Hi - lots of old posts on this, looking for some more recent information. Thinking to take our Hunter 41 to trawlerfest vs driving, but the anchorage situation doesn’t look good. Any ideas/experience/suggestions ?
Baltimore anchorages and Trawler fest 2026
- Thread starter spadaforaj
- Start date
I don't know a thing about Trawler Fest, but we're about 1.5 hours south of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and I've stayed in Harbor East Marina maybe 8 or 10 times. (That's apparently where the Trawler Fest is.) I'd say if they have space in HEM, then just stay there. I'll admit that they tend to jack the price up on fancy weekends, but it's still way less than a hotel. I've never anchored near Baltimore (mainly b/c I'd be worried about snagging one of the 300 year old lines/cables/old anchors/whatever in the harbor), but I guess it's doable. There are also plenty of other marinas downtown. We've always stayed in HEM because it's a very nice marina and it's very close to Fells Point. The James Joyce Pub is super close, and we often go there for dinner when we visit. PM me if you have any questions.
You can always anchor for free where we are (Rock Creek), but you'd still have to either anchor or tie up somewhere to go to your festival. If you do anchor in the harbor, and have a dinghy, the water taxi is very convenient to get you from one side of the harbor to the other.
IDK about slips, but we anchored in the inner harbor near the submarine in 2002. There are only 2-3 anchoring spots there.
That was brave of you, Rich. I've read various cruising guides, and I guess they scared me off the "Baltimore inner harbor anchoring" idea. But I guess if you get away with it, you've won the lottery. When we visit to go out on the town, we'd also have to risk leaving a dinghy untended in a big city, which wouldn't be a problem if you were just visiting a festival at a nice marina: presumably, they'd be happy to let you tie up.
Here's some info about dockage run by the city: presumably much cheaper than the marinas (which can run $110/night for our 30 foot boat). I've heard from some that one of the docks at Fells point is available for free, but man: you'd definitely need some decent fenders and maybe a long fender board. For some reason, I'd feel better about leaving my boat tied to a big concrete dock at Fells Point than I would tying up a dinghy at some random place in Baltimore.
www.baltimorecity.gov
also, this:
Harbormaster | Baltimore City
also, this: