Did my course down the east side of the Delaware River succeed in avoiding the strong 2+ knot northbound current?
Judging from my GPS speed over ground, and by looking at this buoy off the Salem / Hope Creek nuclear power plants. Hardly a ripple. So, YES! The current on this side of the river was much tamer than the 2 knot currents in the west side. The other nice thing about today as a cruising day is no wind! See the condensate off the cooling tower going straight up!Nun buoy off Ship John Shoal… Click on the video above. A couple hours after passing the nuclear power plants, as the “River” opens up into the “Bay”, we are in the main shipping channel, and you can see the 2+ knot strong current pushing us along, just as predicted by DBOFS models!Ship John Shoal LightI’m not certain, but I think the chart labels on some of these once well-maintained lighthouses are indicative of them being relagated by new technology: AIS, GPS, etc. Instead of “Ship John Shoal Light” it is simply labeled as “Land Area”. There have been several examples of this in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The chart indicates this light is ‘apparently’ still doing its thing at night, but it makes me wonder, “For how much longer?”At 1800 RPM, we go 8.0 knots. But today we can see a 2 knot boost in our “speed over ground” or SOG. The green line is our actual course today. The red sections of that line are where went 10 knots or more due to current helping by 2 knots or more. Around 3:00pm I reduced RPMs of the engine to 1400 RPM to conserve fuel and because it was clear, we’d easily be secured before 6:00pm.
Shellerina's Blog 
Thanks so .uch! I will keep your course and tides in my mind!
Tight Lines!
Alan
Alan & Jeanne Cecil
M/V SIGMACHI
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