We expect to be in Chesapeake Bay for 2 or 3 weeks starting mid-October
or thereabouts. Other than obvious choices like Annapolis and Solomons
Island, I'm looking for good places to hang out during the week.
Priorities are something like this:

1. Good WiFi service.

2. Good storm protection.

3. Room to anchor, and/or moorings with launch service.

4. Availability of groceries, laundromats, restaurants, etc.

On weekends priorities change with WiFi becoming less important, and
more oriented towards interesting places to be. All suggestions
gratefully appreciated...

wrote in message
oups.com...
We expect to be in Chesapeake Bay for 2 or 3 weeks starting mid-October
or thereabouts. Other than obvious choices like Annapolis and Solomons
Island, I'm looking for good places to hang out during the week.
Priorities are something like this:

1. Good WiFi service.

2. Good storm protection.

3. Room to anchor, and/or moorings with launch service.

4. Availability of groceries, laundromats, restaurants, etc.

On weekends priorities change with WiFi becoming less important, and
more oriented towards interesting places to be. All suggestions
gratefully appreciated...

Annapolis!

We really enjoyed Oxford and Chestertown. Also, the town of Havre de
Grace was small town pleasant versus boating chic. You must visit
Tangier Island for a lost-in-time experience.

Will

Oxford on the Choptank. Chestertown is OK but the Chester River is
great. Havre de Grace for small town pleasant versus boating chic.
Tangier Island for a lost-in-time experience. Also, do not miss
Baltimore while you are in the area. Maybe too much for the time
allotted. Oh well, make it 4 weeks and attend the Annapolis Sailboat
Show too.

Will

wrote:

We expect to be in Chesapeake Bay for 2 or 3 weeks starting mid-October
or thereabouts. Other than obvious choices like Annapolis and Solomons
Island, I'm looking for good places to hang out during the week.
Priorities are something like this:

1. Good WiFi service.

I don't know any particular ways to get this unless you are in a
marina that has it. IME the wi-fi may reach out to your boat at the
dock, but not out to an anchorage. The Deltaville Marina off Jackson
Creek has wi-fi out to the docks, and they have a ride in to several
restaurants in town. As does Dozier's Point in Broad Creek (the other
side of Deltaville (both wi-fi and restaurants)

2. Good storm protection.

3. Room to anchor, and/or moorings with launch service.

Deltaville has a good protected anchorage off the Piankatank behind
Stove Point Neck in Fishing Bay, but AFAIK, no moorings or launch
service. I think you can get a ride to restaurants in town from there
though.

Off the Potomac on the Maryland side, the St. Mary's River (Horseshoe
bend) has a good anchorage, but absolutely no services whatsoever
including no restaurants.

Smith Creek, off the St. Mary's River has good protected anchorages,
and there are several restaurants available by dinghy, but no
groceries or services unless you go in to Pt. Lookout Marina (our
home marina) which has a pool and laundry facilities.

Mill Creek off the Patuxent back of Solomons is a good protected
anchorage, and Solomons has lots of restaurants and grocery stores.
On the other side of the Patuxent, Cockrell Creek is a good protected
anchorage opposite Blackstone Marina, but no services there except to
go by dinghy to Clarke's Landing Restaurant.

4. Availability of groceries, laundromats, restaurants, etc.

On weekends priorities change with WiFi becoming less important, and
more oriented towards interesting places to be. All suggestions
gratefully appreciated...

Not in any order:

We found Chestertown to be an interesting town to visit, but while
there are restaurants there, my husband found the grocery stores near
the docks to be to expensive (gourmet foods). When we were there,
there was no internet service. May have changed.

Baltimore is also an interesting place to visit, and there are some
anchorage places in there, particularly behind Fort McHenry. I've
only been there in a marina. I wanted to anchor and go up to the top
of the Trade Center and take a picture from there of the boat
anchored, but chickened out. Places to visit include the National
Aquarium, the Inner Harbor, the Maryland Science Center, Oriole Park
etc.

Crisfield has a nice little harbor, and a LOT of restaurants. The
marina is a municipal marina and charges way more for weekends than
during the week, so it pays to go during the week - also the museum is
open then but don't go Monday - most everything is closed. They have
a little trolley thing that will take you out to where the grocery
store is.

Shaw Bay (back of St. Michaels) is a very nice protected anchorage.
Horseshoe Creek is also, although sometimes crowded on weekends.
Neither have any services to speak of.

If you anchor near the ferry dock in Oxford (but the holding isn't
very good there), you can dinghy in to the shore and either walk to
restaurants or some of them will come and pick you up if you call.

If you can find your way in without going aground on the sand bar,
there is a nice protected anchorage in Selby Bay, but on weekends
there is sometimes music from shore. No services, although there is a
marina there (no transients) that has fuel and pumpout.

Reedville (if you can stay upwind of the menhaden plant) has a nice
little museum, a lot of Victorian homes, and some restaurants.

Tangier Island is one of a kind. It is possible to anchor there, but
I wouldn't. The marina isn't that expensive. Lots of restaurants.
Smith Island too, but I've never been there because we've always been
afraid of running aground.

The marina in Indian Creek (Chesapeake Bay Boat Basin) used to give
you a lift to town to a restaurant but they no longer do that. We
haven't yet gotten to the Yeocomico or Onacock. Or to St. Michaels
either, come to that.




grandma Rosalie

Harry,
Why don't you pick him up in your Lobster Boat and give him a tour of the
area?


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
wrote:
We expect to be in Chesapeake Bay for 2 or 3 weeks starting mid-October
or thereabouts. Other than obvious choices like Annapolis and Solomons
Island, I'm looking for good places to hang out during the week.
Priorities are something like this:

1. Good WiFi service.

2. Good storm protection.

3. Room to anchor, and/or moorings with launch service.

4. Availability of groceries, laundromats, restaurants, etc.

On weekends priorities change with WiFi becoming less important, and
more oriented towards interesting places to be. All suggestions
gratefully appreciated...



Wayne, you might enjoy a day or two in Deale, Maryland, on the western
shore about halfway between Solomons and Annapolis. It has one pretty
decent restaurant (calypso Bay) right on the water and a couple of so-so
restaurants, and it is a pretty little boating area, but there's not a lot
to do there. Herrington Harbour marina is your best bet...it's a full
yacht yard, with a west marine store.

St. Micheals up the Miles River on the eastern shore is pretty
nice...couple decent marinas, some nice places to eat, quaint town to walk
around, historical waterman's island, etc. In fact, the eastern shore has
far more interesting stopping off places than our side, aside from
Annapolis and Solomons.

One tip: chesapeake beach has a small harbor and marina, with a really
lousy restaurant (rod and reel), but...there is a first-rate local
supermarket there in a little shopping center right across from the
marina. Good meat and vegetable and staples, the only supermarket I can
think of offhand within a short walk to where you might rent a slip.

If you need to get around a bit on land for a day, lemme know. I'll be
glad to meet you at Solomons, Deale, or Chesapeake Beach. Looks like I'll
be out of town starting late next week for about 10 days or so, but after
that I'm back.





--
- - -
George W. Bush, our hero!

"So please give cash money to organizations that are directly involved in
helping save lives—save the life who had been affected by Hurricane
Katrina."—Bush, Washington D.C., Sept. 6, 2005

Thank you everyone for the advice so far. Harry, I'll drop you a note
when we get further along with our plan. Herrington Harbour marina is
supposed to have a good WiFi service (BeaconWiFi.com). Grandma
Rosalie, as usual your advice and recommendations sound very thorough
and thoughtful. The secret to getting good WiFi service at anchor or
on a mooring is altitude. My adapter is 20 feet off the water and
piped into the main cabin vis a USB hub on the flybridge. Keeping the
hub and cable connections dry is a major engineering challenge since
none of the first three liked rainy days very well. The adapter itself
is double wrabbed in zip lock bags and seems to do OK.

I was mildly surprised to see Baltimore on the list. Is there really a
good cruising destination there, and if so, whereabouts? I've always
thought of Baltimore as a busy commercial harbor not particularly
friendly to pleasure boats but I'm open to being re-educated.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you everyone for the advice so far. Harry, I'll drop you a note
when we get further along with our plan. Herrington Harbour marina is
supposed to have a good WiFi service (BeaconWiFi.com). Grandma
Rosalie, as usual your advice and recommendations sound very thorough
and thoughtful. The secret to getting good WiFi service at anchor or
on a mooring is altitude. My adapter is 20 feet off the water and
piped into the main cabin vis a USB hub on the flybridge. Keeping the
hub and cable connections dry is a major engineering challenge since
none of the first three liked rainy days very well. The adapter itself
is double wrabbed in zip lock bags and seems to do OK.

I was mildly surprised to see Baltimore on the list. Is there really a
good cruising destination there, and if so, whereabouts? I've always
thought of Baltimore as a busy commercial harbor not particularly
friendly to pleasure boats but I'm open to being re-educated.


Although I was there many years ago I found the Baltimore Inner Harbor area
to be quite spectacular.

http://www.baltimore.org/index.html

"*JimH*" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you everyone for the advice so far. Harry, I'll drop you a note
when we get further along with our plan. Herrington Harbour marina is
supposed to have a good WiFi service (BeaconWiFi.com). Grandma
Rosalie, as usual your advice and recommendations sound very thorough
and thoughtful. The secret to getting good WiFi service at anchor or
on a mooring is altitude. My adapter is 20 feet off the water and
piped into the main cabin vis a USB hub on the flybridge. Keeping the
hub and cable connections dry is a major engineering challenge since
none of the first three liked rainy days very well. The adapter itself
is double wrabbed in zip lock bags and seems to do OK.

I was mildly surprised to see Baltimore on the list. Is there really a
good cruising destination there, and if so, whereabouts? I've always
thought of Baltimore as a busy commercial harbor not particularly
friendly to pleasure boats but I'm open to being re-educated.


Although I was there many years ago I found the Baltimore Inner Harbor
area
to be quite spectacular.

http://www.baltimore.org/index.html

There looked to be a nice marina on the south(?) side of the inner harbor
when I was there, as well as the ability to tie up along the wall near mini
mall.

I agree with most of this: wifi is going to be your biggets challenge.
A few additions:
-for far-south bay sailing, the town of Cape Charles, VA, has a town
owned marina dock which is quite cheap (I think it's $.75/ft). Doubt
you'll find wiFi. It's quite protected, and a small quaint little town
with not much to do, but it's got some good restaurants and groceries.
no boat supplies. If you're coming up from the ICW, it's a good first
stop if you've had a long day catching hte canals (assuming you went
Dismal Swamp route). It's across the bay from Norfolk harbor.

-along the lines of Crisfield and Tangier Island, try Smith Island as
well. It's a very similar to Tangier, but somewhat less touristy

-Along Oxford, there's some nice anchorage up La Trappe creek. There's
a marina at hte head of the creek, but not many supplies.

-Some good holding off the Rhode River, off the West River. Not many
supplies. (My marina is off the Rhode). There's also a very small
anchorage (maybe two boats can fit) that's a veritable hurricane hole
up that way, but it gets down to about 6 feet so rarely are there
transient boats around.

-Selby Bay--it's a good walk to a little snack shop, but that's all
there is; but if you plan on being there, get in touch with me; my boat
is nearby.

Speaking of after dark, try Crisfield after dark. it's quite an
experience! My first visit to Crisfield was after dark. I'd
definitely recommend daytime first.

If you spend 3 weeks or so on the bay, buy or borrow the Gunkholer's
Guide:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...77520?v=glance


On a different note, the Knapps Narrows channel has a controlling depth
of about 4 feet as of two months ago when I was there, although the
bridge tender told me 12. I draw 5, and I made it through, although I
think I shaved a bit off my teeth in the process. Anyone has any
recent info on Knapps Narrows?

Best of luck,

mickey