Launch facilities in Chesapeake Bay

[DanInCanton]

Hello All,

I am in the process of planning a 2 to 3 week cruise of northern Chesapeake Bay in May, launching from either Havre de Grace or somewhere on the Elk River. I’m looking for a launch ramp at either of these locations where I can dunk my Mac 25 and store the pickup and trailer for the duration of the cruise. From my research so far, it looks like the City Marina in Havre de Grace might be the best launching spot, but I don’t think they would appreciate me taking up a parking space in their lot for that length of time. Any locals out there know of a suitable marina/public launch that would be suitable?

Thanks,
Dan
Sailorguides.com

[THE CUSCUS]

Greetings Dan
You're heading to my cruising grounds. I'm over on the North East river at Bay Boat Works. They have a nice ramp and I'm sure would have storage available for your rig.
http://bayboatworks.com/
Have you used the ActiveCaptain website? https://activecaptain.com/
They show all the marinas and boat ramps, plus give reviews. There are many places in that area you could launch from. Havre de Grace is a nice little town, but the sailing space is limited and its a haul (a narrow one at that) to get down into the bay. I would stick to the eastern shores. Two to three weeks is a long time to spend up at the top, what are your cruising plans? There are quite afew really nice gunk holes that are perfect for our macs. My boat goes in her slip in afew weeks and by May I'll be sailing every weekend so maybe we can get together for a sail and talk Macs. If you need/want any additional info, let me know. I was recently in Key West, and recieved some local knowledge help/info from a fellow site member (JoeG), so I'd be glad to return the favor to another. PM me, if you want, or post on this thread.
Jim

[DanInCanton]

Thanks very much for the info. I hope to cruise down to the Patuxent River and back, poking into all the rivers and creeks as I go (I figure I’ll average one day per major river, maybe two if there is anything interesting to look at ashore). The schedule I’ve worked out so far has me on the water for four days and I’m only to the Fairlee Creek.
I cruised part of the middle Bay out of Solomons for a week in 2000 and have always wanted to get back and give the bay a thorough looking over. I don’t know that I have the stamina at my age to circumnavigate the entire Bay in one trip, so I plan to cover the northern half this year and the southern half possibly next. I’ll be bringing a line and net and can’t wait to waste a day or two as a “chickennecker" . Maryland still allows us to molest the local crustaceans without a license don’t they?

I wasn’t aware of the ActiveCaptain site, but it’s in my bookmarks now...thanks again. I was aware of the long passage out of Havre de Grace, but I figure I might as well see the whole north Bay while I’m there. Launching from the Northeast River requires just about as long of a passage down to the Elk Neck, doesn’t it? At this point, I’m still open to change as I work up an itinerary.

When I firm up my dates, I’ll definitely get in touch and see if we can meet up. It’s always a treat to meet a fellow Mac owner, especially one who has the fine taste to sail a classic 25 . I hope to get to the Keys myself next winter, so we’ll have plenty to talk about.

Best,
Dan

[kmclemore]

Elk Neck has a great launch site, down near the end of the neck, past the Boy Scout camp, inside Elk Neck State Park. Great parking and an easy ramp. I've launched my X there with no problems.

One caveat - in late summer the biting bugs are HORRENDOUSLY VICIOUS. Avoid at all costs.

[parrothead]

Hi Dan,

You mention Fairlee Creek, so since that's where we've been keeping our boat for the past several seasons, I decided to chime in.

Jim has made a nice offer, and I do believe that Bay Boat Works would be a better departure site in terms of having space to store your tow rig. Another option is our previous marina, located on the Bohemia River, Bohemia Vista. When we kept our there, we had a Mac 25 alongside. They are under relatively new ownership, but still advertise their ramp and parking facilities. http://www.bohemiavistamarina.com/amenities.html

Be sure that you do include a night in Fairlee Creek -- among the nicest sheltered anchorages you'll ever visit; peaceful during the week and "jumpin" on the weekends, in season. Jellyfish Joel's Tiki Bar is lots of fun and Mangrove's Restaurant, overlooking Mears Great Oak Landing has a great menu (both are open only on weekends "in season"). http://mearsgreatoaklanding.com/

As for "chickenneckin", yes, you can still do some crabbing in Maryland without a license. You'll find the current rules and catch limits here. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/re ... e=bluecrab

If you will be stopping by, let me know.

Doug

[Tomfoolery]

Adding upper Chesapeake Bay to my bucket list . . .

[RobertB]

My wife and I spent a week on the northern bay last year - and visited all the locations mentioned so far. I personally chose Elk Neck State Park since I had a yearly MD Park Pass (I generally launch out of Sandy Point) and entry/parking was no charge. The only advantage Havre de Grace has, providing parking is not an issue, is that you do not need to pay an $18 toll to go over the bridge north of Havre de Grace.

[NiceAft]

I found this ramp locator on the BOATUS site. I hope you can open it.

http://www.boatus.com/ramps/search.asp#

Ray

[THE CUSCUS]

Dan, you're correct, it's just as long a haul from Bay Boat Works to the "bay", but it's more sailable and less crowded. There are commercial barges that go up to HdG. The town of North East is a nice place to go, there are shops and eateries there, as well as a West Marine. I would def go out the C & D canal and visit Chester City, another cool old bay town. They have a city marina, and that early in the season, the stink pots won't have the place monopolized yet. Nice anchorages in Turners Creek ( up the Sasafras), Worton Creek, Still Pond....all on the eastern shore. The western shore rivers have more civilization and fewer good anchorages. Keep in contact and let us know where/when you decide to put in.

[Catigale]

I have left my rig at Elk Neck for a week while at work at conference in Baltimore Inner Harbor with no problems.

I once did an evening sail and motor up the Bay arriving at midnight...absolutely memorable

Do file a float plan with both someone at home and someone local from the Board.

[Matt19020]

We slipped last year at Maryland Marina... Middle river MD awesome marina there is a bar/restaurant on site. It is a nice sail across the Bay past Pooles Island and back. It is only a day trip to Annapolis, Baltimore or Rock Hall. Last Year we sailed from Middle River to Rock Hall, St. Michael's, Annapolis, Baltimore and back home in 5 days. The Marina is about 60/40 sail vs power. My only complaint no floating docks. There is a live web cam on site if you wanted to check it out http://www.marylandmarina.net/aboutus.html

[DanInCanton]

Just an update for any interested parties...a shoreside project took over my life over the last couple months and I won't have Vagabond ready to sail in time to meet my original mid-May travel window, so I'm rescheduling my cruise for early-mid August instead. Thanks again for all the very helpful info posted to this thread.

On a related note, the Admiral and I made a weekend getaway trip of visiting the Annapolis spring boat show last weekend and I got to check out some of the launch options first hand. At the show, I came across a West Wight Potter 19 with a neat folding companionway hatch that converts into a cockpit table. If anyone else is interested in stealing the idea for our Macs, here are some photos:





Dan

[THE CUSCUS]

Dan, July & Aug are the worst times for sailing in the upper Chessy.......very sunny, hot, and little to no wind with surprise thunderstorms. I'd just hate to see you haul your boat all that way and be disappointed.

[DanInCanton]

Oops! I thinkI had heard that before but forgot in my zeal to get out there this year. I could possibly make it out in early June or definitely in September. What's your opinion of those months in general?

[THE CUSCUS]

Either of those windows would be much better for sailing. There will probably be fewer stinkpots out in Sept, as they tend to go away after labor day. Also, the days are shorter in the fall. You said you wanted to fish, I think, and I have no idea how the fishing is, so you might want to check into that.