Great sailing - a little too fast, followed by lots of anchoring and wrapping a line on our prop.

 We had a great sail from Coney Island, NY down to Cape May New Jersey, - only issue was we were too fast.  We left at 2:00 in the afternoon, and sailed the entire way down with a very smooth ride, with only about 2' seas.  Winds 14 to 18 knots, so full main and jib the entire way.  

Not much of a moon, but lots of stars out.  Got into Cape May at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, as we averaged 7.5 knots which was faster than we had planned on.   Dropped the anchor, around 6:30 a.m.

Notice SOG at 10.3 knots surfing down wave.  WOO HOO

Black line is from Coney Island, NY to Cape May, to Lewes, to C&D Canal to blue dot at Chesapeake City, MD

Anchoring in Cape May can be difficult, because boats pull in odd directions depending on windage above water, and hull shape below, as current and wind are often at odds with each other.   An anchor spot that looks good at 10:00, can look completely different at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Around 1:00 in the afternoon we thought we might me a little close to another boat, so we upped anchor and moved over about 30'.  Then it looked like we were too close to a different boat, so upped anchor and tried again.   Hung out for about 1/2 hour, but still not happy, so upped anchor again, and moved to a new spot.   Didn't work - too close to a boat, one more time and 5th time was the Charm.

Spent one night, did not go ashore, and the next morning headed out for Lewes, Delaware, as the winds were going to clock, and Lewes was a better spot to leave from the following day.

No wind, so motored the 17 miles from Cape May to Lewes, had a peaceful night sleep and left early the next day, thinking we would make it to the entrance to the C&D Canal, but would not have time to transit the canal in time with the tides.   Once again, we are faster than we thought, and the winds were higher than predicted.    

Cargo ship passing us on Delaware Bay

Started out with our new asymmetrical spinnaker, but too high of winds, so had to take it down.  That is when we fouled our prop.   We started a motor to head into wind to raise our main, and the sheet to the spinnaker looked clear, but as Dean was on the bow packing the spinnaker, Kris on the helm, checked the sheet line, and saw one end in the cockpit, the other end on deck going forward to where Dean was packing the spinnaker away.  Did not see that about midships the spinnaker sheet was overboard, making a large loop in the water, just long enough to wrap around the prop when the engine was put in gear.   OOOPS.

Cut our spinnaker sheet almost in half.

We didn't need the engine, as winds were good, and had a fast sail up the Delaware, averaging around 7 knots, until we were far north, and then the wind died.   As we got north faster than anticipated, we went ahead and went down the canal, and anchored in Chesapeake City, using just port engine.   Next day, got a diver to go into the brown water, with only about 1' visibility, and remove the line.  We got lucky, no engine damage, and the diver also checked our rudders, props and zincs, and all looked good.

With that good news, we headed to town to celebrate, and had a good lunch at The Real McCoy.  Burgers and Ice cream for dessert. 

YUM.

After lunch is was back to the boat, and did a small sewing project.  Our jib cover had a tear in it, so reinforced it with leather for where the jib boom rubbed on it.