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Good place to anchor and have kids swim around in Cheasapeake Bay

9K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  rockDAWG 
#1 ·
Specific to Chesapeake Bay (and even more specific, not too far from Herring Bay): I have a 4 and a 6 years old, and i'd like to find a few spots where i can anchor and have the children jump in the water and play, so that cruising becomes more fun for them (and before they demolish the boat when they get bored...)

Obviously safe and clean (relatively to the bay...).

Any suggestion appreciated.

Many thanks
 
#2 ·
I used to keep my boat on the Severn River and there were lots of little nooks and creeks and out of the main channel places we would throw out an anchor and swim, or just lounge in floating chairs (especially when the nettles were too bad).
 
#7 ·
What he said. Their toxin is apparently an allergin, because I knew some people who were completely unaffected by them. But, on the flip side, some people are really affected by them.
 
#5 ·
Rhode River is nice. What used to be High Island is now a shin deep sandbar, great place to wade and swim. Only 13 miles from the bottom of the slot.

Farther away, Trappe creek across from Cambridge has a nice sandy spit.

Most of the coves and creeks along the Choptank are fine for a dip, but no beaches to speak of.

Late summer when the nettles move in, the only option is to go north above the bridge. Dobbins is usually good, but is often overcrowded nowadays. Still, the sandbar on the north end is great for kids.

As a last resort, fill up the dinghy and turn it into a swimming pool. Just don't accidentally pour in a sea nettle. (don't ask...)
 
#6 ·
#9 ·
As mentioned, as July & August approaches, the best time to swim, you're going to find that the nettles that far south will be a real nuisance and sometimes worse. (Thats one of the primary reasons we chose to keep our boat North of the bay bridge)

Consider some other things you can do as well, for those really warm days we have a large storage container we put in the cockpit and fill with water from the dock prior to departure. (if we use bay water to fill the container I add bleach in proper ratio). Kids fishing rods, you never know, they might catch dinner. We had two little play boat attached to a long string, love letting it and pulling it in for what seemed hours. We also rigged a swing from the dodger...all fun things for them.

At 4 yrs old, they are probably to young to start sailing, but the 6 yr old could start doing some things like taking the helm, read the charts and try to figure out the location, learn knots (good practice for me too!), a bird book to identify, etc...

Although we have not done any extended cruising, our longest day for us was a 14 hour sail from the St Marys River to St Michaels or about 90 miles IIRCC. Longest we have been without touching land was four days on the bay...never have they been bored or felt the need to get off the boat, more the Admiral then them LOL Maybe we're just lucky, but I believe it has a lot with how much you choose to involve them in the art of sailing and the cruising life itself, which it sounds like your doing all the right things :)

Cheers
 
#16 ·
rockDAWG:1019914 said:
May be it was just me. When our kids were young, we would not allow our kids swim in the Chesapeake Bay. But at that time, we were in the mid and upper Chesapeake bay. The lower bay is much cleaner. :)
To each their own...

There are places I wouldn't swim; the Patapsco, Back River, to name a few...Hart & Miller Island and North I think is safe. I wouldn't swim in most waters on the bay with an open wound or after a hard rain.

I spent many a summer as a kid on the bay, swam a lot and I seem OK...then again? LOL
 
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