Day 257 to 258
Our run up to the C&D Canal from Rock Hall, MD was easy and uneventful on the Chesapeake. We had a good time pointing out sights to each other of places we had been to by land but had never seen from the water. Below is a picture of the lighthouse at Turkey Point, the entrance to the Elk River at the top of the bay. It is the tallest lighthouse on the bay and has had more female keepers than any other lighthouse on the bay.
After following the Elk River for a few miles we entered the C&D Canal. This canal is mainly for large commercial ships and connects the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. Once we were in the canal we were able to get quite a boost from the current flowing through there. We normally cruise at around 17 miles per hour at 3000 RPM, but the current pushed us to over 21 miles per hour at the same RPM!
This is the bridge over the canal at Chesapeake City, MD.
Not too far past Chesapeake City we saw this boat, a 53 foot Carver, up on the rocks. He had been traveling with a companion boat which was sitting a short distance away in the canal. As we approached, we heard the companion boat calling the Coast Guard on the VHF radio to report the accident. He said that the boat had suddenly taken a hard starboard turn and ran up on the rocks. Apparently he had lost propulsion on the starboard engine at a speed of about 25 knots, causing the remaining port engine to turn the boat hard to starboard. This may have been caused by a broken shaft or transmission problem. They were taking on water but since they were hard up on the rocks they were in no danger of sinking. There were five people and two dogs aboard.
The next day we saw the same boat being towed by BoatUS into the marina where we were staying. It had flotation bags all around it to keep it from sinking, and four gasoline water pumps pumping out the water that was coming into the boat. It was being towed and pushed by two tow boats. They maneuvered it into the slings of a travel lift and it was lifted from the water. I could not see the actual damage, but could see water pouring out of the bottom of the hull near the middle of the boat.
We stayed at Summit North Marina in Bear, DE along the canal for two days waiting for a weather window that would allow us to make a comfortable 60 mile run down the wide Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ.
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