ROLLIN’ ON THE RIVER

It’s zero early thirty on Sunday (6:30 AM civilian time) and we’re up and preparing to leave the Philadelphia Marine Center. We have to pull out of the marina between 7 and 8 AM, because the tides and current will be just about slack by then making our entry into the Delaware River its safest. It’s cold here this morning, 56°-F, but there’s no wind and the sun’s shinning brightly. It took us about 30 minutes to walk Schooner and then another 15 minutes to roll up the power lines and water hose, warm up the engine. Then, there was a bit of a delay because a work crew was busy rolling up the 150' of red carpet from the night before and had the dock blocked. Once they were finished, however, we handed in our gate keys and got underway. We hit the tide just right and in no time were heading down the Delaware, via the C&D Canal, towards Baltimore.


We have to go back to Baltimore because the autopilot drive motor failed as we were nearing Philadelphia. While in Philly, we called Lewmar, who manufactures the motor, and learned that their closest repair facility is in Annapolis, MD. It’s a three-day run to Annapolis from Philly, but only a two-day run to Baltimore. Once in Baltimore, it will only take 45 minutes for the service man to drive up from Annapolis. So, having communicated with all parties, we are going to Baltimore where Lewmar is replacing the motor at no charge. How’s that for service?

The trip down river was uneventful, almost to the point of being boring. There was a bit of pleasure boat traffic, a few tugs towing barges and one big ship, but, for the most part, we had the river to

ourselves. The most exciting part of the trip was as we entered the eastern entrance of the C&D Canal. There, perched upon the northern seawall, was a 26’-plus speedboat. It had sustained considerable hull damage from its climb atop the big rocks that made up the wall. We took a few pictures of the thing and, after reaching the Summit North Marina, learned that the boat had run aground late last night while going full speed at high tide. The moral of the story? Never run at night without a GPS and good charts.

The next day (Monday) we were up at 6:30 AM again. After a short walk with Schooner, we were ready to go and on the water by 7:30. Again, the trip was uneventful with a couple of other boats and us owning the waterway. We finally made the Anchorage Marina, in Baltimore, around 3:30 PM and settled into our slip. Here, we’ll wait for a couple of days on the new motor to arrive and the serviceman to come and install it. In the mean time, it’s cocktail hour and the Internet here is HOT, so a drink and E-mails are, for now, the order of the day.