Delaware City to Cape May or Fuel tank problems.
May 6, 2025
Forgot to mention in our last post that when we were at home base, our daughter had started her seedlings (months prior), but had moved them outdoors – she has several thousand seedlings; pretty impressive.
Also, failed to write in the previous post that after we anchored, last night, Lauren could smell diesel when she opened the lower cabinets in the galley. Brian went down below to see if there were any issues. Well, yes there was. The last time we filled our tanks with diesel, we added fuel to two of the tanks that hadn’t been used in ages. Well, unbeknownst to us, one of the tanks was leaking around the inspection port gasket. This was definitely a major issue because if we had to pump out the bilge and there was even a little bit of diesel in the water and it went overboard and was discovered, we could face some hefty fines. Brian started calling around to marinas to see if there was anywhere or anyone that could help us with this problem. Brandon from Tow Boat US contacted the Delaware City Marina to arrange a slip space for us today and repairs hopefully within a few days. He also came by our boat and dropped off supplies; oil absorbent rags and containers to catch the dripping diesel. Thank you, Brandon! Brian was up numerous times during the night checking the leak and emptying the bucket into a larger one.
This morning, we left our anchorage and traveled the C&D Canal. There is a strict ‘no wake’ zone the whole length and with a tide against us, it took us about 3 hours. We were the only boat on the canal for the whole trip; no other pleasure boats nor any tugs with barges. It is supposedly one of the busiest waterways in the US. The canal is 14 miles long and was originally dug by pick and shovel in the 1800’s. Quite impressive! Yesterday while traveling the upper Chesapeake near Baltimore, we constantly heard via the VHF radio, captains of commercial vessels including large container ship hailing small recreational boats to please move out of the shipping channel. Some of these captains had to hail them numerous times before they would respond. We were impressed that none of them lost their cool, but you could tell some of them were rather frustrated that they were not getting any responses.
We were directed to our space on the dock at the Delaware City Marina; not a slip, but a really long dock system. The currant was behind us and pushed the boat right along, making docking challenging. Lauren usually angles the bow of the boat about 30 degrees coming into a dock, but because of the fast current and the winds, the dock master requested that she bring the boat up alongside of another docked boat and back our boat onto the dock. Well, that was a first for us, but the dock master talked us through it and Lauren was able to dock the boat with no issues. The dock master even complimented Lauren on her docking skills.
Today while paying for the slip space, Brian asked about cleats for the mast. The marina had two just the right size that they had in stock for years and Brian was able to purchase them at the original price from several decades ago – a great deal! Brian removed the remnants of the old cleats from the mast and attached the new ones. Another job completed.
This afternoon, two young men stopped by to check out our leaky inspection port. They will busy with Coast Guard inspections all day tomorrow, so we are hoping they can take care of this issue Wednesday, Thursday at the latest as the weather window to leave and travel this week looks great.
There are several Looper boats that came in today; most are leaving tomorrow – we may be the only one left in the morning. This evening we took a walk for a pizza and then took Heidi out for a long walk along the water way and learned about the history of the C&D Canal from placards that are set up along the route.
May 7, 2025
Our boat was moved back along the dock closer to the lift that hauls boats out of the water. This will make it more accessible for them to pump out our leaky fuel tank. Once that is done, they will replace the gasket for the inspection port. All the boats that came in yesterday did leave this morning except for one. This particular boat had to be hauled because while traveling along the line for his backup anchor came loose and ended up going overboard, fouled his prop and pulled so hard on the backup anchor that it bent his pulpit along with some other damage. Thus, the boat had to be hauled out for repairs. So, between the boats that left, new boats coming in, hauling the one boat out and trying to fix those issues along with whatever else the marina had on their schedule, our boat was not worked on – we were a bit bummed. The weather window for a few days is great, and we’d like to get moving while we can.
It was a good day to get more projects completed and give the inside of the boat a good scrub down along with getting a few loads of laundry done. Most marinas have a place where you can swap out books, so we updated our library.
April 8, 2025
This morning after a blueberry pancake breakfast, a worker came to the boat to start setting up for the removal of the diesel from the leaky tank. It took the guys a while how they were going to access the tank to drain it, but once they figured it out, the emptying of the tank went fairly quick. After the tank was emptied, the worker removed the leaky inspection plate from the fuel tank. He thoroughly cleaned both surfaces and the gasket. After doing that, he put a paste-type of gasket material on the tank, then replaced the original rubber gasket and then applied another coat of the paste gasket material. Finally, he replaced the aluminum plate and secured it all back together again by bolting it all together.
We have to wait overnight for the gasket material to set and tomorrow we will be putting the fuel that was taken out back into the tank and hopefully, we will be on our way to Cape May.
We topped a day off with a cold meatloaf sandwich; the only thing Lauren ever puts ketchup on; they were delicious. Then we took a pleasant stroll around town and stopped for an ice cream cone.
April 9, 2025
Woke to a drizzly day. Had an oatmeal breakfast with blueberries, strawberries, walnuts and flax seed. The crew from the Delaware City Marina came to the boat about 8:20 to start refilling our fuel tank. Once it was mostly full, they went down to the engine room to check the tank and found that there was a tiny defect on the weld in the flange holding the inspection plate. It was slowly seeping diesel. Nothing can be done at this time. We will need to find a welder that can work on aluminum fuel tanks. We decided to use that tank to run the engine today and until the fuel level is well below the leak; hopefully within a day or two. The other leaks around the flange were fixed. After checking the weather forecast, we decided to head out to Cape May. We would have the currant with us for the whole trip. Winds were expected and did pick up to 15 – 20 knots for the last 5 hours of our trip; wasn’t really uncomfortable, but we would have preferred calmer waters. At breakfast, gave Heidi a ¼ of her prescription medication for anxiety. It did its job, but didn’t last long enough. Next time we expect to be in not-so-calm waters, she will get a ½ pill. It rained at the beginning of our trip and stayed overcast all day. We were so happy when we turned into the canal at Cape May as it was behind a break water and the seas immediately calmed down. We traveled at least 3 miles up the canal to an anchorage off the Coast Guard Base. The winds were still whipping when we anchored and it was rather chilly, but the sun peaked through the clouds for all of a few minutes. Tomorrow is not a good weather window to head to Atlantic City – very high winds which means the seas would make for a very uncomfortable ride. Things look much better for travel on Sunday and Monday.
Brian reading: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Lauren: East of Eaden – Steinbeck
Hope all is well and stay safe out there