We left the dock in Chesapeake City at 7:10 am knowing that we had a long day of 72 miles ahead. At our normal cruising speed of 8 mph the day would have been about 9 hours, and that is in fact how long it took.
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| While we were having steering problems, we could get a little break for some really nice scenery, such as this lighthouse. |
However, it was not quite the easy 9 hours that we had planned. We had experienced a steering problem nearly 2 weeks ago on the way to Washington, DC. The steering system is hydraulic with a pump attached to each of the two steering wheels. You turn the wheel, and it pumps fluid to a piston that turns the rudders. Of course, the plumbing is a little more complicated with by-pass and return valves, a pump for the autopilot, bleeder valves to remove air from the system, etc. We had a leak and that means that air got into the system. Since air is much more compressible than a liquid (hydraulic fluid in this case), the steering becomes VERY sluggish or slow to react. If the leak is small, then the steering only slowly becomes sluggish. We filled the reservoir in Washington, DC and the steering was fine for nearly 2 weeks. Yesterday, we were running with the autopilot for most of the day, but when I went to dock the boat, we noticed that it had become very unresponsive. So, we filled the reservoir again, but this time I found a puddle of hydraulic fluid under the cylinder that actually turns the rudders... So, we started the day with brave faces (and a few silent prayers). The electric hydraulic pump works more rapidly than I can at adjusting the rudders so it probably exerts more pressure and faster... So, I started out steering by hand using the wheel, but after about 20 miles, the steering once again became unresponsive, and when I visually checked the hydraulic cylinder, I could see drips coming out. BAD NEWS, especially with about 50 miles to go across Delaware Bay. So, I steered the rest of the trip using variations in engine power to steer the boat. Since Delaware Bay is fairly wide and deep, I only changed the course every 5 or 10 minutes. Thus, we went a slightly longer distance as we were making kind of a zig zag path. We made the rest of the trip in good time thanks to a nice lift from tidal currents most all of the day.
As we approached our destination, we saw our first dolphins in a long time (a month?). Cape May, as the name implies, is a long sand spit that juts out from land on the north side of the mouth of Delaware Bay. There were dolphins everywhere in sort of a feeding frenzy.
The last part of the trip consisted of a canal about 3 miles long that opens into the harbor at Cape May. We passed 3 of the ferries that are used to transport people and cars across the mouth of the Delaware Bay from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, Delaware. This reminds me that as of today, we have added New Jersey and Delaware to our growing list of states visited. Our marina was just past the other end of the canal.
BTW If the steering had proved difficult or dangerous, we were fully prepared to anchor quickly and then to call TowBoat US for an assist. As it happened, we passed one of the towboats in the canal, and we were happy to exchange waves rather than ask for help.
The canal had two bridges. The first one (picture at left) was a high, fixed highway bridge that proved easy to pass through.
The second bridge was a railroad swing bridge that fortunately was in the open position. The bad news is that visually the opening appeared to get very narrow as we approached. The Admiral took this picture leaning over my shoulder so you can get an idea of what I was dealing with. The opening was probably at least 50 feet wide, but with a 3 mph tidal current pushing us along at about 8 mph (total speed).
I would be "exaggerating" if I said it was a piece of cake, but the transit was successful. All that remained was to get into the marina and safely docked. The marina owner was aware of our steering problem, and he kindly met us in person at the dock. He allowed that he had chosen the easiest dock for us to occupy. True or not, we slid right into the slip with no problems. The Admiral never said whether she heard my sigh of relief or not, but the whole marina probably heard it!
All in all, the weather for our 50 mile long crossing of Delaware Bay must have been as nice as it ever gets. The wind was calm with only a few ripples on the water in scattered clouds. Too bad that we really did not have the time to enjoy much of it... We already have a repairman lined up to look at the problem tomorrow.
There are four restaurants around the marina so we found the thought of eating out very appealing. The Admiral chose one called "5 Mayo", which we supposed that meant "Cinco de Mayo". After my comments only yesterday about possibly being out of range of good Mexican food, I had the best enchiladas verdes ever! Tomorrow we will wait to hear from the repair place, and then we plan to explore some of the restored mall area in the downtown.
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