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August 20, 2005
N38.5 W75.1 Cape Henlopen, Delaware
We left Norfolk, Virginia, yes, on my birthday. 39th for those who have stopped keeping track. I have. I don’t celebrate birthdays, since everyday I am alive is another birthday. I celebrate each day with a cup of jo. In the wee hours of the morning, when I am just glad to have made it another day. My mornings are my salvation.
We left Norfolk under threatening skies. The forecast suggested occasional rain, winds 5-10 knots. We got 30 knots and POURING rain. Visibility NIL. Good wind for sailing! Too bad for the soggy bottoms… Good, hearty Canadians.
We passed two southbound sailboats. We were excited because it is so rare that we see sailboats. (This is the land of oil consumption). One was sailing, oblivious to our existence, reclined, reading. The boat steered itself, and would have hit us without careful adjustments to our course. The other was motor-sailing.
Often on the VHF radio we hear the Coast Guard, but not the boat hailing their distress. This was the fact this late night. We heard the Coast Guard responding to a distress call about a sailboat sinking just south of us. We are legally obligated to assist if possible. Should we turn around to assist? Was it one of the boats that just passed us?
The Coast Guard repeated the position of the sailboat in distress. Clearly in too shallow water for us to assist. Next we heard they deployed the chopper and a cutter, and the Coast Guard’s reply to the chopper: “No, they do not want you to lower pumps, they want to abandon ship and evacuate.” Ultimately, it was reported that “Kelly” had sunk. It left me with a pit in my stomach. It could have been us.
Cape Henlopen is at the southeast end of the Delaware Bay. It is referred to, on the nautical charts, as a Harbor of Refuge. For container ships in a storm. We were delirious from the rain and heavy winds, so we dropped anchor, and fell asleep.
On our approach into the anchorage, we saw large groups of dolphins, at times, 10 to 30 at a time. It was spectacular. Angels of the sea. Compared to the dolphins of the mid-Atlantic, these were shy and seemed reluctant to swim around the boat.
Posted by dave at August 20, 2005 01:17 PM