Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

We left Rock Hall Maryland at 6 a.m. for a long day on the water. We wanted to leave Chesapeake Bay in our rearview mirror while the weather held. It was a four hour cruise up the bay until we reached the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a 14-mile long, deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay. Both of these bodies of water are tidal and it is important to time a transit of the canal to coincide with the current running in the direction you are travelling. Otherwise, it is possible to have 3 or more knots of current hindering your progress.

I had mis-read the current charts. I had thought we should leave at 10 a.m. to catch the eastward current. Wrong! The tide turned much earlier, so to avoid having to plow into a head current all day we dropped our lines at 6 a.m. The water was a bit choppy as we crossed the wide open bay opposite Baltimore. After that though it was a easy cruise and we tied up in Delaware City Marina around 2 p.m.

We met a couple of tows who appeared to be racing:

Historical note: As earlier as the mid‑17th century, people observed that these great bodies of water were separated only by a narrow strip of land. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the Delmarva Peninsula was made, but little action followed. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. Despite the beginnings of a commercial venture in 1802—coincident with Canal Mania in England and Wales—it wasn’t until 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway “open for business”. Its construction cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $89.1 million in 2021) made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time. The Rideau Canal was constructed about the same time for under a million pounds.

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