaching, we just lashed the pole down to the deck and sailed downwind with the jib slatting in the rolling seas. The next day we took advantage of a lull in the sea state to reattach the whisker pole to the mast, and we were back in business for Wednesday night’s sail.
Burgee Flag Halyard
Later the same evening, the burgee flag halyard got loose and tangled up with the empty whisker pole mount on the mast. Also, somehow our extra halyard messenger line got tangled up with the flag halyard. I was able to disentangle this mess before we fixed the whisker pole, but still need to, sadly, remove the loose messenger line before it tangles up with lines inside of the mast.
Water in Galley
Sometime during the passage Jimmy discovered a lot of water on the galley sole. It appeared to be fresh water, so we wiped it up from time to time during the remainder of the passage. After arriving at Block Island, we discovered it was just a loose nut on our filtered water supply.
Jib Sheet
On the second night of the passage, I needed to reef the sails. Reefing the mainsail went flawlessly, however, reefing the jib turned into a big mess. Typically an easy maneuver, my sleep deprivation and rolling seas contributed to it being problematic. In short, I failed to secure the “lazy” sheet, it came loose, became tangled up with the working sheet fore and around the whisker pole, with the remainder of the line trailing in the water, out of reach of a boathook.
I decided there was no reason to wake Jimmy up since we were under sail without the engine on and the line could safely drag along in the water. I left the jib partially furled and the rest of my shift was fine.
Upon Jimmy's arrival for his shift, we decided to completely furl in the jib. This brought the loose sheet within reach of the boathook and we were able to retrieve the line and fastened it onto the deck for further attention after sunrise.
Once anchored we worked on cleaning up the mess at the bow of the boat. This is when we discovered the root of the problem: the lazy sheet got caught under the forward shower vent which I forgot to close, and nearly ripped it off. We shoved the vent cap back in place to fix at a later time.
Boom Vang / Rod Kicker
Utopia has a hard boom vang, called a rod kicker. It has a gas spring within the assembly which keeps the boom up. We installed a new gas spring when we purchased the boat in 2021 and it lasted until this passage. While under sail the failure just meant we could not optimize the sail shape. The rod kicker became very obvious when the mainsail was lowered at the end of the trip, and the boom landed on our dodger. For the time being, the main halyard is acting as our boom topping lift and a new part is being shipped to Newport, RI.
Upcoming Plans
We will probably spend several days at Block Island before heading over to Newport, RI. Then will wander this Newport-Block Island-Cape cod-Nantucket area over the next several weeks.
Post # 25-29
A link to last week's post about our first visit to Annapolis and our time in St. Michaels is found below in the Middle Maryland post.
And then for those who want videos, here is one from our trip up the ICW in North Carolina:
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