Chesapeake Bay Trip

J

Jfrano

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
473
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
June Sea
Now that we’re being allowed to take vacation and things are reopening I’m planning a Chesapeake Bay trip for July or August. Looking to tow the R29CB from NYC to a marina on the Chesapeake Bay. Looking for recommendations on which area of the Bay is most desirable to spend 5 days? Can go 5 days one way and pickup boat from different marina (boating open jaw)

Thanks
Joe
 
So many places, so little time. 🙂 So many choices. There is such a wide array of kinds of spots, its hard to say where to begin. You have pristine unspoiled low country / tidewater places along the Eastern Shore from mid-Bay and south. You have more developed towns and marinas. You have an endless choice of dock bar / tiki bar spots if that's your thing. Lots of wide choices from the top of the Bay to the bottom.

Since you are driving down from NYC, my instinct is to recommend you put the boat over on Kent Island, which would be both one of the fastest places to get to by car from that direction, and its fairly centrally located. Head down the NJ Turnpike to the end, cross into DE onto I-95, then take SR1 south. Pick up Rt 301 south through the rest of DE and into MD and it takes you to Kent Island. When I drive south on that route I have no trailer and am doing it "briskly" 🙂 and can make that drive in well under 4 hrs. Feel free to drive as fast as you dare UNTIL you hit the MD line, then do not drive more than 10 over the limit since the cops are active and keep speeds well in check.

Its a short hop down to St. Michaels, a beautiful harbor town, great shops for the Mrs. and lots of dining choices. A maritime museum to tour. Beautiful anchorage, and some marina choices. Its upscale money out of DC.

Its a short hop to Annapolis across the Bay.

On Kent Island there is a score of dock bars and restaurants. Lots of choices.

Up the Bay you have Rock Hall. Fairlee Creek. Worton Creek. Sassafras River is beautiful. Chestertown is well up the Chester River, and historical (brick streets, very old homes).

Skip Baltimore. Its simply a dangerous town. One of the murder capitals in the country. I can say some nice things too, but with so many other great choices, why bother with anything remotely dicey.

I have not been to Herrington Harbor marina (either one, and there are two) but hear great things. Its on the Western Shore.

Many make Solomons Island a destination.

If you want quiet nature, that's a different topic. Not sure what you are looking for.

The Bay in that timeframe can be dead flat, or rough. The basics apply: when the wind opposes the tides and current is where and when it gets rough. The two biggest rivers that empty into the Bay are the Choptank and Potomac, and the Bay can give you some exercise in their mouth in bad conditions. But generally nothing to worry about.

Take thunderstorm warnings seriously.

Bugs can be bad. AC can be your best friend. Anchorages are not deep, and the bottom is usually mud. Many marinas have a pool and some bar / restaurant on-site or nearby.

Here's a few basic links.

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/

https://www.chesapeakeliving.com/

http://upperbayboating.com/

https://www.spinsheet.com/

Feel free to fire questions. If I know, I'll share. Reasonably current on some of it, and never been to some of it. Its a pretty big place.
 
By the way, the Ranger R29 (not CB) promo shots on the Ranger website are from Kent Island.

Pocket Yachts, a dealer, has a sales office there, and a repair marina in a different spot on the island if you need it. Tuck that away.
 
Agree with FWTMD's recommendations EXCEPT his maligning of Baltimore - Any area accessible by boat (Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton) is safe and full of boats and nice marinas. Not to mention great bars and restaurants with outdoor seating.

Another important point - heading north from Kent Island - all rivers mentioned (I'd add Still Pond as a nice anchorage) are usually swimmable without fear of stinging nettles - From Kent Island south (Including Annapolis) after mid-June, the nettles make swimming challenging. So far we've had plenty of rain, so I'd expect the nettles to be slow moving north.

Havre de Grace, at the head of the Chespeake, is lovely, with a couple of marina options.

Enjoy your trip! And stop in to Pocket Yachts to say hello to the good folks there!
 
Agree with previous posts. SO many choices. As far as the sea nettles go, here is a great site where you can monitor their movement in the Bay over the summer. We used this last year to help us decide on a few of our trips because we always want to swim. 🙂

https://ocean.weather.gov/Loops/SeaNett ... ettles.php
 
Spent 20 years cruising the Chesapeake and agree with all the previous posts. Lots of fond memories. Please allow me to emphasize one point made.

TAKE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS SERIOUSLY

Personal experience on this point without boring you with details.

Have a great trip.
 
Agree that St. Michaels and Annapolis are both great areas and cruising destinations. Two different experience, both outstanding in my opinion. That could be your entire week! Kent Narrows would be a great starting place. In fact, the Ranger dealer in that area, Pocket Yachts, now has a place on the water. You could probably arrange to leave your truck and trailer there.

Baltimore is a great, vibrant city, with rich history, and many, many things to see and do. It is very boater friendly and you can tie up at at Broadway Pier, along the Inner Harbor promenade, or in Canton or Federal hill. It's a great boating and walking town . I've lived her for over 25 years and have never been murdered. My daughter also lives in the city and she loves it.

There are multiple marinas and 3 designated anchorages (might be more). Let me know if you want more info. Happy to share.

Best,
Bobby
 
To the Baltimoreans: no offense intended. I lived there for 20 years post-college. I kept a sailboat in Middle River.

To others: Eastern Shore vs. Western Shore is a MD thing. The Eastern Shore has periodically played with seceding from the rest of MD for over 100 years. 🙂
 
Joe:

There is an aspect that I didn't consider, and that is the fact your R29 has a fast cruise speed that gives a ton of range, if you choose to use it all.

I ran a quick trip calculation in Navionics that plotted a course from the Kent Narrows bridge to Norfolk, at the very foot of the Bay. It comes up with 125 nautical miles, plus whatever distance into some marina of choice. You COULD choose to do a very long and brisk trip to the opposite end of the Bay. The places to go from there would be very different from those we mentioned. There are a few things, but only a few, where I can fill in some gaps / comment on. If interested.

The speed / distance range of the R29 is an advantage. But I don't know if you care to use that.
 
Thanks for the info, will help me fine tune a plan. I use to rush around on vacations to see everything, learned either take a longer vacation or enjoy what you can get to and come back again.
What’s the current reopening plan for Maryland and Virginia , regarding marinas, restaurants etc.
So you’ve peaked my interest with the Thunderstorm warnings... stay in Harbor, get into harbor?
Thanks
 
Depending on how far you want to trailer, you could always launch in Have de Grace at the city boat ramp ($5 last I checked) and it's not far from I95. Tour the upper bay area (5 days ain't enough) and reload the boat on the trailer at Sandy Point State park (west side of Bay Bridge) and not far from I97. That is after spending a night at ego alley in Annapolis. Lots of places to visit and eat. Schaeffer's across from Chesapeake City on the C&D canal, Cantler's on Mill Creek, Several places in Annapolis like Buddies or the Boatyard. At the Kent Narrows, you have Fisherman's Inn and Harris Crab House. At Rock Hall, there's the Waterman's Crab House. Coakley's In Havre de Grace is good (if staying at Tidewater Marina). I could go on and on, but you only have 5 days. You can spend a life time on the Bay gunkholing and not hit all the spots.

PS. If you go to St' Michael's, eat at the Claw and make a visit to Lyon's Distillery for their rum. Best rum I've ever had (I always keep some on hand).
 
Joe:

My best understanding (I'm not down there now, but will make a call) is no real boating yet. Marinas can allow work on boats. MD did some incredibly dumb restrictions, where you could boat if you were out to fish, but not for recreation. If fishing you were finding food, so I guess the virus can't get you with a rod in your hand but can otherwise. Because of that marinas were closed, including fuel docks. I think its easing, but will ask.

Or, just pick a marina and make a call or send an email

Definitely, restaurants only open with outside seating and some social distance between tables.

By the time you go, everything SHOULD be open. If sanity prevails.

Thunderstorms can come up fast, but not without warning. Obvious signs of dark clouds on the horizon moving your way. Check weather broadcasts and any smart phone apps you have. They can move fast so don't tarry and look for cover in a cove or marina. Wind, waves, and lightning that can be brutal. From calm to stormy in short order. Dangerous. Its generally a mid to late afternoon thing when it happens. Its not like a generally snotty day. You can head out in the morning and everything is nice and sunny and calm. And then get that.

As you plan a day's route, just take note of some bail out points along the way. No need to go crazy about that, but its just good practice and seamanship. High odds are you won't see this happen. But, if you do, you will be glad to be mentally prepared to react. If you see dark clouds, and then see other boats make an abrupt change in course toward shore, they are doing the same thing.
 
My wife and I have a house on the Bush River where we keep our C28. All suggestions are wonderful. Boating into Baltimore is awesome! Ft McHenry and the ports are a nice sight to experience, plus the variety of yachts. The city has all amenities of a normal city - restaurants, marinas, etc. There is a very nice hotel if you’re into an upscale evening - The Pendry.

Our go to day trip is Annapolis. “Ego Alley” is an incredible place for the day, and if you don’t mind noise, for the night. There’s a really nice Anchorage in Middle River, Sue Creek - very protected. Baltimore yacht club has diesel and pump out too. Several fun restaurants in middle river (Carson’s creek, sunset cove, riverside, crazy tuna). One of my favorite anchorages in that area is next to Hart Miller Island. It’s on the north side of pleasure island, at the mouth of Back River. I’d be happy to send a map image if you’re interested.

St Michaels is wonderful. Still Pond is a great Anchorage. Fairlee creek is a great protected Anchorage with marina. The sassafras is a nice long river with a restaurant at the end - The Granary.

We just traveled from Philadelphia to our home on the Bush River in 7 hours (14kt avg). You may consider the same but continuing the entire way down the Chesapeake. Going through the C&D Canal is an experience by itself.

With more information on your interests and type of cruising we could guide further.

Thunderstorms - get to a harbor or dock and just be patient. The bay can be uncomfortable with certain conditions and bottom contours.

Marinas are open. Restaurants have outdoor dining. I suspect by July they will be fully operational.
 
Pocket Yachts will let you lunch at their ramp, and store your truck/trailer there too. I would suggest prior arrangements. I bought my boat from them, so I'm good to go. They are nice people.
 
And a perfect place to start your Chesapeake Bay trip!
 
Will do if my boat survives the Tropical Storm today, have boat tied up at Worlds Fair Marina, has a Bulls Eye on it with this storm.
Installed 2 new fenders horizontally, yesterday, on the pier. Never happy with how close to the dock the boat would
get when rocking, with a narrow fender. Other advantage, wife doesn’t have to get out on deck and hang the fenders from the boat as we’re docking, at least at our home port.

Polyform HTM-4 Series Boat Fender https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Y89RGG/re ... cFbNVD8ZHP
 
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