Great Bay Destinations

[shoelessben]

When discussing summer vacation ideas with my wife, she suggested that we take a week and explore the bay on the boat :thumbsup:
I would like to get some input from all of you on great bay stops. We would like to stay south of the bay bridge and our port of call is Deale, MD. We plan on spending most of the time at marinas, but would like to spend one or two nights on the hook. Looking for areas that are scenic and towns that have a bit of "charm"
Thanks to all!

 

[Four Suns]

First, I would start with a book called "Cruising the Chesapeake" by Shellenberger. I bought a copy years ago and it is probably the best book out there as it has sample multi-day cruises based on sections of the Bay you want to visit. I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and noticed there is an updated version out.

You are in a good location but the real question is do you want to get out of the mid-Bay or just explore around the place you are? Across the bay from you could keep you busy for a week or two with Oxford, St. Michaels, Cambridge, Kent Narrows, etc. North of the bay bridge are a bunch of sissy boy boaters who like river boating.. :grin:

If you want to get in more open water where land disappears, you can get down south of the Potomac here in Virginia and visit places like Tangier Island, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Mobjack Bay, Urbanna, etc. You could also venture down to Cape Charles and continue to the Virginia Beach ocean front for a taste of that. Or even get on the James River and visit Smithfield and such. You will need to watch the weather on the south bay as it is wide open and the squalls can get you. Lot's of places to anchor though.

Hope that helps... If you provide more specifics what you are looking for, (kids? time frame? like bars? more relaxation? etc.) I can give some pointers. However... get the book.

 

[shoelessben]

I'll definitely get the book :thumbsup:
I really want to head south. We get to do alot of exploring on the middle bay when we do weekend trips. We went to St Michaels and Oxford last summer and because of the distance they are great weekend destinations that I can get to on a friday evening after work.
I figure that if I am going to have a whole week to leapfrog my way around the bay, I can get to some destinations that are far enough away that they just don't make sense to try to get to on a weekend. I have spent some time down on the Patuxent and Potomac sea kayaking and love the big water down there... I just don't know of the "places to be".
I have a young daughter (5 years old) and two dogs (they may stay with family for this one). So "party" destinations are not necessary. We like to relax and my wife definitely likes towns like St Michaels where one can wander in and out of shops.
I understand what you mean about the storms. We were always aware of the weather on our kayak trips... the storms blow up just as fast, but they are much harder to out run when your only source of locomotion is a paddle! :smt100 Even up here in the middle bay those storms come out of no where and we got caught once last summer. Thanks for your time and pointers. I really appreciate it.
Ben

 

[Converse48]

North of the bay bridge are a bunch of sissy boy boaters who like river boating.. :grin:

OUCH! :smt089

C'mon dude, that stretch between Fairlee Creek and Rock Hall can get pretty treacherous! :wink:

 

[Four Suns]

As I sit here on a boring webinar, I'll give you a couple of places that I think you would like. The idea here are places that on the western shore of the bay.

Irvington/Tides Inn:

Would be a good first evening stop down the bay. Not much of a town here but they have a nice pool and restaurant. Laid back place.

Yorktown:

Get there and dock on the riverfront of Yorktown. The riverfront has just been redone and you can dock for free during the day with a first come first serve basis. Lots of room though. Bring some kites and fly them in the Yorktown battlefield. The riverfront also has some nice shops to explore. That evening, book across the river (1 mile) and spend the night on Sarah's Creek at the marina there. Nice marina... has a pool and good food for dinner.

Norfolk/Portsmouth:

Lot's to do here. If you stay on the Portsmouth side, there is a great children's museum there and 5 year olds love it. Lot's of activities. Tidewater Yacht Basin has a pool if you want that and it's a nice marina. Interesting town as well. Nauticas is here, Town Point Park, and Waterside... Also a big mall. Would have to take a paddlewheel ride over to Norfolk for that (free and a 10 minute ride).

Hampton:

If you stop in Hampton, stay at Bluewater. New marina.. nice pool.. and the BEST CRABCAKES ANYWHERE ON THE BAY. They will also give you a boat ride over to downtown which has a great NASA Air and Space center with an IMAX theater. Kids love it. Lots of cool things to explore. Not much in the town other than that though.

Smithfield:

Neat town up the James River a little bit. You pass the Newport News Shipyard and can see a few carriers being built. Smithfield has unique hotel rooms if you are tired of the boat, a great restaurant and a nice town with very old victorian homes and shops. I think they make hams here or something.

Williamsburg/Kingsmill:

If you want to venture further up the James River, you can visit Busch Gardens... Nice marina also.

Mobjack Bay:

If you want to anchor a night, maybe on the way back, the north fork of the Severn River on Mobjack Bay is the best anchorage on the bay IMO.

Cape Charles:

Not much of a town... and nothing really to do but the new marina complex there is nice. You can anchor off of Kiptopeke (sp?) beach and swim for the day if you like though.

Tangier Island:

Neat place... "interesting" people... you'll run aground. Not much for a 5 year old.

Urbanna:

Neat little town... worth a stop...


Just a word of caution... You'll be looking for a bigger boat when you get back.

 

[CJ Martin]

Hi Ben,

Consider Solomons, it's a great destination with lots to do and is close to you. Just stay clear of the LPG dock at Cove Point on the way down. Once there you can explore the Patuxent River, with some really excellent places to eat as well as drop the hook for the night. We'd be happy to show you our favorite hangouts.

A bit further south there are some nice places on the lower Potomac. Port Kinsale is one place we plan to revist this year, and Coles Point is also nice. Some great spots to overnight on the hook are up on St Mary's River (off the lower Potomac, MD side).

Do you have any dates in mind?

-CJ

 

[JeffM]

I'll second Shellenberger's book -- we've found it to be very helpful. I'd suggest adding two more books to your collection, though: Chesapeake Bay Magazine's Guide to Criusing the Chesapeake Bay (they update it annually), and the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Chesapeake Bay Marinas. The first emphasizes CBM's advertisers but does give a pretty good overview of an area. The Marina Guide seems to be a pretty complete summary of locations and amenities, including pricing. The seventh edition is copyrighted 2006; I'm not sure how often they update it.

And both of them include ALL the bay -- including north of the bridge :grin: .

Jeff

 

[shoelessben]

Holy cow Gary, that really must have been a boring webinar!!! :lol: You gave me alot to go with. I checked out a couple of those places on the charts and that really looks great. I will probably have some more questions once we start putting the trip together. For now though, I at least have some great spots to keep on the radar. Thanks so much.
CJ - Thanks... we'll probably spend our first night down around St Mary's River... I have done a number of kayak excursions from Great Mills down around Point Lookout up into Ridge. I think the St Mary's is one the most scenic waterways on the Western shore. We love Solomons too. I plan on a couple weekend trips down there this summer. Most of last summer we spent crossing the bay or just up the bay in West & Rhodes Rivers, so I plan to get down there more this summer. We have also come down the Patuxent in Kayaks from Benedict to Cove Point with some side trips in St Leonards Creek... the only problem is that we rarely used marinas so now I don't know much about the good spot for "real" boats!
I do plan on getting the books, this is just such a good way to get real life experience from fellow boaters... gotta love this site.

Quote:
Just a word of caution... You'll be looking for a bigger boat when you get back

I know all about that... there is a reason that my 17' kayak hangs in my garage!!!

 

[shoelessben]

My wife really appreciates that we don't travel like this much anymore!!!

 

[RiverGalsMan]

Shoelessben, I can personally vouch for going to St. Michaels, Annapolis, Crisfield, Solomons Island, and The Tides (on the Rappahannock.) I've had great times in all those ports. I can also recommend many places on the Potomac if you're interested in going up the river. I've also heard that Baltimore Inner Harbor, Rock Hall, the Cambridge Hyatt, the Hampton Roads area, and Kingsmill on the James river are all nice. We hope to hit all of those this summer. Herrington Harbour is supposed to be very nice, but I think you're already there :smt001