Yes, you definitely want to plan your trip around the currents at Hell's Gate, but also plan you motoring around the currents in the C&D, if you don't it could mean a very very long trip. I used to bring my boat up from Rock Hall once a year to the C&D to winter there. Always made the trip with the current and you are really moving. I can only guess that if I had tried it against the currents I would only have been doing 2 or 3 mph over the land.