Chesapeake family cruise recommendations, please!

[firestarter]

This weekend is a big one for my young sailing family, we're chartering a boat out of Annapolis and doing our first overnighter on the hook with my wife and I plus our four (2, 5, 7 & 9 year old) kids. My wife has requested that I find us a place to go ashore and get some ice cream with the kids after dinner as the day is winding down. That said, I'm looking for recommendations for easy day sails from Annapolis that'll put me in a position to have a nice family shore leave before bed time.

I'm thinking that it'd be pretty easy to head down to the West River and stop at Galesville and find a place that'll fit the bill but I didn't know if there were better destinations that I'm not thinking of. Since we're likely to have our hands full with the kids I'd like to keep it simple but any recommendations would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[BubbleheadMd]

On the West River, there's Pirate's Cove. There are mooring balls and slips there. There is a decent seafood restaurant that offers good service, is clean and has a nice atmosphere.

Just beyond that, is another seafood restaurant, but it's less kid-friendly, sometimes it ends up as a biker hangout.

When heading up the combined mouths of the West and Rhode Rivers, pass the mouth of the Rhode River on your right, continue on and when you're ready to make the left turn further up the West, you should see a small, white pole (private marker) in the river. Leave this to your port side, because the water shoals on the other side of the pole.

After you've had your fill, you can sail back down the West River, and hang a left into the Rhode River that you passed earlier. Almost immediately off to port is a small cove with a small green can bouy in it. People anchor for the night in there all the time.

You can also continue on about 10 minutes further, and sleep in another, much larger, more sheltered cove, also to port. If you consult your chart, you'll see "High Island", that's the cove I'm referring to, but the island itself is nearly gone compared to what it used to be.

Pay attention to the orange/white info bouys at High Island as they point out where any shoals are.

I live on the Rhode, and John Pollard lives or knows the West River really well so he should be able to expand on this if needed.

[NickPapagiorgio]

I've charted in the Chesapeake a few times but usually out of either Harve de Grace or Rockhall. Both are north of Annapolis. When we left out of Rock Hall, we went South to St. Michaels and anchored the first night. Then we sailed to Annapolis and docked the second night. The third night we spent in Baltimore, and then back to Rock Hall. All of those destinations are within a day's sail and each offers something different.

If you're only spending one night out, you may want to consider heading over to St. Micheals... there's plenty of places to get ice cream and I'm pretty sure they have a water taxi service. Also, you could do a circumnavigation around Kent Island so that your way back would be different from your way there. For example, you could go south around Kent Island on the way there, and then north through the Kent Narrows on your way home... or vice versa. The only possible issue may be the distance involved in getting to or from St. Michaels via the Kent Narrows. I haven't plotted it out, but it seems a little far.

Anyway, good luck and post some pictures of your trip.

Kevin

[Tempest]

St Michaels Island...!!

Down the bay, bang a left into the eastern bay and a right up the miles river.
5 hours...or less.

Great Ice cream place..short walk to town....nice park grounds at the museum. Get a museum membership..and you can dock there and use their showers.

[JohnRPollard]

A couple of questions:

- Will you have a dinghy?

- How many nights will you be out?

I think Bubblehead covered West River pretty well. I'll add that if you have a dinghy, you can anchor (for free) in the roadstead beyond the moorings in Galesville. (You can even tie up to the community dock, temporarily (&free) if your draft isn't too deep.)

There used to be a real nice old country general store in Galesville, where you could get breakfast/lunch/provisions/ice cream. But unfortunately, it closed down a number of years ago. The restaurants BH mentioned will be your best bet for ice cream.

I also like BH's recommendation for Rhode River. It's a good spot for kids if you have a dinghy and can take them ashore to some of the little islands. No place to get ice cream, though. And the motorboat traffic on weekends can be a bit tedious.

Nick's suggestion of St. Michael's is a great one, but reading your post it sounds like you may have only one night? If so, St. M's is a bit of a stretch since you will spend much of your time in transit coming and going. Kids and moms usually like a fair bit of down time for swimming/exploring ashore and playing/lounging around on the stationary boat. St. M's might be too ambitious.

I might offer one other idea: How about daysailing out of Annapolis, then returning to snag a mooring and taking the water taxi ashore for ice cream? Spend a very comfortable night securely moored in the harbor, then out for another daysail on Sunday. Maybe head up and under the Bay Bridge as a destination/objective -- the kids will love it. Or if it happens to blow like stink, you have the option of going up the Severn.

Yes, not as adventurous. But, if this is one of your few outings with the kids and mom aboard a sailboat, the key is little or no drama/stress so everyone will want to come back for a longer charter next time.

Okay, I'm rambling here, but I have one other suggestion: If you want to get out of Annapolis, you could come out the Severn, hook around Thomas Point Light (always fun to sail past with kids), head up the South River a bit and then duck into Harness Creek. There is a really nice park there ("Quiet Waters"), where kids can go ashore and walk the trails. There is also a little boat rental shop that rents kayaks, pedalboats, etc, and even has ice cream and popsicles. You can anchor just off their dock (leave a minimum of several boatlengths to avoid crowding them). It's a good spot for kids, in my opinion, and a well protected anchorage.

Have fun, whatever you do!

[firestarter]

Thanks for all the answers so far, very helpful!

To answer specific questions:

1) I'll be out for one night.

2) I don't currently have a dingy in the charter but I can rent one if it makes sense. Opinions?

3) The boat is a Jeanneau 42 DS and it draws 5.5 feet.

I've anchored out in the Rhode River before over by Big Island, I really liked it there. It's been suggested to me that I should try to grab a mooring instead of anchoring if possible to avoid a sleepless night of checking for dragging. The anchor rode is all chain on this boat but it doesn't look like there's a lot of it (maybe 100-150 feet?) so I'm looking up with the right ratio is for all chain (I'm used to 7:1 with chain/nylon rodes). It looks like it's going to be light winds this weekend and no chance of storms so anchoring should be pretty straight forward if I don't get a mooring.

I had thought of doing the day cruise out and about and then coming back into Spa Creek and hooking a ball as John suggested but I think the family wants to go a little further afield (they've seen plenty of the harbor). The South River to Harness Creek trip sounds like it might be a lot of fun, I'll talk to the wife about that one and see what she says.

I think St Michael's might be a bit longer than we want to spend under sail with the kids, we'll have to play it by ear a bit and see how it goes. It sounds like a great destination though, I'd love to do a good long sail like that if weather and family permit.

I'm thinking we're not going to do a lot of swimming this weekend since the sea nettles are out in force, any reports on how thick they are in the West/Rhode/South Rivers?

Thanks for all the great info so far!

[SVAuspicious]

Given the forecast winds this weekend you are likely to motor one direction or the other for most of the ice cream places.

I think John's idea of daysailing around Annapolis is decent, as is the South River idea. Can you pack ice cream in a cooler with dry ice as treat if there is no freezer on the boat?

[JohnRPollard]

Sounds to me like you have more than enough chain/rode. You can get by with 75 feet or so in most places. Yes, grabbing a solid mooring is a luxury, but I wouldn't worry about anchoring (assuming the anchor is properly sized).

If you can spring for it, I would get the dinghy. It will give you a lot of flexibility that you won't otherwise have -- and dinghies are usually a lot of fun for kids. Otherwise, you'll need a slip or water taxi to get ashore, which limits your destination options.

When we go to Harness Creek, we usually treat the kids and let them rent a pedal-boat for an hour. They seat four and it gives the kids a good work-out pedaling around the anchorage. It's also a nice way for them to get a little bit wet when there are too many jelly fish for swimming.

I hope you guys have a great time!

[Tempest]

I wouldn't rule out St Michaels....with a 42 foot boat you could probably get there in less than 4 hours from Annapolis....Bring the Dinghy..you can explore..
Leave early enough and you'll get there before noon.
Plenty of time for the kids to take a nap, then wander the streets in daylight...have dinner, ice cream..

[chef2sail]

St Micheals would be the best place. Pleanty of room and stores and things for both kids and adults. Join the museum as was said for the free docking or anchor. 100 ft of chain is plenty as most of the places to anchor are measured in the low teens or singke didgits

Dave