100 nautical miles

When I got up, my family was getting ready for our sail. We had to prepare the boat a little bit because the wind and waves were still high. The paddle boards were moved to my room, the dinghy was tied to the deck, my dad filled the gas tank, and my mom filled the water tanks. Then we ran to the town of Cape May. We saw the beach and the boardwalk running along the main road. My dad got a piece of crumb cake and a bagel with egg from a local bakery. Then the shuttle took us back to the marina and we got underway.

In the channel, we decided to reef the main (making the main sail shorter to reduce sail area) because it was blowing over 30 knots. We turned downwind and set course for the Cap May shoals once we were clear of the jeti.

We sailed downwind for a little while before deciding to make a critical gybe through shallow sandbars off of the tip of Cape May. If we didn't time it correctly, we could've ended up stuck on the sandbar with the waves pounding us into the ground. Then we would have to abandon the boat and things would just be bad! Of course, the gybe did not go as planned whatsoever. When the sail came across the boat, it got caught on the helm station. The whole station was ripped out of place and flung on the deck, breaking the fiberglass and bending the screws. When it first happened we just stood there stunned for a couple of seconds before springing into action! My family worked quickly to repair it as best we could. My mom held the station upright while I steered and my dad and Clarke handled the screws. Once the station was upright again, we checked the throttle, nav plotter, VHF, autopilot, and other key instruments. They all worked, thank goodness, so we decided to keep going.

I navigated us up the Delaware Bay, all the way to the C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) canal while the rest of my family took a nap. We entered the canal at 5 pm exactly and were in the Chesapeake Bay by 7 pm. We ate dinner and, in another 2 hours, were anchored in Still Pond Creek. The anchorage is quiet and peaceful. I'm happy to be back in the bay!