Chesapeake Bay - cruing recommendations

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marklucas

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All

We are moving to Maryland in the USA over the summer and whilst our furniture is in transit plan to cruise round the Bay (well it's more interesting than staying in a hotel and hardly more expensive).

Any recommendations of where to go / places to charter.

Many thanks for your input.

Mark
 
Mark
We spent a week there in Oct 2011, hosted by the Cruising Club of America.
Best place to start is Annapolis. Fine city, loads to see of a boaty nature, masses of marinas. See if you can get access to the A nan polis Yacht Club, lovely setting. We chartered from Annapolis Bay Charters, ok but a bit low on customer service.
Ports to visit include St Michaels on the Maryland side, La Trappe Creek off the Choptank river, the beautiful old town of Oxford, and just about everywhere else. All pretty shallow, no cliffs or mountains, but lots of nooks and crannies in which to drop the hook. NO TIDE!!
We did not have time to venture further South, which looked more varied.
Lovely place, lots of yachts, quite smart.
Read up on the history of our colonial activities before you go. There seems to have been a lot of fighting involved, but as they won out in the end they are quite happy to talk about it, and remind us of our defeats!
 
Many thanks for this. I was in Annapolis last month - just a pity as I started walking round the marina it started snowing on me! But a very attractive town.

I had already found Bay Charters and their prices seem comparable to the Solent so I think I can live with it. Will definitely be getting a yacht with a generator to keep the AC going!
 
marklucas said:
All

We are moving to Maryland in the USA over the summer and whilst our furniture is in transit plan to cruise round the Bay (well it's more interesting than staying in a hotel and hardly more expensive).

Any recommendations of where to go / places to charter.

Many thanks for your input.

Mark
Click to expand...

Make sure your boat comes with mosquito screens.

Be very weather aware esp. for afternoon thunderstorms.

If in season there will be forests of crab pots.

Visit Tangier Island and reduce the crab population.

Lots of gunkholing ops.

You can go all the way up the Potomac to Washington DC and anchor off the Smithsonian.
 
My two favourite places:

St Mary's City, Maryland. A fascinating historic village.
Oxford on the Choptank River. Very yachty and pretty.
 
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On the western shore of the northern portion of the Bay you have the big sailing centres of Annapolis and Baltimore as well as some attractive gunkholing areas such as West and South rivers, but I suspect you'll spend more time cruising the eastern shore.

Starting in the north there’s the Bohemia river, a bit further south you'll want to explore the Sassafras river all the way up to the marina and restaurants at Georgtown; next south would be Still Pond, good anchoring, then Fairlee Creek with it’s tight entrance opening up to a good anchorage and Great Oak Landing marina. Nothing much then until Rock Hall with a good marina and a couple of restaurants, then you’ll head up the Chester River which has many anchorages, Langford Creek being a favourite.

From the Chester River you can cut through Knaps Narrows into Prospect Bay and Eastern Bay and up to St Michaels – lovely place with restaurants, bars and a maritime museum. Also off Eastern Bay is the Wye River with its many narrow but deep creeks, excellent gunkholing territory, not to be missed.

Next south you have the Choptank River and Little Choptank River – many bays and creeks and two towns worth visiting, Oxford and Cambridge.

Whilst all this is happening on the eastern shore, there’s nothing much of interest on the western shore, until further south you come to the Patuxtent River and then the Potomac.

Then you have the southern portion of the Bay, but you’ve got enough to be going on with in the north portion, at least for the first five years or so!

Spring and fall give the best sailing. Summer is hot and humid and by three o’clock the thunderstorms are building – best to have the hook down in a good anchorage by then.

I envy you; Chesapeake Bay is one of the best cruising areas in the world. I spent many years exploring it.
 
Having watched installments of Mr. Winter's expedition around Great Britain, I have to admit that I am envious of the opportunities available to British sailors. Every harbor seems to offer convenient berths for small cruising sailboats with a pub, shops, and other attractions within convenient walking distance. On the Chesapeake, there are many quiet anchorages, but they often are miles from shops and restaurants, and often lack a public landing where the crew can get off the boat and stretch their legs. The larger marinas generally have restaurants, but beyond the parking lot is generally just a residential area or a busy highway. The following are a few exceptions on the lower bay.

Norfolk - There is a nice marina at Waterside. If you don't want to pay dock fees, it is possible to anchor nearby in the Elizabeth River. Twenty years ago, Waterside was a bustling attraction, then the city shutdown the bars, and now it is practically a ghost town except for festival days (Harborfest, Wine Festival, Jazz Festival, ...). Regardless, there are plenty of restaurants and shops along Monticello, just inland from Waterside. You may have heard Norfolk's reputation, but don't worry. The areas where you are most likely to get mugged are much further inland.

Portsmouth - There is a nice area to dock at the North Landing, just across the Elizabeth River from Waterside. A passenger ferry operates between the two. Lot's of shops and restaurants can be found nearby on High Street. Portsmouth's reputation is even worst than Norfolk's, but again you aren't likely to get mugged unless you venture much further inland.

Hampton - Visitor berths are available along the downtown Hampton River waterfront. There lots of shops and restaurants nearby on Settlers Landing Road and Queens Way. The Virginia Air and Space Museum is worth a visit. I see many boats anchored at the mouth of Mill Creek next to Fort Monroe, and the Fort Monroe Marina offers slips for visitors. I have heard great things about the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe. I should actually visit it sometime.

Cape Charles - I suppose that it is only because Cape Charles became a backwater after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was built that it is friendly for cruising sailboats today. The harbor looks a bit rough, but across the railroad tracks is a downtown area with shops and at least one decent restaurant.

Kiptopeke Beach - The former ferry terminal is now a state park. It lacks onshore amenities, not even a snack bar, but it does have a nice beach with a sheltered anchorage and swimming area behind the concrete ships that form a breakwater. Of course, if the water is warm enough for swimming, there probably are jellyfish.

Onancock - I hear great things about Onancock. I regret that I have never visited and can't offer a first-hand report.

Reedville - There is at least one decent restaurant on the waterfront. As a visitor, you will be herded toward the Fishermen's Museum, which is really a front for the public relations operation by the industrial fishing operation that is strip-mining menhaden out of the bay.

Yorktown - Along the York River waterfront, there is a visitors dock, a sandy beach, shops, restaurants, and the Watermen's Museum. If you go up the hill, you can visit the battlefields where the treasonous George Washington fought the final battle that separated the British monarch from his American colonies.

Smithfield - I've already mentioned Smithfield in another post. I'll add that there is also the modest community of Rescue nearby on Jones Creek that features a restaurant with a visitors dock.

The above list is in no way comprehensive. It's just the few places that come immediately to mind that offer more than just a marina with a snack bar or restaurant.
 
If your air draught is less than 40 feet, you might enjoy going under the Fisherman's Island bridge at the southern tip of the Eastern Shore and following the channel behind the Atlantic barrier islands. Most of the barrier islands are controlled by either the Nature Conservancy or the National Wildlife Service and are completely undeveloped. Public access is permitted at least on some of the islands though visitors must be careful to stay away from nesting areas in the dunes.
 
Worth remembering that the navigation marks are the other way round over there.

Some friends made this mistake and spent some time in the mud!!
 
The reversed colors of the navigation marks should be relatively easy to adjust to compared to driving on the opposite side of the road.

The following are some other differences:

Tidal Range - It's about about a meter in the lower bay and perhaps half that at the northern end.
Sun Protection - A Bimini over the cockpit is more highly valued than a sprayhood over the companionway and weather cloths around the cockpit.
Running Aground - The bottom of the Chesapeake is mud. If you have enough horsepower, you can often plow your way back to deep water.
Jelly Fish - If the water is warm enough for swimming, they are about.
Powerboats - They are everywhere. No wake zones are generally limited to the immediate vicinity of marinas and boat ramps.
Thunderstorms - Any day that starts warm and sunny is likely to end with them.
Heat and Humidity - See "Sun Protection" and "Thunderstorms" above. Air-conditioning and refrigeration are highly valued.
Hurricanes - Direct hits are rare, but near misses can be expected from storms passing offshore during the Fall.
 
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