Despite cries of “we’ll be on watch with you” everyone sleeps through the night leaving Mike and I to it. At least the sea is so calm that I get a good 4 hours before I go on watch. Within an hour of going on watch I have to wear Mike’s fleece over my own, it’s that cold.
I watch the sun rise alone, leaving Mike to sleep in for an extra half hour partly because he didn’t wake me exactly on time and partly because it’s so much more important for him to sleep. He is responsible for all of us and this can weigh heavily when you are out on the open ocean.
Photo: The sun starts to peek out from over the horizon
Photo: Early morning fisherman at work in the shallow waters around Cape May
We continue to motor through the day. While I am catching up with my sleep in the morning, nothing of note happens. However, immediately Mike goes down for his sleep, it’s all bloody action. By the afternoon we are in a channel in the Delaware River with little room either side. Huge containers head towards me, one after the other. I get a bit anxious with the second one as he seems to be coming straight down the middle rather than over to his side, so rather than argue, I pop just outside the channel, heading back in when he has passed. Seahog!
Photo: He’s bigger than me – I move!
My sighting of some rather large dolphins has the rest of the crew running towards the sides, cameras in hand, but alas the dolphins do not put on a decent show and after some rather lack lustre surface swimming they bugger off.
Photos: Lighthouses of the Delaware River
We have to time going through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to coincide with the tides, so although we arrive in the late afternoon, we anchor outside for the night. There are two other boats obviously doing the same thing.
On one side of the river is a nuclear power plant and on the other a chemical plant. Mike takes me to the nicest places!
Photo: At least the water is warm around here!
The colour of the sky at sunset is beautiful which is more than I can say for the colour of the water – it’s a very murky brown.
Photo: The beautiful sunset at least is not marred by either the chemical or nuclear surroundings
Position: 39 deg 33 min N, 75 deg 32 min W
Distance so far: 2499 miles
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