Anybody on the West River?

[MHorn0817]

Looking at a slip on the West River and I was curious if anybody has any information about the area. Saw a few Sea Rays there and a bunch of sailboats.

It's close to the bay, so there's some movement and while I've been boating for many years, I only have a short amount of slip experience. So docking and making sure it's properly tied so it doesn't go anywhere, is on my mind.

Any insight on the area or even having a marina near the bay would be much appreciated.

 

[AJSB]

We're off the Rhode River so we're on the West all the time. Where are you looking? The West is very convenient to all things mid-bay, including Eastern Shore destinations. Where you boat and what you do impact the location more than the opposite. More info on what you do, where you want to go, etc would probably help determine if the West is good for you or if you should be looking at the South or Severn Rivers to the North or Deale, North Beach areas to the South.

 

[MHorn0817]

We're looking at West River Yacht Harbor. We normally trailer our boat to Sandy point park and go hang out in the Severn. Every once in a while we will head up to the key bridge area. Honestly, We chose to trailer because of slip costs but WRYH has a slip for sale for a good enough price that it would be worth it to us. Our only concern is the current and docking into the slip.

Sandy point park and WRYH are equal distance away from our house. Sandy point to the Severn is about a 15 minute ride and WRYH to the Severn is about a 30 minute ride so that's no issue to us either. Also gives us the chance to check out West River, Rhode River, South river. Again out biggest concern is the current, wakes, docking. Although it is supposed to be a no wake zone on the weekends, not sure who enforces that.

 

[AJSB]

That's a good location and you shouldn't have any problems with current & wakes, especially since I'm assuming you'll be inside of other boats. Pirates Cove at WRYH and Stan & Joes Riverside next door are popular spots. The Flat Island area in the Rhode is a great anchorage. We also used to anchor further up in the West near the WR United Methodist Church. As for the location, it's an easy hop across the bay to Lowes Wharf, Kent Island, Tilghman, etc, really opening up more destination options for you, imo. Good luck.

 

[alnav]

I’m on West River. I don’t think it’s actually a river so only tidal currents and those are minimal in my experience. 6 knot speed limit starts very near WRYH and compliance is good with not infrequent law enforcement presence. We get some ski sports wakes further south but shouldn’t be a problem where you are looking.
Assume your bottom is painted and not raw gelcoat? There is quite a bit of growth but that’s probably true everywhere on the bay these days. I use a diver but you may want to plan on pulling the boat out every month or so during the season.

 

[MHorn0817]

The slip we are looking at is on the outside perimeter, facing the bay. So the rest of the marina is all behind us. The manager we were talking to made a couple comments about the currents and wakes , which made us Wonder as well. The comments were along the lines of "hope you have experience boating "and "it can get dicey at times" and "when there are storms, you should come check your lines".

We did go down last night and walk the marina, stayed there for about 30 minutes and watched how the water was flowing pretty good, even with minimal boats going by.

The boat is bottom painted and we definitely know about the growth. The boat was previously slipped on kent island when we bought it and we used that slip until the contract was up. It actually was not bad as we thought but still bad enough.

 

[alnav]

The slip we are looking at is on the outside perimeter, facing the bay. So the rest of the marina is all behind us. The manager we were talking to made a couple comments about the currents and wakes , which made us Wonder as well. The comments were along the lines of "hope you have experience boating "and "it can get dicey at times" and "when there are storms, you should come check your lines".

We did go down last night and walk the marina, stayed there for about 30 minutes and watched how the water was flowing pretty good, even with minimal boats going by.

The boat is bottom painted and we definitely know about the growth. The boat was previously slipped on kent island when we bought it and we used that slip until the contract was up. It actually was not bad as we thought but still bad enough.

I imagine he's referring to a wind out of the north, and yes, I imagine it does get "dicey" during those conditions on the slips exposed to the north. The configuration of the river tends to create something of a wind tunnel that exacerbates the force of the wind. I can't imagine you would want to go out in those conditions so docking might might not need to be much of a concern. Bad storms are usually forecast well in advance so you probably have time to address lines or pull the boat. As to everyday current, sounds like the manager is being honest with you and current is a real concern; I guess I'm spoiled where I am.

 

[mdolesh]

We are really happy on the South River. From Bowie I imagine its about the same distance. Check out the 4 marinas on Turkey Point Rd. Plenty of options for a 260 and almost always protected from the winds.

 

[MHorn0817]

Yes the manager did say most of the conditions were because of it being North. When we were at the marina last night, it didn't seem too windy until we were down on the dock looking at the slip, and then it seemed kind of windy and you could definitely see the water moving.

So I'm just imagining trying to back into the slip in those conditions on a nice day, with a single. But then again I looked around on the slip dock and saw smaller boats and got to thinking if they could do it then I definitely could.