DELAWARE CITY, DELAWARE

So, we left Philadelphia "on the tide" and literally rocketed back down the Delaware River.  Due to the rain storm the day before, we were concerned there would be a lot more debris in the water.  As it turned out, it was not so bad.  We only had to dodge a couple trees and several pieces of what looked to be an old pier, a couple tires, but no bodies.  The trip was uneventful, if not fast.  With the tide, we were sizzling along at slightly better than 9 knots.....definitely a downhill run.

Our destination was a little known and probably forgotten hamlet in Delaware called Delaware City. 


This town claims its fame due to the construction of the C&D Canal.  Prior to 1919, there used to be locks going in and out of the C&D on the Delaware River side.  As such, Delaware City had a purpose.  Unfortunately, in 1919, the US government purchased the canal and decided to dredge it to sea level thus obviating the locks and also to move the entrance two miles further south.  So much for the little hamlet called Delaware City.  However, over the years, the town has managed to survive as a tourist destination, al beit a smaller one, due to the town's proximity to Fort Delaware, where Confederate POW's were kept during the civil war.  You can take a ferry over there and check out the fort or just walk around and look at the nesting birds.

The highlight of the visit to Delaware City, however, was the marina.  First, the entry into Delaware City is via a very narrow canal.  When I say narrow, I mean that there is not enough room to turn the boat around.  Seriously.  The boat is around 42 LOA and the canal is something less than that wide.  Making matters more interesting, at the end of the canal, is a 6 foot fixed bridge.  When you go in, you are committed.  I wanted to have the port side of the boat on the long dock, however, so the dock hands helped us do it by hand.  We just tied off certain lines in a certain way and the current took the nost around while the lines held the ass end to the dock and she spun around like a fat ballerina until her port side was on the dock, all nice and pretty.

The dock hands were great and very helpful.  We actually got a nice discount on the dock fees in connection with our AGLCA membership.  Tim, the Dockmaster, asked, "Are you really members?"  I told him we have the burgee on the front of the boat.  He said they get stolen all the time.  I then told him of our appearance in the AGLCA's full page ad in the April 2011 Passagemaker Magazine (page 63), and he snapped that 25% right off the top.  Good man.  Then, he sat us down and went over the entire contents of a folder.  It seemed like it would never end.  The marina assembled the menu of every restaurant in town and put them in the folder.  He wanted to make sure we did not miss one.  Finally, at the conclusion of this introductory whatever, I got out of the office and went back to the boat for my crew.  We then took off to check out the town.

Nice mussles soaked in melted butter.

This is a crab pretzel.

Delaware City is a very quaint little town with a brand new brick walking path that extends the length of the town and goes essentially from D dock where we were, to the mouth of the canal.  There are several restaurants, a couple antique stores, a small market, a small liquor store, a candle shop, and the municipal offices.  We stopped at a place called Crabby Dicks where they were all about it.  They sold a whole line of "dick" t-shirts: "I Got a Dick in Delaware City", etc.  And, with our marina fees, we got two free orders of crab balls.  So, we got a Dick and Balls at Crabby Dick's in Delaware City.  Classic! 

We got to sleep early as the following day, we would be crossing Delaware Bay on the way to New Jersey and Cape May.