through Alligator River Swing Bridge and started across Albemarle Sound for the evening’s destination, Coinjock Marina & Restaurant. Here I learned the real lesson of the day — order the prime rib! Leg 5: Coinjock, NC to Norfolk, VA Estimated Mileage: 34 NM On every trip, you reach a point where you’ve gone over the hump. With five days of ICW behind us, we hit that point and could sense a change coming. We left Coinjock and picked our way across the long, shallow Currituck Sound into Virginia. As we wound our way through the meandering and pristine North Landing River Natural Area Preserve, both of us were excited to make Norfolk that evening and enter the Chesapeake for our final stretch. Several bridges are on this stretch of the ICW, but our timing was good, and we passed each without much wait. Sliding through the Great Bridge Locks, we approached Norfolk. The city and its surrounding waterways’ bustle was an absolute eye-opener after the past few days. It made the pace of Myrtle Beach seem bucolic.We slept well, knowing that we had come to mile zero on the ICW safely. Leg 6: Chesapeake Bay: Norfolk, VA to Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Estimated Mileage: 200 NM If approaching Norfolk from the south is eye-opening, then traveling into the
Cape May Beach Avenue from the sea
Chesapeake past the heart of the Naval docks is something else entirely. Mile after mile of grey steel. More naval ships that I’d ever seen in one place. Amazing! And just like that, you pass over Hampton Roads Tunnels, enter the Chesapeake and you’re back to wide-open beauty. Our time in the Bay was a bit rushed. I had to return to commitments at home, so we had to get in some miles now.The plan: proceed to Solomons for a night and then reach the C&D Canal. However, our optimistic timetable did not stop the Chesapeake from dealing us a few lessons along the way. The Chesapeake does not care about your schedule.The weather was too crummy in Solomons to leave, so we wisely decided to stay an extra day. When we finally poked out of the Patuxent River, we realized the residual effects of the rain was still evident.The Bay delivered a wild ride, with wind, rain, short chop and limited visibility for a few hours. We pondered cutting our day short, but the
weather lifted quickly. By the time we passed Annapolis, blue skies and flat seas surrounded us all the way to the C&D Canal. It was amazing how quickly and dramatically conditions on the Bay changed for the better. Leg 7: Chesapeake City to Cape May, NJ Estimated Mileage: 54 NM After transiting the C&D Canal and entering the Delaware Bay for the final stretch, we were truly in “home waters.” But despite the time I spent on the Bay growing up, I had never navigated a boat down this tricky body of water.The Delaware is busy, with a narrow channel and many big working boats.We hugged the channel’s edge as we made our way down the Bay leaving ample room for others. As the bay widened out, we plotted our approach to Cape May Harbor. Our entry took us through the Cape May Canal and into the harbor, then on to the boats’ summer berth, not far from where I had spent my childhood summers.With the trip virtually complete, we experienced the bittersweet feeling of nearing our destination. And the final stretch provided perhaps the best lesson of all: When you get the opportunity to bring a boat from one place to another with your old man, take it.
Chesapeake Delaware Canal
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SPRING 2022
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