Planning Can Drac's Maiden Voyage

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The current sail plan for Can Drac's Maiden Voyage scheduled for this coming Memorial Day weekend.

As you can see on the chart, this trip is divided into 3 legs, one for each day:

LEG 1: The plan is to depart from Riverside marina in New Jersey at 5 am on Saturday morning for a 100 mile passage to Cape May. At that time the tide will be at its highest ensuring maximum depth through the narrow and shallow channel into the Delaware river. This will also mark the start of a 1-2knot favorable current during the first hours. This leg will take us through two small bridges that will have to be opened on demand (talk about stopping traffic!) and into the Philadelphia waterfront. A few miles later, the river will take us to the Delaware Bay where we will finally start getting unobstructed winds and open but sheltered waters. At the end of the day we will round the cape and turn into Cape May to spend the night under the protection of the natural harbor. Depending on the time we arrive we can dock at a full-service marina and enjoy a nice meal on land or simply anchor and relax on board.

LEG 2: Slightly shorter than the first leg, this part of the trip will all be done on the Ocean. Far from the protection of the river or the bay, this stretch will take us North East for about 85 miles. This is the part of the trip where strong winds could result in bigger seas than the common waves in the NY Harbor or the Long Island Sound. We will follow the New Jersey Coast going past familiar landmarks like Ocean City, Atlantic City, Barnegat Bay, Island Beach State Park all the way up to the Manasquan Inlet. We will spend the night docked in Brielle, most likely on the outside docks where it's deeper.

LEG 3: Memorial Day will take us the rest of the way home, finally going into familiar waters. As soon as we round Sandy Hook and the Verrazzano appears in the horizon, we can introduce Can Drac to its new home: the New York harbor. At just over 40 miles, this leg should allow us to enjoy a comfortable sail and arrive at Newport Marina in time to have some downtime at our new and bigger slip on the North dock.

The weather forecast predicts sun for the three days, favorable winds most of the way and rising temperatures starting from the low 70s on Saturday and into the 80s on Monday!

Last minute upgrades and installations on Can Drac are still underway but on schedule for our departure Saturday morning.