A Run to Cape May

Saturday, October 18th dawned quiet and peaceful in Havre de Grace. Weather can be fickle and sometimes you have to seize opportunities when they are presented. So it was today. Originally, we planned to take our time getting to Cape May because the next weather window for making our run to New York City didn't open until Monday or, more likely, Tuesday, the 21st. But today gave us an opportunity to change our slow-poke plans. We had planned to stop at a marina on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and complete our transit to Cape May on Sunday. No more.

This was the view from our Havre de Grace marina. "Red sun at moren, sailors take warn." We knew we had maybe a day to get to Cape May before the weather changed and made this next leg more difficult.

We transited the C&D Canal, skipping our planned stop, and entered the shipping lanes south in Delaware Bay. Our bow was pointed to the Atlantic Ocean. Yet, both the wind and waves were gentle from the southeast. We motored to the mouth of the Bay, rounded Cape May through the shoals off the Cape and entered the harbor.

It was busy with cruisers heading mostly south to the Carolinas and Florida for the winter. We were unusual. We were going north in late October!

We got to our marina, fueled up and then docked for the night. Next door were three cruisers heading to Florida from the Boston area. Their trip had just begun and ours was waning.

Since we were going to stay in port for several days, we decided to explore the next day. Off we went by Uber to the lighthouse at the end of the Cape.

This light is the third or fourth on site, earlier ones having succumbed to erosion. This has been in existence since the ealy 1800s and was initially lit by whale oil. The first light could be seen at 18 miles to sea.

The whale oil was replaced by Mr. Rockefeller's new fuel, kerosene. This was very explosive and special storage huts had to be built that had adequate ventilation.

The fresnel lens had to be cleaned and the lamp's wicks had to be trimmed every day. The lighthousekeeper was busy caring for his charge.

Today, the kerosene lamp is replaced by a single electric bulb which is more powerful than the kerosene lamp. It is visible from 22 miles at sea.

The design and construction of the lighthouse is actually complex. There needed to be vertical tubes built into the masonry that allowed for the weights to descend as time passed, just like a grandfather's clock weights descend. These weights needed to be wound twice a day.

There also needed to be a way to regulate the flow of air into the top of the lighthouse to ventilate the room and provide oxygen for the flame.

Near the base were stationed lifesaving crews to rescue crews on shipwrecked boats on the widespread shoals off the Cape.

These lifesaving crews, part of the US Lifesaving Service, were stationed up and down the east coast of the US. This boat's design was widely shared based on a design from Monomoy, off the southeastern corner of Cape Cod.

Jump ahead to early in World War II. Nearby the lighthouse was another tower, a fire tower, that served to spot and identify enemy shipping near the coast. Delaware Bay is home to major military industries, such as DuPont, and it was important to protect these from German U-Boats.

These fire towers were built as far north as Maine. There was a dedicated telephone link between the towers so spotters could triangulate on suspected shipping, given instructions so that shore batteries could fire ship-piercing or anti-personnel shells on the enemy.

All of this as a defense against shipwrecks or enemy incursions! We had a beautiful day to explore.

Cheers,

Brio