Marinas near Richmond, VA (James River)

S

src

New Member
Feb 13, 2012
843
Richmond, VA
Boat Info
2000 310 Sundancer
1997 175BR
Engines
310: Twin 454 Mercruiser w/Bravo III
175: Mercruiser 3.0
There aren't many to choose from. I've looked at Jordan Point (yuck), and did a swing by Anchor Point (looked good, but the office was closed, and I'm concerned about the CSX bridge). I don't think I want to use Rockets Landing. It's too far up river for my taste, but I'm open to opinions there. I also need to check into the Hopewell City Marina.

Are those my only options, or did I miss a hidden gem?

The situation: I'm (if the survey gods smile upon me) about to close on a 310DA, and want to slip it near home for a few months while I learn the boat, so it's easy to get out on the water for a few hours whenever we have some free time. I plan to find a permanent home (dry stack) on the bay this summer, but for now the James seems to be my best/only option within an hour of my house (in Chesterfield).
 
I liked Rockets but a lot of go fast boats and a lot of wakes ( even tho it's a no wake zone ) there was a marina down river near Jimmy Deans home. I will post the name in a few. Appomattox River has a nice one as well. I traveled from Toano to Richmond until I got used to mine enough to move to Jamestown VA. How far are you willing to travel?
 
KingsLand Reach and Richmond Yacht, both are on the upper James
 
The one near Jimmy Dean's is Kingsland Ranch. I haven't been there, but looking at the aerial photos on Google/Bing doesn't make me want to slip there. There doesn't appear to be any access control at all, and I know that's a busy ramp. It's also a VERY long drive, since i have to drive about 15 extra miles around to get to that side of the river.

I'm looking for less than an hour, as much less as possible. The Hopewell options are about 40 minutes. Rocketts would be about 35. Kingsland would be approaching an hour by the time I got around there.

Frankly, I'm really looking for local opinions on what the good ones are. Was I wrong about Jordan Point? The facilities and, honestly, the boats slipped there just looked run down and poorly maintained in general. I got a "The marina that time forgot" feeling. There was a distant sound of banjos (I can dig at the rednecks, I'm grew up in the NC mountains).

By comparison, Anchor Point looked clean and as if things actually happened there. They had a lot of boats in dry racks, and the boats in slips looked fairly well maintained. Since they allow live-aboards there, that might be part of the difference.

Hopewell City seems promising on the surface, with good rates for covered slips. But there was no one onsite, and there's no good info I can find about the marina other than it's existence. Need to make some calls. Also, it's downtown Hopewell, which gives me some pause about the security (even though the docks are gated).

In the end, it's only going to be for 2-3 months, but I want them to be good experiences, not "oh god, I've got to go there again." Plus, plans change - it's possible we could stay the entire year.
 
dwna1a said:
KingsLand Reach and Richmond Yacht, both are on the upper James
Click to expand...

Where is Richmond Yacht? I'm not seeing that one listed on ActiveCaptain or anywhere else.
 
9950 Hoke Brandy Rd
Richmond, VA 23231 * Marina Phone:*804-795-5831 *
Latitude:
Longitude: * 37.39404
-77.36173
 
I've been here since 1991. What exactly are your must haves vs. nice to have and how are you going to use the boat on weekends?

We'll go from there.
 
Found it, thanks!

Boy, they REALLY don't want anyone to know they exist, do they? I will NEVER understand how any serious business can ignore the fact that you can put a web site up for $120/year or less, and ignore an entire generation (and more) of potential customers who use the internet to find everything.
 
Jamestown is nice, we have covered slips on floating docks, security is no issue, but the distance will kill you. Jordan Point IS an older place but has a travel lift and shop. Appomattox looks to be nice and safe. Governors Land, near the Chick is nice ( talk to Four Sons he might know better for that area) if your only going to stay 3 to 4 months...Rocketts would be the nice, that would give you time to hunt for a nice place, but there was a lot of floating junk in the river up that way, so be careful
 
dpmulvey said:
I've been here since 1991. What exactly are your must haves vs. nice to have and how are you going to use the boat on weekends?

We'll go from there.
Click to expand...

Decent facilities close to where we live are the "must haves". We want power/water of course.

The biggest issue is having the boat where we can get to it, and comfortably learn to use it well. We are familiar with the James south of Dutch Gap - we spent a lot of time there last year. There are a lot of places we can go to get out of the way and learn boat handling. North of there, things get narrow and busy in season, and I'm not sure there's a lot of room to learn anything more than simple cruising/traffic management.

One reason I don't like Rocketts Landing is the strong current. I know that I will learn to dock in strong current/wind someday, but I don't want that to be my first and last challenge every time I approach the boat. At least not until I have some skills.

We plan to use the boat a couple times a week on average - an evening or two for short practice sessions, docking practice, etc., and also try to spend some time out on it during the weekends. We like to hang out/camp at the barge harbor/gravel pit (37.22.080, 077.17.925), and plan to spend some weekends there. We will probably cruise down to Williamsburg once or twice as well.

We will also be checking out facilities on the Bay (by car) to try to pick our long-term home for the boat, and might get froggy enough to try the trip into the bay in the boat at some point before then.
 
We plan to use the boat a couple times a week on average - an evening or two for short practice sessions, docking practice, etc., and also try to spend some time out on it during the weekends. We like to hang out/camp at the barge harbor/gravel pit (37.22.080, 077.17.925),

I think that is the same place mine was stored while she was for sale and while I was getting used to her handling. Rocketts was a challenge, we all spent the night there last 4th
 
src said:
Decent facilities close to where we live are the "must haves". We want power/water of course.

The biggest issue is having the boat where we can get to it, and comfortably learn to use it well. We are familiar with the James south of Dutch Gap - we spent a lot of time there last year. There are a lot of places we can go to get out of the way and learn boat handling. North of there, things get narrow and busy in season, and I'm not sure there's a lot of room to learn anything more than simple cruising/traffic management.

One reason I don't like Rocketts Landing is the strong current. I know that I will learn to dock in strong current/wind someday, but I don't want that to be my first and last challenge every time I approach the boat. At least not until I have some skills.

We plan to use the boat a couple times a week on average - an evening or two for short practice sessions, docking practice, etc., and also try to spend some time out on it during the weekends. We like to hang out/camp at the barge harbor/gravel pit (37.22.080, 077.17.925), and plan to spend some weekends there. We will probably cruise down to Williamsburg once or twice as well.

We will also be checking out facilities on the Bay (by car) to try to pick our long-term home for the boat, and might get froggy enough to try the trip into the bay in the boat at some point before then.
Click to expand...

i would call Anchor Point and see if they can rack store a 31 footer. If they can, that would be my first choice based on distance only and I would have an ironclad contract as to drop times from call ahead etc.... The docks there suck. I say that from experience. Next choice would be Small Boat Harbor. I was there for a couple of years. It is a great place to practice and gain confidence. The floating docks are great. The pool is nice if you decide to just hang ouT for a day. IIRC the owner lives on site. The floating docks are to die for. Great people there too. Give me a shout and I can direct you to the best slip in the place if it is still available. I used to practice "docking" at the many private docks along the Appomattox. JayWoodz may chime in here. He is slipped there.

I would stay away from Rockettes. It's note all it's cracked up to be and overpriced. You don't want to be there in a storm. Read the fine print.

Richmond yacht basin is old and getting silted in. Unless you know exactly where the channel is, expect to kiss the bottom.

Jordan point is nice, but something about the weather makes it a fly magnet. A freshly cleaned and waxed white boat at 1800 is a fly covered black boat at 0600.

I cannot speak to the Hopewell City Marina. I have been on the waiting list for a slip there since 1992.


My 2 cents.

EDIT ADD...

If you want to camp on shore, have a beach, horse shoes......the Gravel Pit is great. Bring a nasty bathing suit and expect to throw it out. If you just want to swim off the boat and BBQ on the platform, consider Skinny Dip. It's past gravel pit on the left. Tricky entrance but much cleaner water as it has multiple entrance and egress streams.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info, David. I had written off the Small Boat Harbor because it is so far up the river. Having boated on the Chesdin, I know about the water management problems they have, and worry that the levels would get too low, especially since the river is so narrow that far up. If you say it's good, I'll certainly have to check it out. The proximity to I95 makes it within our driving range.

What was your experience with the CSX bridge near the mouth of the river? The info I have found says that it only has a 10' clearance, and the boat will need at least 11. How is dealing with the swing-out bridge/operator? Also, we wouldn't be able to get back in if we stayed out too late, right?

Lots of good info there - exactly the kind of local knowledge I was hoping for.
 
Oh, and while I was there, all of the large-boat racks at Anchor Point were full, so I don't think I can get in unless it's a slip.
 
Skinny Dip? I'm not sure I'm understanding your guidance there. Is it downstream or up? If it's upstream, are you talking about the flooded area in the middle of the oxbow? Can you toss some GPS numbers at me, and save me from my density? I'm guessing my confusion stems from the fact that we put in at Dutch Gap, and go downstream to hit the pit.

Saying it has a tricky entrance doesn't fill me with joy. I'm already concerned enough with getting into the gravel pit - that seems like a pretty narrow needle to thread even in my 175. But I do know what you mean about throwing the suit away. I ruined 2 pairs of shoes there, and got a really interesting colony of something in my toenails, too. Having the freshwater rinse on the transom will be a godsend this year.
 
dpmulvey said:
I cannot speak to the Hopewell City Marina. I have been on the waiting list for a slip there since 1992.
Click to expand...


That's gotta be some kind of record. You could of had Redskins tickets by now.
 
The only issue I had at Rivers Rest was it is in a busy area of the Chick, it's still open river and the bass boats and go fast fly thru there, a lot of wake in season.
 
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