Good launch ramps? - northern Chesapeake Bay

[Catigale]

Any one ever make the trip through the bay out into the atlantic ocean, sail north to the Delaware river and return to the bay?

That has to be a 400-500 mile trip so 10-20 days at sea...of course with decent weather it would be ok, and there are lots of places to see on the way....

[elia]

Just a thought about the advantages of the Mac. Last summer on one of the Saturday nights I spent anchored at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, I had a discussion with a sailor who had gone through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal quite a few times. I do not recall what make his boat was but it was a sloop of about 40 ft. His main complaint was the he had to time his run thru the canal to coincide with the proper tide to help him out. It seems he spent quite a bit of time anchored and waiting because his small diesel did not have enough power to go against the tide. He commented that it would be nice to have a larger engine like I did on my MacGregor so he would not have to wait.

[Catigale]

Eldridges 2005 tide book reports tidal currents of up to 2.5 knts on the Delaware and Chesapeake.

That 40 foot yacht with a hull speed of 8 kts or so is giving up 30% of his speed against that tide....