Cape Henlopen or Cape May for anchoring?

[Buster007]

Heading south and some strong southerlies forecasted. It looks like Cape Henlopen offers good anchorage east of the ferry dock and well protected from the south. With 7 foot draft Cape May seems not many spots to anchor. East of CG station seems the only decent water depth available. Any local insight? Just looking for a spot to snooze for a couple of hours or wait out a blow.

[SailFastTri]

Cape Henlopen is a great spot

[Denallan]

Was in Cape May in April (in a marina with a group) didn’t see an appealing place to anchor on the way in.Anchored at Henlopen behind the seawall two weeks ago,loved it. Plenty of depth,we saw 15 ft just around the east end of the wall,deeper as we got closer to the wall.We had 15 to 20 northerly overnight,water nice and flat,thought we were in a hotel,slept like a baby.

[thinwater]

I love Cape May, but with your draft it's not the right place for a short stay.

[skipmac]

Anchored there a few years ago and it was very protected (for the NE winds at the time), good holding, plus quick, easy access back to the ocean for the next leg south.

Most of it quite deep so fine for 7' draft. Could be a little choppy in strong west winds.

[bobnlesley]

We never anchored in Henlopen, but we did once sit out a stiff southerly blow in Cape May. As you've already guessed, we were on the south side of the channel to the east of the coastguard station and even with only a 6' draft, our options were limited - as always seems to be the case, there were a couple of catamarans occupying the deepest area - I recall being closer to the shore than I'd have liked and being concerned about depth under the keel at low water. On the up-side we found excellent holding, but it needed to be, when the flood/ebb tides were ripping through and the wind was F6/7 we spent a lot of hours side on to the wind, so disconcerting and uncomfortable. Good luck to you, wherever you choose.

[Buster007]

How about the Hampton - Norfolk area for anchoring while waiting for daylight?

[mnh]

Re: Hampton anchorages:
Hmmm. That's a tough one.We've anchored a few times over on the east side of the Bay just North of Norfolk. It's called Buckroe Beach. There was a pretty good easterly blowing the times we were there, but the fetch is not bad, and we slept well. Modest chop. We've also anchored over on the East side in Kiptopeke. Absolute nightmare. The waves coming in from the ocean and the switch in tides was not conducive to good marital relationships. If you want to sleep well, try the Lafayette River off of the Elizabeth River. It's a stretch from the Bay entrance, but is a pretty good anchorage in all but strong Westerlies. Better yet, The Norfolk Yacht Club. Now, that place is a class act. Catch the tide out of the Bay and you will have slept well and have a nice lift out to the ocean.
mnh