Day 259-260
We left the marina on the C&D Canal at sunup so we could navigate the Delaware Bay early while the winds are typically lighter than later in the day. The Delaware Bay is very much a working waterway, we saw very few pleasure boats except others who were clearly traveling through like us. We saw a nuclear power plant, numerous interesting lighthouses, and tugs pulling barges along the way.
A first for us was that when we were within about 10 miles of Cape May we ran into a fog bank where our visibility was only 100 yards or so much of the time. The fog was patchy, sometimes visibility was next to nothing, other times maybe a mile. This was quite nerve-wracking for us since we had never had to navigate through a fog, relying only on the radar to spot any boat traffic and on the chart plotter to know the direction of our travel. Luckily there were very few boats around us, although I was tracking one boat on radar near us and Sharon finally saw it through the fog so I was able to maneuver away from it. Finally as we got near Cape May the fog lifted and we were able to enter the inlet without any problem.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Cape May and saw many of the beautiful old Victorian era houses in town. A number of the larger homes had been converted to condominiums and one bedroom units were selling for around $500,000.00, and they were not even on the beach! Since it was Memorial Day weekend the town and the beach were both very busy. After our sight seeing we went to the grocery and liquor stores to reprovision. The marina had a car service, so they dropped us off in town and when we were finished we called them and they came and picked us up. Very nice!
This boat was at our marina when we got there. It is a Polynesian double sailing canoe from Hawaii and had about 15 crew members. They are on a journey to sail around the world.
I found the following information on their website, http://www.hokulea.com/
Hōkūleʻa, our Star of Gladness, began as a dream of reviving the legacy of exploration, courage, and ingenuity that brought the first Polynesians to the archipelago of Hawaiʻi. The canoes that brought the first Hawaiians to their island home had disappeared from the earth. Cultural extinction felt dangerously close to many Hawaiians when artist Herb Kane dreamed of rebuilding a double-hulled sailing canoe similar to the ones that his ancestors sailed. Though more than 600 years had passed since the last of these canoes had been seen, this dream brought together people of diverse backgrounds and professions. Since she was first built and launched in the 1970s, Hōkūle’a continues to bring people together from all walks of life. She is more than a voyaging canoe—she represents the common desire shared by the people of Hawaii, the Pacific, and the World to protect our most cherished values and places from disappearing.
Hōkūleʻa at a Glance:
Built in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi and launched on March 8, 1975
Has sailed over 140,000 nautical miles across the Pacific
Length: 62 feet
Width: 20 feet
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