Delmarva Circumnavigation

[Solomons]

We are hoping to circumnavigate the Delmarva. .Starting in Solomons perhaps in May or June and heading north clockwise around the peninsula. I was hoping to get any insider information from anyone that has done this as well as YouTube and literature recommendations that we can read. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also looking for a checklist that we may want to complete prior to. starting this trip.

We have cruised around the bay quite a bit on our 41 foot sailboat. My husband has sailed to the BVIs on a friends boat

Thanks in advance.

[Jebtrois]

All of this is available at the Sail Delmarva blog. He has a great library of stuff on his blog and he is a regular on here. I have used his lists in the past.

[wrwakefield]

Our group member Thinwater cruises there and has written extensively about it on his blog [and other publications]. I seem to remember he once offered a book about cruising the area as well.

Sail Delmarva

Wishing you a wonderful adventure.

Cheers, Bill

[Solomons]

How do I connect with the member Thinwater?

[Solomons]

Where can I find the blogs about Delmarva?

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Solomons

Where can I find the blogs about Delmarva?

I posted the link in my reply above…. [Now you have to put $1 into the I didn’t read the post jar… <grin>]

Cheers, Bill

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by Solomons

We are hoping to circumnavigate the Delmarva. .Starting in Solomons perhaps in May or June and heading north clockwise around the peninsula. I was hoping to get any insider information from anyone that has done this as well as YouTube and literature recommendations that we can read. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also looking for a checklist that we may want to complete prior to. starting this trip.

We have cruised around the bay quite a bit on our 41 foot sailboat. My husband has sailed to the BVIs on a friends boat

Thanks in advance.

The ARC folks used to run a rally and still might
around the Delmarva as an intro
to ocean sailing
You might want to check them out
I did this rally with them years ago
It’s not a hard run
Cheers
Neil

[rls8r]

Drew Frye over at Sail Delmarva wrote a PDF book (157 pp) titled Circumnavigating the Delmarva Peninsula—A Guide for the Shoal Draft Sailor (https://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2...ook-store.html). It was updated in 2014. That's a bit dated - but the lessons and the approach presented are still worthwhile. You can download it for $8.

Tricky part is timing your passage through the C&D Canal.

[GordMay]

Circumnavigation of the Delmarva Peninsula in an old wooden sail boat ~ by Christopher Chase-Dunn [1996]
➥ https://irows.ucr.edu/cd/stories/boat/delmarva.htm

Circumnavigating the Delmarva Peninsula ~ Cruising World [2020]
➥ https://www.cruisingworld.com/story/...rva-peninsula/

DELMARVA Circumnavigation [2024 - 2025] ~ The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship, Inc.
The DELMARVA Training Cruise is a 400+ mile, seven day cruise around the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula.
➥ DELMARVA Circumnavigation

ARC DelMarVa Rally ~ World Cruising Club
➥ https://www.worldcruising.com/arc_delmarva/event.aspx

[Sailor Sailor]

Originally Posted by Solomons

... I was hoping to get any insider information from anyone that has done this as well as YouTube and literature recommendations that we can read.,.

I have done 6 or 7 Delmarva circumnavigations and several trips up and down the coast to Cape May. The easiest way is counterclockwise. You do not need to pay anyone money for instructions, go in a group, or take a course for this trip. You should buy a copy of Eldridge's Tide and Pilot book and the Maryland Cruising Guide and Virginia Cruising Guide from Williams & Heinz Map Corporation, in addition to GPS and your VHF radio.

From Solomons, you have two days down to the mouth of the Bay if you anchor at night. Lately, we have been anchoring in Willoughby Bay for the trip out to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, and taking the Chesapeake or Middle Channel, not the lower Thimble Shoals or upper Northern Channel. There are strong currents in and out of the Bay. The Piankatank has some good anchorages for your first night down the Bay. From the bridge tunnel, it is approximately 140 n.m. to Cape May, with an overnight sail. You must head SE first out of the Bay to avoid Nautilus shoals. Stay about 10 miles off the coast to avoid obstructions. If you get too close to the tributaries on the lower Eastern Shore in the ocean, you may be fighting flood tides pulling you toward the coast. Ocean City, MD, is the only inlet I would consider entering, and then only in calm weather. The Cape May inlet is sometimes rough due to other large boats, and the current running past the rock jetties at the entrance.

When you leave Cape May, arrive in the Delaware Bay at an hour before flood tide according to Eldridges. The flood current in the Delaware River can be 2 knots or more. If you follow this timing, you can arrive at the eastern side of the C&D canal in time to catch the East to West current through the canal, which is about 2 knots, and the ebb current down the northern Bay. The timing and currents are published in Eldriges. We typically anchor in Bohemia River in the dark. From there you can make Annapolis, Rockhall, South River or Rhode River. There is some current in the northern Bay near Poole's Island, and just north of Solomons as you approach the Patuxent.

It is a fairly easy and interesting trip. Nevertheless, you should carry at least a coastal liferaft and an EPIRB. You will see few other boats in the Bay outside of Annapolis and Solomons, and even fewer in the ocean, if any. We saw lots of dolphins last year - my sons loved it.

I would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

[ggray]

You might enjoy reading Western Wind, Eastern Shore, the late Robert de Gast's account of his circumnavigation. While you will not be able to replicate but a little of his ocean side of the venture (he used the Virginia Inside Passage which even if it were still maintained, which it's not anymore, your boat is too deep or too tall for all but some inlets there), you can experience most of his bay side adventure.

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Wind-.../dp/0801817676

Sailor, you've done it, so you should know, but I wouldn't say that you would not see many sailboats on the bay except outside Annapolis or Solomons. I see plenty on the lower bay. Not compared to places like New England of course, but we are rarely if ever not in sight of others.

[Sailor Sailor]

Originally Posted by ggray

Sailor, you've done it, so you should know, but I wouldn't say that you would not see many sailboats on the bay except outside Annapolis or Solomons. I see plenty on the lower bay. Not compared to places like New England of course, but we are rarely if ever not in sight of others.

Last year we sailed down to the lower Bay during a small craft advisory, beating into 2-3 foot chop and saw maybe 2 or 3 other sailboats. I seem to recall there were 2 other sailboats anchored in Willoughby Bay.

During each of the last 2 years, we saw only 1 other sailboat out in the ocean.

In the Northern Bay, we saw a lot of folks motoring, large sailboats and powerboats, so I stand corrected in that regard.

A telling sign of the state of sailboat cruising occurred on the way down to Solomons from the Rhode River. There was about 10 kts of wind out of the North. We had a great time flying our symmetrical spinnaker, making about 5 kts of boat speed. We saw only one other sailboat sailing, far ahead of us, also with a symmetrical spinnaker. Two larger AWBs slowly passed us, motoring down the Bay at probably 6 kts. I know most of us have a schedule, but still, motoring when you could be sailing?

One of the best things about the Delmarva circumnavigation is the opportunity to really sail over long periods of time. Each of the last two years, we flew up the coast on a broad reach at top speeds, with occasional surfing down waves. It is cool to leave the Bay Bridge tunnel around noon and end up in Cape May in the early afternoon.

[marcjsmith]

@sailor Sailor

Planning a trip like this as well this summer. why is counterclockwise preferred.

I'd be departing from deale and I would base my decision on which way to go on the long range wind forecast

Taking 7-10 days to meander around...

[Dr. D]

I am planning for the same cruise this year as well!

Watching this thread.

[Sailor Sailor]

Originally Posted by marcjsmith

@sailor Sailor

Planning a trip like this as well this summer. why is counterclockwise preferred.

Several reasons:

1. You can ride a continuous favorable current all the way up the Delaware Bay, through the C&D canal, and down part of the Northern Bay in a single passage - probably the most miles you will see in daylight hours. You cannot do that in reverse, because the ebb in the Delaware is shorter in time than the flood. Clockwise, sailors usually stop in Chesapeake City, Reedy Point, or the Delaware River, rather than fight a contrary current. The currents are very strong in the Delaware River, Bay and C&D canal. The Delaware Bay is much wider just inside the mouth and narrows considerably into the Delaware River. This makes the current in the river even stronger.

2. The prevailing winds in the Summer are out of the South, Southeast. This allows you to reach up the coast if there is any kind of wind in the ocean. You will also be assisted by a favorable shore breeze toward the Eastern Shore. This same wind would create a close-hauled slog down the Delaware Bay into chop coming out from the ocean over shallow water. Tacking down the Chesapeake Bay is not as bad as tacking down the Eastern Shore in the ocean, because you are more protected. The waves are smaller and there are protected anchorages you can retreat to if things get hairy.

3. You do your overnight passage when you are better rested at the start of the trip and you can anchor when you are more tired at the tail end of the trip.

4. Both the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay are tidal estuaries, with one or more actual fresh-water rivers originating in the mountains of New York or Pennsylvania and emptying into the estuary. That means there is a net freshwater streamflow discharge for both Bays, in addition to the regualar tidal currents. The Chesapeake Bay is much longer than the Delaware Bay (200 n.m. v. 50 n.m.), so you can enjoy that stronger freshwater streamflow longer in the Chesapeake than you would in the Delaware. (The heavier purist saltwater actually flows under the freshwater in the deepest parts of the channel).

5. You can more likely time your trip to leave the Chesapeake Bay and enter the Delaware Bay, where there is shipping traffic, during daylight hours. Counterclockwise, your night sail will be off the coast past Chincoteague, passing near Ocean City at dawn. Clockwise, you are more likely to hit one of these high traffic areas in the dark.