Best place to keep a sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay if you live in Philadelphia

[MJBrown]

Since you've settled on Rock Hall make sure you check out the Sailing Emporium and Osprey Point. Both require a lengthier walk into town but in my opinion are worth it. (not sure of the prices though) Beautiful grounds and well kept buildings at each. Keep in mind that there can be a fair amount of noise from some of the bars in town. Something you may not notice if you're shopping for a slip in the off season. Happy searching!

[sck5]

I have my boat at Haven Harbour. They are really first rate. Excellent riggers and mechanics too. (Not cheap but they do it right the first time and if they dont, they redo it on their dime, not mine)

[midlifesailor]

Man if 2 hours driving gets you to a marina on the bay proper vs. an hour driving to land you 3/4 of an hour up a tributary, I'd say you're nuts not to drive the extra distance. The bay is too big and rich to explore in a lifetime. Spending hours to-ing and fro-ing up a creek to get to the bay is a waste of precious sailing time.

The closest bay access to me is about 1.5 hours with no traffic snarls, but I love the mid/lower bay, so we choose to drive over 3 hours to our boat.

Fair Winds and Welcome to the Chesapeake!

[chef2sail]

Check out Habor haven,,,first rate people.

[motovationcycles]

Check Swan Creek in Rock Hall, Nice place with nice folks. Ask for Lee Bair and tell him Dan Kenney sent you!

[sevent]

I'd have to agree with the last post re Swan Creek Marina: Family run, laid back, nice people, very fair rates.

[ekenna]

I am also from philly actually ambler. Hello neighbor to Mary Lou from Fort Washington. My only comment is that as you go further south the price of everything seems to go up. The sasafras marinas were very over priced. I think rock hall was 50% more than what I am paying on the bohemia. but as others has aleady said it a 2 day sail to rock hall for me.

[ekenna]

Also when I go down that way I go blue route to 95 south to 495 to 95 (stay in the left hand lanes until your past the dover beach exit during the summer) and get off just before the toll on 896. I take a right at the 1st light to go to elkton and then get on 213.

[MJBrown]

For a more scenic route stay on Rt896 for apx 10 mins more. You'll cross over the C&D Canal, past a small municipal airport on your right and come to a large intersection with an Exxon Gas Station on your left (it's where Rt 301 and 896 intersect). At that light make a right hand turn. It will lead you to the next traffic light which is Rt213 (takes 10mins). Make a left and follow
Rt 213 south. You'll pass by Winbak Farms that breeds and trains standard bread horses (trotters vs thorobread). It was our favorite part of the trip to the Sassafras.

[mltroy]

I think you are right about the costs but to us, when we made the decision in 2000, it was worth it to be here in Rock Hall where it is a day's sail or less to many of our favorite destinations (Worton, Baltimore, Magothy, Lankford Creek, Corsica River, St. Michaels, Miles River, Annapolis, Galesville, Rhode River, Tilghman Island etc., etc.) What we didn't count on was how much we would love being in Kent County. We found ourselves coming down to the boat every weekend whether we intended to go sailing or not. We finally resolved that issue by me retiring early (my husband was already retired), selling the house in PA and moving here. Of course now we don't go sailing as much, I think simply because we are not on the boat every weekend. But, the boat is only 3 miles from the house, still at Swan Creek.

Mary Lou
Rhodes 22 Fretless
Rock Hall, MD

Originally Posted by ekenna

I am also from philly actually ambler. Hello neighbor to Mary Lou from Fort Washington. My only comment is that as you go further south the price of everything seems to go up. The sasafras marinas were very over priced. I think rock hall was 50% more than what I am paying on the bohemia. but as others has aleady said it a 2 day sail to rock hall for me.