Chesapeake Bay

[Sean]

Small Craft Warnings - Dan

I hear you Dan, it's just so hard to stay in when it's that beautiful out there, ya know? But I know, when mother nature says stay away it's best to listen..Fortunately for us, we were able to turn her back in time before anything bad came out of our excursion.Someone once mentioned that it might be worth while if I checked out my local Power Squadron's safety course. What do you think, or is street smarts and a good book on safety just as good? I know the basics, but I'm always looking for the little subtleties that are out there that aren't as obvious, reading the seas with wind shifts and gusts, barometric pressures of an approaching cold front, managing your crew in hazardous conditions, signs from above, etc.I want to maximize the fun and excitement while at the same time be as safe as I possibly can...

 

[pete]

st mike

I didn't read all the email to see if anyone mentioned this but make sure you have a reservation. Holiday weekends are particularly tough and expensive and could require a multiple day booking.

 

[Jack4865]

Another option in St Michaels

You don't have to stay at a marina at St Michaels. There is an excellent anchorage very close by. There is (or was) a watertaxi to take you ashore. I think the fee is about $3.Does anyone know if the watertaxi is still in service at St Michaels?JackFriendshipC350, #80

 

[Shippy]

Just at St Mikes

We just got back from a 7 day cruise of the chesapeake. We left Sunday late afternoon from Harve de Grace and headed south. Spent the first night on the hook in Worton's creek. Next morning (in the rain)motored all the way down thru Kent Narrows arriving late afternoon in the bay just outside St Mikes. Tuesday and Wednesday we anchored in the little bay next to the museam (the water taxi was running around - but we had the dinghy so didn't need it). Thursday we sailed across to the South river and anchored in Selby Bay. Firday we sailed north under the bay bridge into the Magothy River. Saturday we sailed north to the Sassafras and Georgetown where we picked up a mooring. Sunday a leisurely sail back to Harve de Grace. While in St Mikes, another nice place to eat was a place called Characters and stop in and get a drink at Foxy's.

 

[Brooke Willson]

some alternatives

St. Mike's is very trendy, expensive and crowded. If that's your thing, then by all means sail over there. If it's not . . . Oxford is sleepy and beautiful. If you want to anchor out in open country, try the Wye River, north of St. Mike's. Stunningly beautiful. Or, head north to the Chester River and Chestertown -- a beautiful little college town with B&Bs, good restaurants, and history. And I'll take Harris' Crab House in Kent Narrows over the Crab Claw anyday. The Claw (or Phillips', in Ocean City and Baltimore) is what Washington suburbanites think is a great seafood restaurant. Harris' is an extension of the fish and crab packing shed next door.My family is from the Eastern Shore, and I lived there for 8 years as an adult. Nobody I know on the Shore recognizes anything in Chesapeake: whatever you think of the tale or Michener's style, the book isn't about the Shore. Had Michener spent less time in St. Mike's (where he lived for three years, hobnobbing with wealthy retired suburbanites) and more time in packing sheds, feed stores, and fire halls, he might have learned the real stories about the Shore that are ever so much better than his silly fantasies.The best sailing book about the Bay is Guide to Cruising Chesapeake Bay, published by Chesapeake Bay magazine. That book is an essential to sailing the area.