Chesapeake Bay

Sunday, July 5. Our 28^th day.

This morning Susan and I motored Reliant out of the western end of the

Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, which connects Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. We are in Chesapeake Bay – our own mini-Promised Land. Once inside Chesapeake Bay, we steered Reliant another 11 miles south. Then we turned left into the mouth of the Bohemian River and anchored in shallow water. It’s been four weeks since we left Buffalo. It feels as though we’ve come a long way.

We’re in a nice spot. Trees line the banks of the Bohemian River. The water is perfect for swimming. Canvas tarps draped over the boom give us shade. About an hour ago, a beautiful red sun set behind the blue hills of Delaware. Then we watched an excellent fireworks display across the bay. Right now, it’s completely dark. The stars are out.

Now, the previous schmaltzy paragraph is designed to show you how much fun Susan and I are having. It’s all completely true, but there’s a dark side to all this goodness. It’s HOT. It’s more than hot. It’s VERY HOT! 103 degrees. And there’s not a breath of breeze. No amount of shade mitigates the heat. Reliant’s cabin remains stifling until nearly dawn. We’ll be glad when the weather breaks.

Getting here to the Bohemian River was not easy, although it’s only 75 miles from Cape May to Chesapeake City on the western end of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The problem is Delaware Bay. Boats heading north or south in the bay can be stopped for days by strong headwinds. We set out twice into Delaware Bay. Twice we were turned back by strong contrary winds. We succeeded on our third try, but just barely.

Now that we’re in Chesapeake Bay, our intent is to head south. There’s much to see and do here. And somewhere here in the Bay, we need to find a place to put Reliant in storage. Within the next couple of weeks, our summer cruise will be over.

This note may not be the best I’ve sent so far on our trip. But it’s HOT, and my poor cooked brain can’t do any better.