2022 Chesapeake Bay Gathering (?)

There are so many options that any choice will disappoint someone, but as I come across dates and events I will post them here and see what generates the most enthusiasm!

First consideration: The weekend of May 21st the Harmon Plantation hosts the annual Revolutionary War and Colonial Encampment. Harmon Plantation overlooks the beautiful Sassafras River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The River has several secluded coves for anchoring out and a few marinas that may be able to host a dozen or so boats (with sufficient advanced notice). It can also be a day cruise for those traveling from the C&D canal, and other upper Chesapeake locations, Baltimore, and as far south as the Chesapeake Bay bridge. For those trailering, Havre de Grace has a nice public ramp with ample parking, easy access to major highways, and all services and amenities (including a farmers market and really good locally made ice cream shop!).

Mount Harmon: https://mountharmon.org/
Have de Grace: https://explorehavredegrace.com/busines ... -outdoors/
Sassafras River Marina: http://www.sassafrasharbormarina.com/

Stay tuned for the next suggestion!
 
We’re planning on going back to the Chesapeake then to the SC AICW in early summer as a Great Loop segment.

We didn’t get to Tangier Island or the south bay on the last adventure. Herrington South is very nice as far as five star marina resorts go with over 600 slips and such extravagant flowers and landscaping that it’s a wedding venue.

https://www.herringtonharbour.com/


From Norfolk we plan the Dismal Swamp, the docks on the Albemarle sound that have 30A power (Hertsford, Albemarle Plantation, Edenton, Mackey’s, Columbia) with side trips to Manteo and Ocracoke, Beaufort down to the Waccamaw river, takeout at Waca Weche (wicked side current except at slack tides) then rental car back to pick up the rig. An easy 600-700 water miles.

Don’t count us as officially signing on, but I’ll be watching as your plans develop. The Chesapeake is fantastic cruising, though we had two days of official gales and 5 more days of SCA where we stayed in port. With all that rain the heated pools at the marinas were not warm enough for us. And that’s the worst thing we have to say about cruising on the Chesapeake! Too many Must Sees to list!

Colby,
May would be a great time to cruise down to FL; the snowbirds are heading north and even a Bimini side trip might have the Gulf Stream flat as a pancake. Even if your GPS is on the fritz, you can just follow the Floridians on jet skis.

Cheers!
John
 
Next option: Rock Hall, Maryland.

It is an attraction all its own, but also can be a launch point for a day cruise to Chestertown on the Chester River on Maryland's Eastern Shore, It's the home port for the Schooner Sultana. It's also a historic town with a nice public marina. Otherwise, there are miles of river bends and coves to anchor out.

There are several nice Marinas in Rock Hall, and with advanced notice we can probably secure a dozen slips.

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/chester-river/

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/sulta ... ter-river/
 
If I'm able to make it, my vote would be for anywhere with a launch ramp and safe parking, preferably free or at a reasonable cost ($5/night), and where we could leave our rigs parked for a week or two. Colby
 
colbysmith":iqun9bcj said:
If I'm able to make it, my vote would be for anywhere with a launch ramp and safe parking, preferably free or at a reasonable cost ($5/night), and where we could leave our rigs parked for a week or two. Colby
Click to expand...

When I used to launch out of the public marina in Havre de Grace MD., the fee was a flat $10. I don't know if there is a limit to the number of days, but we've been out from there for 5-6 days without any problem. They just want to know when you plan on coming back (they write it on the parking stub).

If you launch out of Sandy Point State Park (by Annapolis) you can be out for 14 days for a flat fee of under $10 (rate depends on the season).

There is a boat launch from Susquehanna State Park (just up the river from HdG). There parking is $10/night and you can only park for 4 nights (last time I checked).

Chestertown is much nicer than Rock Hall. The Sultana may or may not be there. It is a good haul to Chestertown from HdG.

Chestertown and Rock Hall are mid bay. HdG is the north end. For a week or two of cruising, both are doable. If the gathering is only a long weekend, probably be better to pick one area.

If you are thinking of the mid bay, then there is also the Annapolis area, Baltimore Inner Harbor, and St. Michaels. The problem with the Chesapeake is that there are too many choices.
 
ssobol":1whdo19j said:
colbysmith":1whdo19j said:
If I'm able to make it, my vote would be for anywhere with a launch ramp and safe parking, preferably free or at a reasonable cost ($5/night), and where we could leave our rigs parked for a week or two. Colby
Click to expand...

When I used to launch out of the public marina in Havre de Grace MD., the fee was a flat $10. I don't know if there is a limit to the number of days, but we've been out from there for 5-6 days without any problem. They just want to know when you plan on coming back (they write it on the parking stub).

If you launch out of Sandy Point State Park (by Annapolis) you can be out for 14 days for a flat fee of under $10 (rate depends on the season).

There is a boat launch from Susquehanna State Park (just up the river from HdG). There parking is $10/night and you can only park for 4 nights (last time I checked).

Chestertown is much nicer than Rock Hall. The Sultana may or may not be there. It is a good haul to Chestertown from HdG.

Chestertown and Rock Hall are mid bay. HdG is the north end. For a week or two of cruising, both are doable. If the gathering is only a long weekend, probably be better to pick one area.

If you are thinking of the mid bay, then there is also the Annapolis area, Baltimore Inner Harbor, and St. Michaels. The problem with the Chesapeake is that there are too many choices.
Click to expand...

Very true!

The HdG marina still lists the charge at $10 per day. Susquehanna State Park is an option but if there’s been a decent rain within 48 hours the River can be a boiling mass of debris.

I was planning for a long weekend trip— Friday through Sunday (assuming that most will want to avoid memorial weekend).
 
Through good fortune and the timing of a wedding we were attending in New York, we were able to attend the very first Eastern Shore Gathering in 2005. We were going to cruise for a week after the gathering as Bill and El Fiero's guests on Halcyon, but out of the blue Tom and Kathy Callahan from Alexandria, VA, offered us the use of their CD 22 Otter for the week. Tom has dropped out of sight here on C-Brats but I have been able to re-establish contact, and we have offered him the use of Daydream to cruise the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands, if the border ever really opens up without all the hoops you have to jump through now. I hope he takes us up on this offer.

One of the highlights of this gathering was Banjoman Tom McHugh playing tunes from his album Chesapeake Scenes. That is still some of our favorite music. Our favorite is "The Chester River Song," but they are all wonderful!

I took many of the photos in the album for that wonderful gathering. You may enjoy perusing the album.

Here is one of my favorites - Halcyon and a Chesapeake work boat in the early morning light. There is a certain similarity in their lines!

PICT0148.sized.jpg

We are not likely to return, it is too far and we are now too old to make the drive, but it certainly is still a very fond memory!
 
We could, potentially, be interested. Lower bay, Yorktown to Cape Charles or
Norfolk ICW to Albemarle would be great. MIddle Bay is doable. Steve, if this ends up being upper bay, we might still be interested in making a trip out of Portsmouth/Norfolk. We stayed close to home last year to test the boat out, but should be ready to go in the Spring..
 
kevinnuckles@icloud.com":1ispnsax said:
We could, potentially, be interested. Lower bay, Yorktown to Cape Charles or
Norfolk ICW to Albemarle would be great. MIddle Bay is doable. Steve, if this ends up being upper bay, we might still be interested in making a trip out of Portsmouth/Norfolk. We stayed close to home last year to test the boat out, but should be ready to go in the Spring..
Click to expand...

We tried to do this loop a couple of years ago. But the Dismal swamp canal was closed due to hurricane damage. Did spend some time on the Albemarle sound though. Lots of places let you dock for 48 hours for free.

There used to be a C-Dory joint excursion that did this every year or so, starting on the James River.

AIWW_map.jpg
 
ssobol,

Joan and I have hosted Virginia/North Carolina the mini loop trim many times and would be delighted to do it again. The Dismal Swamp Canal is clear and open and most of the trip is in areas that aren't to exposed, if the WX is bad.

Kevin,
Touch base and lets go on a mini cruise, when you have time. My dock is yours to use for boating in the Hampton Roads area.
 
The Chesapeake is huge and has a vast number of suitable locations. If it makes sense, we can use Havre de Grace as the assembly point and schedule a series of day cruises all around the northern end of the bay.

Destinations such as the C&D canal, Sassafras River, and the Bay Bridge are all within range.

Let me know if there’s interest in this option and I will start making inquiries at suitable marinas, launches, and parking areas.
 
daninPA":us8lxysz said:
How many days should be allocated for this loop?
Click to expand...

Depends on where you start from and how much time you spend in each place. When we did it, we started up the Chickahominy River, stopped in Hampton and Norfolk, cruised to the Albemarle sound, visited a few towns on the sound, and returned through Norfolk and Smithfield. All told it was 13 days.

However, if you start near Norfolk and just do the loop as shown it is 3-4 days. On the Dismal Swamp canal you have to work with the lock schedule (they only operate a few times/day). There is another lock on the ICW at Great Bridge and some bridges, but they operate pretty much on demand.
 
We would join depending on when in May. We have 2 graduations we will need to work around. If this event doesn't work for us we hope to explore the area sometime this spring or summer. Hopefully, we could meet up with some that know the area as we have never been.
 
Has there been any more thought or planning on this? My wife has vacation available in both May and June. The Friday Harbor gathering is in May, however due to travel time and some other reasons for heading out west, (primarily to visit with my brother and to do some cruising around the San Juan Islands), we would have very limited time to swing into that gathering. With the possibility of a Chesapeake gathering, somewhere we've never been and would enjoy checking out, looking at weather and maximizing boat travel with my wife to new destinations, it makes sense to go east in May and west in June. Our May time frame would allow us to be in the Chesapeake area between May 6-15. That's giving us 3 days travel time each way, which of course will depend on where the East Coast gathering will be held.
My suggestions for a gathering, from experience at other gatherings, is primarily having a nearby location for launching that provides relatively secure and inexpensive rig parking for a week or two. If the gathering is primarily a stationary event at a marina, it would be good to have daily activities or short cruises planned. If the gathering is a cruise, then some ideas for anchorages at night, or marinas for those that prefer. (I can do either.) While the few group cruises I've been on with Jim & Kath from Pounder have involved parking at one end then having to rent a car to travel back at the end to pick up our rigs to come back and get our boats, I would much rather prefer we end up where we start. Just my two cents anyway. Thanks. Colby
 
Indeed there has been no insignificant time pouring over Waterway Guide and Maps to identify best locales.

It seems the upper Chesapeake offers the best combination of reasonable driving distance, water access, marinas, and day-trip locations. I would prefer a central location as a base rather than a one-way boat ride.

I will put more options up here soon.
 
We would love to join fellow C-Dory owners. May is a great time to be on the Chesapeake Bay. July and August can be extremely hot and humid. We have a couple of guest slips at our home in downtown St. Michaels and are near two marinas that often host large gatherings. St. Michaels is a wonderful waterfront town and is home to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. There is also a launching ramp right in town. We're also not far from Annapolis on the Western Shore and the quaint town of Oxford on the Eastern Shore. Please keep us posted. We'd be happy to help coordinate things.
(BTW, I am a semi-retired writer and photographer for the boating industry, and perhaps I could get us some coverage.) Sounds like a lot of fun!
 
I'm assuming St Michaels is Maryland. Looks like about 896 miles from my home, so doable in two days, which would give us two more days on the water. :) Colby
 
Back
Top