Boating, Fishing, and Travel Information for Norwood City, PA

Essington has several boatyards that can provide berths, fuel, and supplies. Major hull and minor engine repairs to small craft can be made. Maximum haul-out capacities; marine railways, 50 feet; mobile lifts, 20 tons.
Navigation:
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Darby Creek, Mile 74N, was reported to be shoaled to an unknown extent in the entrance in 1980. The railroad bridges, 0.3 mile above the mouth, have bascule spans with minimum clearances of 3 feet. The fixed highway bridge just above the railroad bridges has a clearance of 22 feet. Another fixed highway bridge with a clearance of 22 feet is 0.6 mile above the mouth of Darby Creek. Parallel fixed highway bridges, 1.2 miles above the mouth, have a least clearance of 4 feet. Oil barges and small tankers go to the wharf with about 7 feet alongside just below the railroad bridges; above this point, the creek is used only by small pleasure craft. The overhead power cable, 3.7 miles above the mouth of the creek, has a clearance of 29 feet. Submerged piles, marked at the outer end by a 55-gallon drum, extend about 150 yards south-southeast from the west side of the entrance.
Between Essington, Mile 75N, and Delaware River main channel is marshy Little Tinicum Island, which is about 2 miles long. There is a dike along the north shore of the passage east and north of Little Tinicum Island. An unmarked channel parallel to and about 450 feet from the centerline of the dike has a controlling depth of about 5.5 feet; shoals are on both sides of the channel. Local vessels usually pass around the west end of the island where the controlling depth is about 9 feet.