Delaware Canals?

[RobertNJ]

I searched for info on the subject, but found nothing specific to my question...

I've been looking at a Delaware map that seems to indicate that you can drive from Cape May across to Lewes, DE and then follow the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal into Rehoboth Bay, from there go across Indian River Bay and from there follow the Assawoman Canal to Sinepuxent Bay, which turns into Chincoteague Bay, after wich you would have a short outside run that would put you on the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, to Norfolk. It seems that if possible, this would be a shorter route to follow from NJ to the ICW than to go down the C&D canal.

Is this route possible?

Has anyone tried it?

TIA for any and all responses...

 

[psugar]

Indian River Bay: SHALLOW and not dredged. Can't see your profile, so I don't know what kind of boat you have. Always found it funny when people would fall off my Standup Jetski and literally run in less than knee deep water to chase it.

 

[RobertNJ]

3 1/2 draft.... No wonder I haven't read anything about that crossing!

 

[SilverBullet]

I just thought I'd add this. You can go from Ocean City, MD to Chincoteague, VA inside. There are markers to do this. They're sometimes pretty far apart but I did it a few years back with a 38ft Sportfish on a high tide. No water depth problems, at least when I did that run.

 

[Anderson]

The short answer is no, you can not do that because the Assawoman Canal is absolutely impassable. They are dredging the Assawoman Canal now -- very very slowly and it will not be fully navigable until 2009. All of the other waterways you mentioned -- Reboboth Lewes Canal, Rehoboth Bay, Indian River Bay, Little Assawoman Bay and Assawoman Bay are very shallow waterways. But if you know where you are going, there is at least 4 feet of draft the whole way. They are fine for smaller boats that know the waterways. But if you have a bigger boat or don't know the waters, forget it. You will end up on one or more sand bars.