Delaware River Memoirs

(Notes and ideas about different places on the Delaware River. Certainly not to be use for any navigation!)

Cruising the Navigable West Coast of New Jersey

The west coast of New Jersey? Surely you meant the West coats of California, or did you think that New Jersey was where near Washington State is? Or you are just not smart enough to know that boating & Cruising on the West Coast of New Jersey is too shallow to be any fun at all.

The Navigable West coast of New Jersey covers the area from Cape May Point to the City of Trenton, an area known as Delaware Bay and the Delaware River and is actually a underdeveloped coastal area of the overdeveloped State of New Jersey. In the area we encompass the wonderful Victorian Cap May, the East Point Light House leading to the Murice (pronounced Morris) River leading to Millville and Bivalve, the Cohansey River, Artificial Island and the Salem Power Plant, Alloway Creek, and the narrow entrance to Salem River. There is Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware and Fort Mott with the interesting history and great tours of the various forts (if you look hard enough you will find the burial ground of 3,000 Confederate troops, many Northern troops, German Troops, and WWI USA troops in one grave yard). Moving north you will go by the town of Pennsville to Deepwater Point and across the River is the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal leading to the great sailing area called the Chesapeake Bay. Going north from there we get to Wilmington, Delaware, Philadelphia, Pa and Camden, NJ. According to the Delaware River Yachtsmen’s League (a loose association of most of the Yacht Clubs on the Delaware River) there are about 34 yacht Clubs on the Delaware River and probably another 30 or 40 commercial marinas on the river. We are going to explore the West Coast of New Jersey on the Delaware River, the opposite shore portions of interest covering Pennsylvania and Delaware, pointing out the interesting places to visit and what history I can find.

Index & Points of Interest

Cape May New Jersey

Cape May Point

Brief History

The first map that we know of that shows the mouth of the Delaware River was made by Estevan Gomez, a Florentine Navigator who sailed by the Delaware Bay in 1525. He was shortly followed by Henry Hudson in 1609 who sailed the two masted vessel "Half Moon" up the Delaware River and took possession of all lands adjoining in the name of the Dutch. In 1616 Cornelius Hendricksen landed his ship the "Reckless" and did some trading with the Indians known as the Kechemeches, a band of the Lenni-Lenape Indians. In 1620, Captain Cornnelius Jacobsen Mey sailed his ship, the "Glad Tidings" and made some charts of the Bay and the River. He named the [Delaware] Bay as New Port Mey, the point at the end of New Jersey as Cape Mey, and the are an the west as Cape Henlopen. In 1638 whalers from New England and established a waling industry at Town Bank. The English took over the area in 1664, and many of the Dutch areas changed spelling (such as Mey to May).The cencus in 1726 shows 668 inhabitants in Cape May County. The whaling history on New Haven, Conn. Contains the lines "It is probable that from 1640 there was sheltering and resting places at Town Bank for the whalemen". By 1695 the Town of Town Bank had been reclaimed by the shifting shoreline, and by 1700 the whales were gone from the Delaware Bay waters. There were also pirates active in the waters until about 1725, and a light house was built in 1744 near Cape May Point. The present lighthouse, the third "Cape May lighthouse" was built in 1859, and was declared obsolete in 1945 by the Federal Government.

Oldest Resort:

One of the most charming and oldest resorts towns in the country is Old Cape May, and the a schooner, General Jackson, started supper round trips to Cape May from Philadelphia between 1821 & 1827, and the town has continued to be a popular resort since that period. The is no more elegant place to spend a week that at the Queen Victoria Inn (or others of the 100’s of Bed & Breakfast establishments in the area) enjoying afternoon tea from the porch. There are several marinas to tie up your boat in the Cape May Canal and treat special someone to the romance of these wonderful Bed and Breakfast establishments.

Cape May Canal

Cape May Ferry

Maurice River

The Maurice River is an interesting area of New Jersey, and the ship building has an interesting history. My father owned a ship yard in the town of Dorchester, that started building and repairing Oyster Boats to harvest the Oysters in the Delaware Bay. The oysters were infected with a virus in the early 1950's, and the shipyard went to repairing oyster boats and making a 40 foot motor sailor, and later moved to making and repairing wooden mine sweepers for the US Navy.

Now there are a few small boat building concerns on the Maurice River, but I still recall the Green Head flies that are available in the river. Staying on a boat in the river during the heat of the summer could be an interesting experience. Those flies really bite.

From Rutgers University "

The Greenhead Problem: The salt marsh greenhead fly, Tabanus nigrovittatus, is an abundant and bothersome summertime pest along our coastal marshes. Because the females bite during daylight, and because they occur in large numbers, have a long flight range, and attack persistently, they interfere with the enjoyment of coastal areas throughout much of the summer.

To anyone who has not visited the New Jersey coastal areas during "fly season," the impact of these flies on daytime activities is hard to imagine. We have collected in traps over 1000 greenhead flies per hour all seeking a blood meal. Greenhead fly populations reach peak numbers during July, but extend from late June into September."

I strongly recommend if you are traveling up the Maurice River, be prepared for the greenhead fly attack!

Millville

Dorchester

Matt’s Landing

Fortescue

Back Creek

Cohansey River

Fairtown

Artificial Island

C&D Canal

Salem River

Salem

Pennsville

Salem Canal

New Castle, Del

Carney’s point

Christina River

Penns Grove

Paulsboro

Mantua Creek

National Park

Schuylkill River

Philadelphia Navy Yard

Penns Landind

Philadelphia Marina’s

Gloucester City

Big Timber Creek

NewTon Creet

Florence, NJ

A quite little one horse town located on the Delaware River is an unusual resting place for one of the famous private yachts in history, but it is here that the 476 foot yacht Grille was dismantled and sent to the scrap heap in 1951, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article on Thursday, March 27, 1997.

By the time the "Grille" passed under the Ben Franklin Bridge from the New York Navy yards to Doan Salvage in Florence, it was floating junk. An interesting part of the proud History or the Area.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another part of the little known history of the area is the Mine Sweeper built by the Dorchester Shipbuilding company, formerly owned by Welsbach Corp. The shipbuilding company built Oyster boats during the 1940s and 1950 s until the oyster fields were hurt by a virus, and they did everything the could to survive through the manager, Mr. Robert Morgan of Milleville, NJ. The above minesweeper and 4 others were built in Dorchester to be given to countries in the South East Aisa to help defeat aggression in the area of Viet Nam and Tailand. I believe the boat pictured above was dedicated and handed over to the Thailand Government in about 1963 - 64 at a ceremony that the author was invited to and sailed to Tailand afterwards. I also say the boat in Thailand in 1969 while visiting there at the request of the US Army.

Camden’s Wiggins Marina

Wiggins Marina

http://co.camden.nj.us/government/offices/parks/wiggins.html

Camden’s Wiggens Marina is an interesting stop during your exploration of the Delaware River. Located directly across from Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, it is a small marina generally filled with permanent boats. However, it is a circle cut in the land with a small passage into it. It can accept about 50 boats and up to about 50’ and operated buy the county of Camden in the center of Camden (Highest crime rate in the US). The developing Camden waterfront has gotten to be an interesting place that seems to be fairly crime free and nicely developed for tourism. Staying in the relative safety of the waterfront we have the Campbell Baseball field with the River Sharks semi-pro base ball team, the Tweeter Center a home for many and diverse concerts, the Camden (New Jersey) Aquarium which has a nice arrangement of mostly native to NJ fish, a Children’s Garden to walk through, the Battleship New Jersey available to tour, and there is a ferry to take you to Penn’s Landing if there are items you want to see in Philadelphia. When we stayed there on our 26’ Pearson, the rest rooms in the Tweeter center were open, so we have very good bathroom facilities.

A few times during the year, the Cities of Camden and Philadelphia get together and do fireworks. Staying in the Wiggins Marina is pretty spectacular on that day, usually 4 of July and New Years eve, as the fireworks are set off from a barge on either side of the River, and the viewing is really great. Generally, the Coast Guard will not allow anchoring directly in front of Wiggins or Penn’s Landing, but anchoring up river in front of the Prison or in the area in front of Petty’s Island (just watch the depth as this area has a 6’ to 8’ foot tide) on the New Jersey side or close to the Pennsylvania side which is deep (40 ‘) but the shipping channel is close to the shore.

There at this time is very few places to eat at the Wiggin’s Marina or going into Camden is probably not a good idea without knowing where you are going and having transportation to and from. The Aquarium does have a small café, but you probably have to pay entrance fee as well as the price of a quick lunch. For really good food, we recommend that you take the Ferry to Penn’s landing and there is plenty there from the (soon to be reopened) Old Bookbinders, 2^nd Street Tavern, and may others. There are also some grills on the land that you can use at Wiggins to make a dinner.

You can call Camden County Parks to inquire about space and make reservations: (856) 541-7222 (April - October).

Petty’s Island

Petty's Island - Farragut Yacht Club

Farragut Sportsmen's Association Pier looking towards Philadelphia

Petty’s Island is a small Island north of the Ben Franklin Bridge on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. At the present time (2005) it is owner by Citco Petroleum Company and in the township of Pennsauken. It has been used by Citco for Petroleum & Gas storage, and there is a major barge company on the island that ships a large barge down the Delaware loaded with 150 storage trailers. The current political argument over the Island is that Citco has offered to clean up the Island for a Natural Preserve and the Township of Pennsauken wants the Island for development of a bout 1500 high end housing projects. At this time, the Island is private property and there have been eagles nesting on the southern end with fox and deer on the island. In the past the Island has served as a trading post, a Coast Guard Station, and a slave auction.

As you go north on the Delaware River you will come to a "Red-Green" mid-channel marker on the New Jersey side, and if going into the "back channel" that needs to stay on your port side, as there is a large amount of mud on the back side of the Island. To your starboard you will note the northern part of Camden and a small river called Cooper River. There is a small marina there housing a "Barnaget Lightship" and a few boats, most seem to be elderly. The Cooper river could be explored by canoe or rowboat, but it does not look very navigable, and certainly not at low tide.

For the boater’s point of view, the area provides a good anchorage that is out of the way for River traffic and is fairly quiet. There is also a small yacht club "Farragut Sportsmen’s Association" that is located on the bend in the back channel with a long floating dock. Very often there is an available space on the dock for a transient boat or two, although you need to be careful to stay on the front side of the dock which has about 10’ of water, but the area on the land side of the floating dock is mud at low tide. Farragut has gasoline, water, and a pump out station for their members. Often you could hail someone on the pier and gain permission to land and use the limited facilities. Using the back channel by Farragut Sportsmen’s you can go north and there is a Maritime company with a barge and tugs, although it is not very active. If you anchor in the back channel, you need a give a Tug boat room to get through, although the closer to the low bridge you would get, the less danger there will be commercial traffic. The bridge on the Northern end of the Petty’s Island on the New Jersey side has about 15’ vertical clearance and it is non-opening.

Farragut Sportsmen’s Association

The other (north) side of the fixed bridge to Petty’s Island does have a small amount of anchorage that is reasonably out of the Delaware River Channel. If going there, one should favor the Petty’s Island area and move into the "Fisherman’s Cove" where there are area of 10 – 12 foot of water (at low tide) but before sleeping there I would recommend that you check that at high tide you have plenty of water (remember the 6 – 8 foot tide drop). This is an anchorage only with no facilities for landing.

Betsy Ross & Conrail RR Bridges

Slightly north of the end of Petty’s Island we come to a Conrail RR

Faragut Yacht Club

Riverton Yacht Club

Cruising North past the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, one of the most interesting yacht clubs in the United States is the Riverton Yacht Club, which is on the New Jersey side of the river, about a mile north of the Tacony, Palmyra Bridge. The pier sticks out into the Delaware River some 200 feet, with a Victorian "stick" construction building resting on the pier, with a goodly number of older Victorian houses overlooking the shore. In the late 1850 this town became a resort town for the wealthy Quakers in Philadelphia, and there was a Palmyra and a Riverton (and a Burlington) stop on the ferry line going up and down the Delaware River. Aparently some of the wealthy men in Riverton banded together and built the pier for the line to land in Riverton about this time. They also built the house on the pier (originally the house was at the end of the pier, but was moved back about 75 feet in 1950 to provide room for shot gunning off the end pier). The house was to be used as a Ferry Station and a Yacht Club, and belongs to the Riverton Yacht Club. In the picture below, you can clearly see that the building was set up to allow passengers and freight to pass through the waiting room on the pier. The waiting room for the ships was on the second floor, which has a 360 degree pourch that is great for watching the sailboat races on Sunday and Wednesday evening.

The natives are somewhat friendly (especially if you have a sailboat) and generally welcome visitors to look about the pier (that was rebuilt with Government funds in 2002) and it is a nice place to walk about the town an view the historic Victorian houses. About 5 long blocks up Main Street is the "Town" Center, with a very nice "Tony’s Seafood Café" and access to the "Riverline light Rail that goes from Camden to Trenton. For those cruising, it would probably be a good stop to stretch you legs, visit Riverton and Palmyra (next Town, within a mile walking) or take the Riverline to Burlington for provisions.

Do note that the Pier was built in 1860 area (Riverton Yacht Club was founded in 1865, making it one of the old yacht clubs in the United States), but the area has filled in with mud and silt. At low tide, the down river two docks on the end of the Pier have about 4 foot of water, so it is better to talk with someone on the dock to see if there is an empty mooring (most have about 15 food of water or more) and see if they can pick you up with a tender (or

row ashore if you have a small boat). Like all the Yacht Clubs on the Delaware River, RYC is a member of the Delaware River Yachtsmen’s League (DRYL) and also most visiting yacht clubs visiting rights. An odd tidbit about the sailing club is that the Burgee is made up of the Red and white stripes with the triangle of white stars on the blue field, very similar to the United States flag. It was established in 1865 when the club was formed, and since that time the US has passed laws to prevent clubs from making their flags similar to the US Flag, but the establishment of the burgee preceded the law and is grandfathered.

Riverton Steamboat landing Pier and the Riverton Yacht Club

Sea Nettles

Cape May Point

Brief History

Oldest Resort:

Fort Mott – Fort Delaware

Go Home