Sail from Cape May to Wilmington

Ve stayed in Cape May couple more days waiting for better weather, we sailed whole night in big atlantic waves, went through lakes, rivers and endless canals of intercoastal waterway and at the end also sun shined and got warmer….

After the hurricane we needed to stay in Cape May and wait for better weather – slower wind and lower waves. Basically there was nothing to do, so most of the time we were freezing because it got really cold, spent time on internet, read books, chat with other sailors, walked in Cape May centre |but there was not much to see because of the hurricane only a few people left there) and the evenings spent in bars with Paula. (some pictures from Cape May).

On Sunday early morning we finally set sails – literally we used the good NW wind and really fast crossed the Delaware Bay – later the wind stopped and we used mainly motor. It was freezing, but sunny – nice day but not much to look at because this part of coast is not very populated. The wind has later changed and putting the sails down in strong wind a big waves was an adrenaline experience. We went the whole night and next day – Joe the whole time, we were warming ourselves in sleeping bags sometime :}

In Norfolk is the biggest navy base – we entered there the intercoastal waterway in which we will stay till Florida – we are sailing in artificial canals, rivers, bays outside of ocean. Main advantage is that we are much more protected from the weather – there are not so big waves. Disadvantage are the swing bridges – you have to wat till the open for you. But it is an interesting change to go like through woods in straight long narrow canals or through cities and surprisingly we also see dolphins

At the beginnig it was possible to sail (which was good when our main motor was broken and we had to use just a small backup one) but the last days were without wind… It is nice to sail – to use the wind – because it is much less noisy than the engine. But when the wind is too strong and waves have 2m you cannot just relax and there is the fear to flip over. Once one of our rudders broke in these weather conditions (but we were able to repair it, because we are good ;)

After days of cold days with drizzling the weather became better – sun started to shine it is warmer (maybe because we are going south) – the nights are still cold, but we dont need to wear all our available clothes (3trousers, 3 T-shirts + 2 sweatshirts+jacket, cap and gloves)… in the night the condesated water on sailing is still dropping on our heads

The last night we anchored in the canal and had really beautiful sunset:

Now we are at Wilmington to get water and gas. It is surprisingly busy city with lots of boats, full pubs and it remainds a summer resort – with palms and so :)

In this week we made cca 400 nautical miles – around 50 in a normal day… We still have 500 left to get to Florida and then another 500 to Haiti…

And some pictures:

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