Sept. Chesapeake Bay Cruise Suggestions

WDCboater

WDCboater

Member
Oct 3, 2010
962
Washington, DC
Boat Info
2010 350 Sundancer
Raymarine c95 GPS
KVH Satellite
Engines
Twin Mercury 8.1 Horizon V-Drives
We are in the planning stages of a four day weekend cruise from DC to the Bay. We're looking at Sept 12-15.

Any good suggestions around that timeframe of things going on or places to stop?

Our first day we plan on something near the Potomac, but for the a second stop we don't mind straying a little. We don't want to go all the way up to Annapolis or south to VA Beach.
 
An update:

It looks like we're going to do night 1 at Tangier Island. Day/night 2 in Crisfield, and Day/Night 3 in Solomon's.

Any thoughts, tips info is appreciated.
 
Ryan,

Day 1 stops at Solomon's Zahnisers Marina, goodpool and restaurant right there as it's a pretty good haul from DC.

Day 2 run across the bay to Tangier Island and stop for lunch and look aroundas it's not much more than that unless you are a real tree hugger IMHO thentake the cut through and continue out the backside on to Onancock Town dock fordinner at Mallard’s beside the town dock. Next morning get up and walk intotown all of 1,000'+- and hit the General Store on the corner for breakfast andthe town Bakery before you leave with some fresh unbelievable inexpensive goodies.Night 2 in Crisfield.
Day/Night 3 back across the bay and up the Rappahannockabout 10 miles then head up Carter’s Creek to Tides Inn and the small town ofIrvington. Check out Tides Inn on line as they have pool and other things suchas a 9 whole par three course and other things to do. If you don’t want to goup the Rappahannock river that far you can stop at the month of the river onthe Northern side of the river at Windmill Point. Pretty good Tiki bar, pool,bands on Saturday night and great sunset looking West across the river in theevening.
Day 4 I assume you are headed back up the bay and Potomacheaded home or we can give you other stops and info if desired again it’s apretty good run. If you want more info drop I a PM and I’ll provide additionalinfo.
Gimme Time
 
John

Thanks for the tips. We're definitely staying at Zahnisers. My thought on Tangier is just some quiet R&R. We're going to have our dogs with us so we thought we'd hike around the island and may take them over to the sand for a bit. I'll check out Carter's Creek. We may have some people meet us in Crissfield, so that was our thought of stopping there for a night.

Day 4 will be spent on the trek back home.

I've plotted everything and it looks like about a 275mi round trip. About 1.5 tanks of gas and around 12-13 total hours of cruising.

Thanks,
 
Thanks for the advice. We have a reservation at Zahnisers. We won't make to St Michaels this time, maybe next season.
 
Just spent last weekend in Solomons at Spring Cove Marina, we had a great time. People are very nice and helpful, they also have a shuttle bus to take you around town at no charge. We will be going back there again. We spent a night at Tangier last summer. Nice quiet place for some R&R and the people there were nice too. Sounds like you will be having a great weekend. Keep us posted.
 
Nodrog said:
Just spent last weekend in Solomons at Spring Cove Marina, we had a great time. People are very nice and helpful, they also have a shuttle bus to take you around town at no charge. We will be going back there again. We spent a night at Tangier last summer. Nice quiet place for some R&R and the people there were nice too. Sounds like you will be having a great weekend. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I'll post updates.
 
We are back from our journey around the middle bay. I've posted a trip report on my blog:
http://travelatrandom.com/articles/9-17/middle-chesapeake-bay-cruise

Here's a condensed video version: https://vimeo.com/74753039

Trip went well with the exception of a very rough ride across the bay last Thursday. The river was flat calm, but we encountered 4-5' waves a few miles into the bay that lasted until we were almost all the way to Tangier. We burned a ton of gas going through the rough seas and arrived in Tangier lower on fuel that we would have liked. Thankfully we were able to get gas in town before departing the next day for Crisfield.

Tangier is worth a visit. It's very different and does have a nice beach. This is a quiet destination. We ended up having dinner on the boat.

Crisfield was a bit depressing. The marina is very nice, the town is like a ghost town. Solomons was my favorite spot. I would definitely go back.
 
After buying a 2001 260 sundancer and having a bunch of engine trouble in my first month ($5500), I recently made a planned trip with my father from VB to Tangier (9/8) for the night, then on to St Michaels where we rented a house on the water to meet the rest of the family for a week long reunion. Tangier was quiet, different and very enjoyable. Old Mr. Parks, owner of Parks marina, will tell you stories of his 40 years as a waterman as long as you like. And the family style breakfast at the Chesapeake house kept us going all the way to St. Michaels. Seas were heavy both legs (3-5 ft), and I ran pretty hard (3hrs each leg), but the boat performed perfectly.
This was my first "big trip" with this boat (or any for that matter). I wanted to jump right in and span the majority of the bay. Glad I did as I will not hesitate to plan another trip to any destination within the Chesapeake. That is why I bought the boat and I intend to use it accordingly and not let distance intimidate me into staying in my own back yard. The trip was awesome, boat in top shape, and I am looking forward to many more adventures. Looking forward to reading about all of yours as well.
Al
 
This is good to hear.

Let me make sure I understand correctly, it took you 3 hr to go from VA beach to Tangier? And 3 hr from Tangier to St Michaels? We are thinking of VA beach next season.

It took us 45 minutes to go from Tangier to Crisfield in 2-3' waves. It took us 2.5 hours to go from Crisfield to Solomon's.
 
I cruised at about 28-29mph though it was a pretty rough ride. The only smooth stretch was from Tangier back to VB and it took just under 3hrs. I live well inside an inlet which takes about 45 minutes of that drive time.
 
araxton said:
I cruised at about 28-29mph though it was a pretty rough ride. The only smooth stretch was from Tangier back to VB and it took just under 3hrs. I live well inside an inlet which takes about 45 minutes of that drive time.
Click to expand...

Cool. The first day was very rough in our 350. It got better after that.
 
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