Events of Day:

Wx - hot and humid again 76/96; winds 3-6mph; 89-57% humidity. Sunny.

Travel - left Bohemia Bay at 07:05, traveling at 9mph avg, arriving at 10:30 at Delaware City Marina [we wanted to get there at 'slack' tide]. No boat traffic until the last few miles and then only a few runabouts, although a 742ft freighter met us going upstream as we entered Delaware River - so I let him go first! Our navigation system had routed us via the 'shortcut' to Delaware City which is a channel under a bridge with only 8 ft clearance; it is always prudent to review the route planned before using it! So I broke the journey into 2 segments to eliminate the option attempted under the bridge and we had no problems.

We have become dependent on closely monitoring our depth sonar and the Navionics depth contours, which are incredibly accurate; turning off the Delaware River into the D.City channel has a shallow area and we just moved slowly and stuck to the middle of the channel, showing 5 feet, which is not a problem. The dockmaster said he usually has to talk boaters through that segment - we must just be lucky.

Marina - the City Marina [a municipal one] is a series of 4 long bulkhead or face docks along the channel; there is only about 70 feet between the dock and the opposite shore and we had to pivot completely around to place our bow 180 degrees from our initial track so our eventual departure would be easier, without potential incident; the dockmaster is excellent at directing when and where to pivot and we had no problems ending up on our port side. The docks are all floating, which is important with a tide of 6 feet twice a day; the depth at the dock is 10 ft, leaving us 4 feet at low tide. Which is adequate, so can't complain.

Because the channel is so narrow here, and shallow, and has a tidal current up to 3mph, we were advised by loopers to try and get there at 'slack' tide [meaning the current was not moving either direction, which is when the tide is switching from incoming to outgoing, or visa versa] which would make pivoting and docking easier; thus, we did arrive at 'slack' tide and had fewer problems not having to fight the current.

The dockmaster, Tim, makes this marina's reputation. He is knowledgeable and thorough and friendly. He holds a

Captains Briefing each evening where he interprets the wx forecasts, etc for planned travel down the Delaware Bay the next day; with covid, he does it via Zoom. The Loopers all agree on the forum that his advice is worth taking.

Photos - one of a major 'Responder' vessel in the C&D [Chesapeake & Delaware] Channel - it is used to help clean up oil/fuel spills as well as likely salvage of damaged boats; it is a big boat with an extremely tall 'lookout' tower, as can be seen. Another of the marina here. One of hermit crabs - I have never seen them, and as the tide was dropping, another boater was telling her son to look at all the hermits running across the sand under the dock; you can see them better if you 'zoom'.

Admirals Desk:

Nice day on the water. A short trip but I enjoyed the narrowness of being in a canal with green trees, marsh grasses and a few houses. The big view of "water everywhere" in the Chesapeake was starting to feel empty. But really loved the smaller communities we stopped at. They say you can spend years on the Chesapeake and never see everything. We only managed a glance. Delaware bay is our next big water but is a half day trip with no stops. Good weather is important!

I finally made the big move and used InstaCart! A little behind the times I know, but groceries were the "big outing" in this covid world. But it is so damn hot!!! They delivered to the marina office and the asst. dockhand helped unload onto the boat. Life is good. Now I need to find a wine delivery service!🍷

Heat index 104, but it seemed hotter. The boat a/c keeps up until we're docked and the afternoon sun beats down. We use a lot of ice! Fortunately our stateroom cools down for comfortable sleeping.

Time to say good night.

Maintenance:

Holding Tank Monitors - the 'old' one shows 18%, which is reasonable, and the 'new' one reports "1/4", which likely acceptable also. I know others are biting their nails wondering if these will end up on the scrap heap or be helpful - just hand on and wait and see!!

Throttle - having some trouble again; it wouldn't move past 1700 rpm earlier today, but after going to neutral and moving it to idle, pushing it to 2000 rpm, it was fine again. Suggests a valve problem likely. Will ask at Utschs Marina Wed if they have someone who can help.

Water Pump - when doing the usual post-trip survey, noticed the fresh water pump was spitting water from around the strainer lid on top, each time the pump kicked in; removed the strainer cover, cleaned out some plastic debris, wiped the threads of the lid, cleaned the 0-ring [2 5/8"] which looks ok, replaced it, and the spitting stopped. Considering buying a backup strainer, 'justincase'! Or, maybe just another O-ring, justincase [lot cheaper].

Power pedestal - after hooking up our 50amp power cord, about 3-4 hr later, we lost power to one 'leg' of the double circuit breaker, the one that powers our a/c units - cannot have that happen, ever, per the admiral. I reset the CB [circuit breaker] on the pedestal [the post on the dock which we plug our cord into] and the a/c worked again. However...I noticed the CB was incredibly hot to touch!! This is not a positive thing to find. Means the CB is unable to handle the amperage, and we weren't drawing anywhere near what we could. Told the junior dockmaster and he was able to connect us to another 50 amp plug, and we are good. Encouraged him to let the dockmaster know that he likely has a faulty CB that need replacing.

Strainers - the glass of the a/c one has too much crud on it for me to see the basket, so will clean it properly tomorrow; which means, after emptying the strainer glass, will have to prime the pump, which I try and avoid doing.

Supper - Marg is making her famous 'tabouli', which I can eat by the bushel. She was able to do that by having the groceries needed delivered by InstaCart. Having 'happy hr' now, with a Boddingtons and tortilla chips. Somebody has to support the economy.

Covid - the dockmaster and staff are wearing masks! We cannot go into the Ship Store, but can order whatever is needed and they will bring it to the boat.

Travel Plans - our interpretation of a few wx sites suggests Wednesday remains our best travel day down the Bay.

Please stay safe.