We've worked our way south and back into prime sailing season. Here in Maryland the day time temperatures are in the 70s, with 50s at night. That's about 10 degrees warmer than when we left Maine.

When we arrived in Cape May, New Jersey, after sailing 205 miles down wind in 31 hours, pushed by 30 knots of nor'easter, we anchored among other southbound cruisers for the first time. There were 12 of them from various parts of Canada and the northern US.

We did a lot of swerving and rolling through the 8 foot waves that followed us for most of those 205 miles on Sunday and Monday. A couple of times I saw the end of the boom nearly dip into the water. We weren't using a preventer, and had only the main up. I'm guessing that if the boom did hit water, it would bounce back up. But I'm wondering if it might lead to a jibe, pivoting around the boom end. Anyone know?

Tuesday was quite a different story. We sailed up Delaware Bay over flat water with 5-10 knots abeam, still from the NE. With the current against us for most of the day, we didn't get very far but it was a welcome change of pace. We spent the night anchored just below the entrance to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, behind Reedy Island.

Wednesday arrived with no wind at all, other than the occasional light headwind. We spent the day motoring through the canal and down the Chesapeake helped by a favorable ebb current most of the day. We came into my old boat home of Whitehall Creek, turned off into Ridout Creek, and spent a very quiet night among the crickets.

Now we're tied up at Bert Jabin's marina for a couple of nights. Our own Dave Skolnick will stop by this afternoon and set us up with a Wifi extender. This is a new experience for me. Nine years of cruising alone, I could never afford to stay in a marina. This is a nice little luxury I could get to like.