6 day cruise out of rock hall

[ekenna]

As my signature states I am currently boatless so we are chartering for 6 days out of haven harbor. I was thinking of maybe exploring the chester river for a day or so. Never been there so asking for local knowledge.

According to my guide book Queenstown 6 foot draft can go in and I will be renting a boat with less than 4.5 foot. Has anyone been in this creek? Look like we could anchor and then dinghy in to town for a stroll.

A little farther up is reed creek which appears to also have a tricky entrance but once past the point look like a reasible anchorage. Then there is corsica river or grays inn creek. They look fairly straight forward. I probably would not go any farther up the chester than these.

Any information on any of these would be good.

After that was thinking of maybe shooting through kent narrows and maybe exploring the wye rivier. But then I read the recent post of shoaling of the narrows. Advice on the narrows? Advice on the Wye?

After that it was going to be to the western shore and maybe annapolis or up to baltimore inner harbor.

[kb3pwc]

You can have a terrific time on the Chester. All these locations are pretty close together so I do not know if you are looking to spend part of the day going back and forth on the river but you can be assured that it will not take you long to get from one spot to another.

Queenstown is a nice spot to visit. Honor the small red nun as you turn from the Chester to head to QT. Stay close to the green marks as you go in and swing wide around the sand spit to your port side as you enter the harbor. If you then swing around the spit, you can start to head up to the port side of the harbor. Those who hug the starboard edge of the harbor traveling past the docks to starboard will usually promptly run aground. You can land a dinghy on the landing road between the old mansion and the new new mega waterfront home but do keep your dinghy on the landing road side of the fences. You can also land around the corner at the waterman's piers. We never do that so I have little information there. At Queenstown you can walk to the outlet mall. Oh I know, kind of a funny thing to do by boat but you can pick up a book or some clothing or some interesting treats at the Pepperidge Farm Outlet or the deli, kitchen store out at the western end of the mall.

Reed Creek is a fun adventure but if you really want a challenge, try Grove Creek. Oh boy!! You pass so close to the shore, you could reach out and touch the bank with your boat hook.

Chestertown is a nice stop. Don't know if the Sultana is in but that is fun to see. Also the Farmer's Market in the town square if fun to get fresh vegetables and baked goods.

Grey's Inn Creek is quiet, usually. The Corsica seems to have more and more power boats backing up to a little sandy beach and it is party central.

I am jealous. We have enjoyed the Chester for years but have been having a refit done on our vessel so my data is about 1.5 years old. I did talk with a friend who had reported shoaling (this year) at Kent Narrows but now he thinks it was due to the wind blowing hard, reducing depth in the North Channel.

Have a great time!! Be sure to share your tales of adventure.

Leslie
s/v Tango, CR 34
still lying in Oxford, MD

[chef2sail]

We anchor in Greys Inn,,,for peace and quiet. Corsica has the old Russian Embassy where they monitored the clandestiner traffic from NSA and Ft Meade undetected for years in the 60 and 70s. Our favorite is up Lanford Creek to Cackaway Island about 1 miles where the Bald eagles have nests.
All these are withing about 5 miles. and a 4 hour sail from Rock Hall.

From there I would do Shaw Bay on Wye River through the narrows. Anout 4 hours or so You can get throuh even though it is schoaled.

Next I would do St Michaels

Next I would go down easrtern Bay accross the bay to Rhode Roiver and High Point.

The Annapokis

Then Inner harbor

What happened to your guys boat. Harbor haven charters is a good one.

Dave

[aa3jy]

On High holidays like Memorial and Labor days we look for places like Queenstown where local knowledge keeps the number of anchored to a minimum. If it appears that Queenstown seems crowded(counting the masts) we'll go up the Chester to Reed Creek..then if you're really confident about your skills try Grove Creek off Reed..now that's a real eye opener!!

[PalmettoSailor]

Dave's recommended itinerary is similar to my trip out of HHS late last season. If you do B'more, you can choose a marina (we used Henderson's Wharf) or if you don't need that, there is a free wharf at the end of Fells Point. It's a great place to visit by boat but it's a long way up the Patapsco.

Try to hit Naptown during the week and you should have no problems getting a mooring.

If Shaw Bay is too crowded you could go on up the Wye to Dividing creek which is really nice and secluded.

St. Mary's is a great stop also though the marina's are pricy and anchorage is somewhat limited.

[lancelot9898]

Originally Posted by kb3pwc

I did talk with a friend who had reported shoaling (this year) at Kent Narrows but now he thinks it was due to the wind blowing hard, reducing depth in the North Channel.

Leslie
s/v Tango, CR 34
still lying in Oxford, MD

Hi Leslie,

You're right about the wind driven tides. We were out yesterday and had something like 2 feet under our 5'8" keel. Just stay away from red marker 4. I always favor the green side of the channel, but the day we went aground the wind and current pushed us outside that channel as we rounded red marker 6 so now I just stay closer to that marker as we go north out the channel. Excluding red marker 4, the minimum depth is still between red marker 6 and 8 and I don't think any side is favorable over the other between those markers. On the day we went aground, we touched bottom there but were able to plow through. After rounding red 6 on the day we went aground, the wind and current pushed us out of the channel on the green side where we sat for over an hour until a large power boat was kind enough to pull us off.

Hope you get Tango under sail and power soon! We have a new staysail on order and yesterday blew out the main so maybe a new main will be in the offering soon. Getting tired of using that sailrite machine.

[kb3pwc]

After lots of searching for the offending part, it appears that we may be able to run our engine. If any of you are out on the Choptank or Little Choptank this holiday weekend, give us a holler on the radio. We have no idea where we will be going. Cambridge? Hudson Creek? Tripp Creek. So many good places to go, so little time to go there.

I am sure the boats will be plentiful on the waters. I am just delighted to think I might be one of them. Dee, I am sorry to hear about your main blowing out. But as I remember those sails were not new??? Oh Boy, new sails! That is as good as the news we can run our diesel. We will let you know when we head back to the Chester. Will hope to meet up with you and share a meal at anchor.

Happy Memorial Day to all and Thanks to all you Veterans. We would be speaking some other language if it were not for you.

Leslie

s/v Tango, CR 34
lying in Oxford

[4arch]

We've anchored in Queenstown Creek a few times and have enjoyed it quite a bit. It hasn't been overcrowded and a lot of the powerboats in there at noon leave before dark. We did manage to bump bottom on the way in last summer with a 4'-3" draft but that was right around slack tide. Once in, there's decent water, especially on the north branch of the creek (which is where everybody anchors anyway). The town's not much--there's a pizzeria at the center of town, the outlet mall across route 301, and some nice old houses but that's really it.

[ekenna]

The short and sweet of it. I had the boat surveyed to get insurance. Surveyor said the main bulkheads were rotting out and needed to be replaced. I tried to repair it myself but gave up when I saw how far in the bulkhead went. The local repair guy said it would cost 5000 to 6000 for him to repair it and I did not want to put that much into it. So I sold it to a guy for 1000 who says he will fix it up.

So I am boatless.

[ekenna]

Thanks for the info on chester and wye. What about these rivers west,rhode, and south rivers?