Day 121 - Leaving the Delaware Bay

Today we were leaving Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay, going through the C&D Canal to Delaware City on the Delaware River.  As we were not sure how slow the C&D Canal was going to be, we left early at 8:06 am.  The sun was shining and the water was almost flat.  There were lots of fishing boats around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Just past the bridge was a red lighthouse at the mouth of the Magothy River, then the red and white light at Sandy Point.  Soon we were passing the wide mouth of the Patapsco River which leads to Baltimore.  Here there is a large yellow light, the Craig Hill Channel Range Light. 

 

There are 4 more small rivers off the western shore over the next 20-22 miles before the Susquehanna River and the town of Havre de Grace, which lies at the northwest edge of the Chesapeake Bay.  South of the Susquehanna is the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the army does testing on newly developed weapons.  Since it was Saturday, we didn’t have to be concerned about any testing. 

The eastern shore is a more sparsely populated farming area.  Small, shallow rivers and creeks can be explored by smaller boats.  We entered the Elk River which will take us to the C&D Canal.  Range lights in the river help to keep boats on course in the channel.  It was here where Captain Randy said that we had now traveled 3900 miles since leaving Chicago last August.  We passed another lighthouse to the port.  This is a very picturesque area, with beautiful shores and lots of small pleasure boats darting around the river and up the numerous creeks.  I was starting to feel like I was in the north again.

 

 

 

The river started to narrow as we approach Chesapeake City.  Just west of the Chesapeake City Bridge is a Coast Guard Station,  We went under the bridge and entered Delaware – the 12^th state we have visited (not counting Illinois or Indiana) on our trip.

 

The C&D Canal is a 12 mile long man-made waterway, connecting the Delaware Bay to the Delaware River.  It is 450 feet wide and 35 feet deep and used by commercial, military and recreational traffic.  There are 6 bridges and the banks are tree-lined. There were fewer “no wake” zones than we expected and we motored right along.  We turned into the Delaware City  Branch Channel and were docked at the Delaware City Marina by 12:20 pm.



 

 

There is not much of a town left here, as it is just off the C&D Canal.  Shopping is very limited so we got ice cream and strolled the shore until the 3:00 pm ferry over to Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware.  The Fort was built in the mid-1800’s to protect the River and Philadelphia.  No defensive shots were ever fired though and it became the largest prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.  It housed 33,000 over the course of the war in 52 barracks built outside the fort.  Each one had three levels of bunks and served as home for 200 men.  All of the outbuildings are gone, but there is a reproduction of one of the bunkhouses.

The fort is the most well-preserved in the US for its age which made it very interesting to tour.  There are rooms set up as kitchens, laundry, officer’s rooms, commissary and ammunitions procurement.  A set of actors demonstrates rifle and mortar firing and other programs.  It was a very interesting afternoon in military history (again).  We even saw an eagle!

 

 

In the 1890's, part of the inside of the fort was removed and a new type of fortification and a three gun battery were built inside the "front" of the fort. It was made of concrete and rocks (instead of bricks).  This area of the fort is not a normal part of the tour because bats use the area to roost.  We were fortunate enough to be allowed to tour the area and we quickly saw why bats like the area - it is very dark and damp.  

 

 

When we returned to the mainland, the park at the ferry dock was filled with old cars; a car show was in full swing.  We were tired and hungry, so we only spent a few minutes here before dinner at Crabby Dick’s.  We sat on the outside patio, listening to R&B by the Turner Brother’s Band.  The place was jumping, probably due to the car show traffic.  Captain Randy worked his way through a half dozen hard-shell crabs while I had mussels and crab/shrimp flatbread.

I still had laundry to do when we got back to the boat.  I met a friendly Englishman in the laundry room.  He keeps his sailboat at the Delaware City Marina but lives in England.  We enjoyed chatting for over an hour until my laundry was dry.