Day 2 – the Delaware sent her biting flies with us!

We transited the C&D canal in the evening and made it to the Delaware Bay’s narrow, busy shipping lanes at dark.  Our new AIS receiver showed locations, speeds, directions and destinations of the shipping traffic, which was great. We also had favorable current for most of our time in the bay, which meant that when the wind came up, we were able to fly along at 8.5-9.0 knots…and on a single tack!
We spent the night doing hour watches because of the shipping traffic. The off watch slept in the cockpit – it is still a bit too warm below, but we hope in a few days away from land that the temperature will moderate.  Last night both air and sea temperatures were in the eighties.

We are now out in the Atlantic.  After some light winds, a nice breeze has filled in, and we are reaching eastwards.  We are thankful that we have a flyswatter, as we’ve been trying to kill a swarm of biting flies that the Delaware sent us off with.  They are brutal, and my mosquito bites from the Chesapeake are now covered in fly bites. We saw a large sea turtle, as well as the namesake of our boat, a shearwater!

Onward!

Position – 38 deg 43′ 58″, 74 deg 19’5″