Seeking Chesapeake (Annapolis) itinerary advice

[djtopper]

Planning a long weekend trip (3 days+nights) from Annapolis very soon aboard a FP Orana 44. Have gotten some input but thought I'd check here too. My general thinking is to have one day/night at anchor (solitude) and one day/night docked someplace (sight seeing).

A friend (owner of the boat I'm chartering) suggested the following two plans which allow some flexibility wrt. weather.

1. Sail to St. Michaels on day 1 (all day?). Spend some time on St. M on day 2 (AM) then sail up the Wye river (afternoon + eve) for some swimming and solitude.

2. Sail over to Tilghman Creek on day 1 (for some seclusion that afternoon and evening) then down to St. M for day 2 (again for afternoon + evening).

Day 3 would be sailing back to Annapolis either way.

The thing I'm not sure about is the the distance and time it takes to get to eitehr St. M or Tilghman creek. The first itinerary seems longer as the distance from T creek to St. M seems about as far as Annapolis to St. M.

So I'm leaning towards suggestions #1.

Anyhow, curious to hear some other suggestions. I haven't sailed the Chesapeake much and part of this trip is somewhat of an experiment both to explore the area AND turn on some friends to sailing.

[TheOffice]

Annapolis to St Michaels is about 25 miles. Certainly doable on that boat! If you want a longer sail, consider Solomons and Tilghman.
You could also do Baltimore and Rock Hall, but I don't know about finding a spot for a cat in Baltimore.

[Paperbird]

Couple notes to consider:

- Wye River. Either Dividing Creek or Granary Creek should give you the solitude you want. Both are easy short trips from St M's - almost too close for any meaningful sailing
- St Michaels. Great choice for an evening ashore
- another option. Rhode River (western shore) easy in/out. Fairly close to Annapolis (13 Miles) Easy sail across from St M's. Also gets you out into the Bay.

I'm sure others will have great suggestions as well.

[ranger58sb]

DJ, if your purpose is more underway time... Tilghman Creek is en route St. Michaels at the mouth of the Miles River so doesn't extend time underway unless you backtrack. (Not sure what you meant by "The first itinerary seems longer as the distance from T creek to St. M seems about as far as Annapolis to St. M." unless you're thinking about Knapp's Narrows at the top of Tilghman Island.)

OTOH, if your purpose is more quiet time at anchor, any of the creeks on the Miles (Leeds, Hunting) or Wye or Wye East Rivers (Shaw Bay, etc.) can be useful... and you can pick how much underway time you want in between.

The suggested Rhode River anchorage is a good one, and it also gives you the option to go into Galesville for dinner or lunch or whatever before or after anchoring.

I think Solomons is something like 45-50 miles... and we often break that up with a stop at Knapp's Narrows... but that might not work well to get you a night at anchor...

-Chris

[cheoah]

Number 1 looks good. Chances are the wind will be on the beam or abaft crossing over, should be fun. I enjoyed my trip to wye east, but as a cattleman I had the bonus of visiting the historic Wye Angus herd while I rode out a blow.

St Michael's is a cool town. I could not afford the dozen blues steamed at the crab shack on the water there but the table next to me had 5-6 leftover and offered them up. I anchored out in the miles and used the water taxi. Good times. Have fun.

[djtopper]

Thanks for the replies. The Tilghman creek I was looking at was the wrong one, that's why I thought it was so far. There's another about 30mi N of St. Ms ... that's the "wrong" one.

But yeah, I think I see the right one now.