I am new @ boating and this area upper/mid chesapeake bay, I am planning to take vacation in two weeks and would like to see the best area's of the bay. I'm interested in seclusion any beach like islands or shores,day hikes through forest. Would like to stay in anchorage and 1 night at a marina. I have a 4.5 draft and a dinghy. Thank you
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Cruising Guide
If you don't already have one, find a cruising guide for the Chesapeake. Some even rank different attributes for anchorages and have marina and facility info too. Good luck and have fun exploring.
If you don't already have one, find a cruising guide for the Chesapeake. Some even rank different attributes for anchorages and have marina and facility info too. Good luck and have fun exploring.
Chesapeake Bay
Is a treasure. Unfortunately, finding seclusion can be a chore. Fortunately, you have two weeks and most of the "best" places may only fill up on good weather weekends, so take advantage of getting to the best places during the week. If you are starting out in the upper bay, put a hook out behind the Coast Guard station at Still Pond. A few miles south, head into Rock Hall and anchor in Swan Creek. Then go explore the upper reaches of the Chester River. Lots of fairly secluded places all along the upper shore there. If you have courage and shallow draft, head back down the Chester and go thru Kent Narrows and into Prospect and Eastern Bay. Head down the Miles River and into the Wye River. Don't stop at Shaw Bay as everyone does. Keep going up the Wye and head into Dividing or Granary Creeks on the north side of the river. The next day head down the Miles River into St Michaels and eat crabs at the Crab Claw. Take a transient slip and explore the town. The next day, head back up the Miles, into Eastern Bay, go across the Bay to Galesville or lunch. Then head up the Rhode River for the night. This is a quick and dirty, but it's a start. You'll love the bay and I hope you have wind.
Is a treasure. Unfortunately, finding seclusion can be a chore. Fortunately, you have two weeks and most of the "best" places may only fill up on good weather weekends, so take advantage of getting to the best places during the week. If you are starting out in the upper bay, put a hook out behind the Coast Guard station at Still Pond. A few miles south, head into Rock Hall and anchor in Swan Creek. Then go explore the upper reaches of the Chester River. Lots of fairly secluded places all along the upper shore there. If you have courage and shallow draft, head back down the Chester and go thru Kent Narrows and into Prospect and Eastern Bay. Head down the Miles River and into the Wye River. Don't stop at Shaw Bay as everyone does. Keep going up the Wye and head into Dividing or Granary Creeks on the north side of the river. The next day head down the Miles River into St Michaels and eat crabs at the Crab Claw. Take a transient slip and explore the town. The next day, head back up the Miles, into Eastern Bay, go across the Bay to Galesville or lunch. Then head up the Rhode River for the night. This is a quick and dirty, but it's a start. You'll love the bay and I hope you have wind.
Chesapeake in August...Ouch
End of July and early August is sometimes the worse to be out on the bay. Wind is usually non-existent and the heat/humidity can be horrible. Not to mention the amount of bugs that are out right now. We sort of call this our mid-point break where most will look for little windows of fair weather with wind and do day/evening sails. We were out last Thursday watching the fleet in Havre de Grace basically sit in dead calms trying to cross the finishing line. In reality, we still head out and anchor like others said in still pond or up the Sassafra river but do everything we can to capture as much air flow as possible in the evening to mak e it comfortable (air socks sometimes really help). Good luck and hope to see you out there.
End of July and early August is sometimes the worse to be out on the bay. Wind is usually non-existent and the heat/humidity can be horrible. Not to mention the amount of bugs that are out right now. We sort of call this our mid-point break where most will look for little windows of fair weather with wind and do day/evening sails. We were out last Thursday watching the fleet in Havre de Grace basically sit in dead calms trying to cross the finishing line. In reality, we still head out and anchor like others said in still pond or up the Sassafra river but do everything we can to capture as much air flow as possible in the evening to mak e it comfortable (air socks sometimes really help). Good luck and hope to see you out there.
Crusing the Chesapeake
By Bill Shcellenberger(sp) has several 2 week cruises in it. A great resource for the new to the bay gunkholer.
By Bill Shcellenberger(sp) has several 2 week cruises in it. A great resource for the new to the bay gunkholer.
Some suggestions
We enjoyed the Chesapeake last fall/spring on our trip down the ICW. Some suggestions for you. Anchorage: Worton Creek, You can anchor just beyond the first marina in 6-7 ft of water. The weather was very good so we anchored at the creek entrance north of R2. Quiet area. Marina: We did not find a finer marina than Zahniser's in Solomons, MD. Excellent facilities, helpful staff, Plenty of shops and dinning within an easy walk. Wonderful maritime museum well worth the stop. Zahniser's also has one of the best resturants on site that we found anywhere
We enjoyed the Chesapeake last fall/spring on our trip down the ICW. Some suggestions for you. Anchorage: Worton Creek, You can anchor just beyond the first marina in 6-7 ft of water. The weather was very good so we anchored at the creek entrance north of R2. Quiet area. Marina: We did not find a finer marina than Zahniser's in Solomons, MD. Excellent facilities, helpful staff, Plenty of shops and dinning within an easy walk. Wonderful maritime museum well worth the stop. Zahniser's also has one of the best resturants on site that we found anywhere
We did the Chesapeake in early May.
Shippy is correct, August is a bad month to sail the bay. No wind and unbearable heat and humidity. Watch out for them mosquitoes on steroids. Unless you have a generator and A/C I would reschedule.
Shippy is correct, August is a bad month to sail the bay. No wind and unbearable heat and humidity. Watch out for them mosquitoes on steroids. Unless you have a generator and A/C I would reschedule.
recent conditions and Rhode River
While I agree that August is a good time to head for, say, Nova Scotia, I must say that we sailed yesterday (Thursday 7/27) from 3 till 8 with pleasant winds 13-17 kts and pretty much had the Bay to ourselves. I think gas prices may finally be getting to the powerboaters and there were only a handful of boats on the hook in Rhode River's excellent anchorages. Yup, it'll be hot, but you can have a fine time of it...
While I agree that August is a good time to head for, say, Nova Scotia, I must say that we sailed yesterday (Thursday 7/27) from 3 till 8 with pleasant winds 13-17 kts and pretty much had the Bay to ourselves. I think gas prices may finally be getting to the powerboaters and there were only a handful of boats on the hook in Rhode River's excellent anchorages. Yup, it'll be hot, but you can have a fine time of it...
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