Chesapeak Bay in August ?

[redsky49]

Originally Posted by chef2sail

We keep our boat on Rock Creek , Patapsco. As others have said the Bay is endless in it's ability to find new anchorages, creeks and places to travel to, anchor in and explore. There really is no other place like it.

That being said we also bail out to the LI Sound and New England for 3weeks every summer. It's on the average 10 to 15 degrees cooler once you hit the coast at Cape May and through the LI Sound. You don't Ned more than 3 weeks to enjoy a lot of the quaint little towns of the Sound like Northport Port Jefferson, Mattiuk! Greenport, Sag Harbor, Old Saybrooke, Essex, NewLondon, Mystic to name a few. Also Newport and Block are certainly doable in that time frame.

I say go north in August. Explore all the Bat has to offer when those areas are shut down in March through May, and September through November are the best times for cruising on the Bay
Dave

Can't argue with any of that, though I have always found the cruising more expensive - fewer anchorages and more mandatory moorings and/or marinas - than on the Chesapeake. However, you will soon be in lobster country which makes it all worthwhile

Still, up and back in three weeks might seem like a bit of a rush, especially if you have to sit tight for a day or two due to weather, and I would definitely watch the weather this year, particularly for the Delaware Bay and rounding Cape May.

Hayes is on the York, so a possible plan might be to banzai it all the way to the C&D Canal in one jump (roughly 95 nm). Maybe anchor on the Sassafras. Then take the first good weather window through the Canal, down the Bay and to Cape May or further if conditions allow. Third day becomes a challenge, as it is a long slog to the north, particularly if starting from Cape May.

All of this changes if you have plenty of warm bodies aboard and can split watches (this assumes you will be able to sleep well while underway, sometimes a challenge in a small boat), allowing you to keep plowing north toward Hells Gate (coordinate with tides), and the Sound.

If you are on an unknown/untested boat, I just might be a little less ambitious in my planning, though the OP would be the best to judge that.

In any case it sounds like a great summer cruise.

[chef2sail]

Hayes is on the York, so a possible plan might be to banzai it all the way to the C&D Canal in one jump (roughly 95 nm). Maybe anchor on the Sassafras. Then take the first good weather window through the Canal, down the Bay and to Cape May or further if conditions allow. Third day becomes a challenge, as it is a long slog to the north, particularly if starting from Cape May.

All of this changes if you have plenty of warm bodies aboard and can split watches (this assumes you will be able to sleep well while underway, sometimes a challenge in a small boat), allowing you to keep plowing north toward Hells Gate (coordinate with tides), and the Sound.

If you are on an unknown/untested boat, I just might be a little less ambitious in my planning, though the OP would be the best to judge that. Redsky49

Good points.

I looked up whre Hayes was and your are right.

Pretty far south. 65 miles to Solomons on the Pauxtuxat, another 65 to the Sassafras, a long day to Cape May...another 75. Then up the NJ coast. Might be better to bite the bullet and go outside overnight direct to Cape May.

We go from the Patapsco through the C&D Canal (55 miles) and anchor behind Reedy Island on the Delaware our first day. We wait for an hour before the tide changes and ride the "express" going 9+ knots to Cape May (52 miles) in 6 hours. ( on the retirn trip we can get the tide for 7+ hours so we usually go from Cape May to the Sassafras River)

The next day is 70 miles in Barnegat Inlet ( a dangerous one), but I lived in South Jersey for 18 years and know it well. ( The only really "safe" inlets in New Jersey are Cape May, Atlantic City (Absecon) and Manesquan) Then only 54 miles to Liberty Landing Marina or 48 miles to Atlantic Highlands to set up the next day going up the East River through Hell Gate, usually to Port Jefferson . So its 4 days to the LI Sound without killing yourself and you have time in your destinations and 4 days back for us. That leaves us 14-16 days on the LI Soundminus bad weather days. You can really see a lot in that time and if you want to push it get to MV.

From the York I would stay overnight and get to Cape May by going outside. Some have gone in Ocean City, MD inlet, but it is a dangerous one.

Taking into considerationj this boat is either new to you or will only be used a few months you might want to get some practice with her before heading offshore. You trip is certainly doable. ( Consider a Chessie trip with a circumnav of Delmarva)

Dave

[cheoah]

I just sailed up to the Annapolis area and back from mid-coast NC, it was a great 3 week trip. For me it was a better option than offshore to New England with a boat that is still(was still) new to me.

Turns out the Chesapeake was all I could ask for! There were some heat advisories, and a couple of days were hot, but not that bad. I have no AC, anchored out every night, except the night after I sailed 24 hours straight from Annapolis on a 25 knot north breeze. I was too tired to leave the fuel dock at Tidewater after tanking up .I was in wool and goretex more than I anticipated, really.

Just going through all the routines of anchoring, docking in various conditions, raising sails, deploying light air sails, shade management, getting to know electronics, and on and on. Like others said, the Chesapeake is a great place to do it with tons of marinas and yards, and lots of other sailors out there. I was surprised to see so many boats out cruising!

Enjoy your time out on the water, and soon, before you know it, you will be intimate with your ships systems and have lots of confidence cruising in a variety of conditions.

[Travlin-Easy]

This time of year, the lower bay has some of the nastiest, Kamikaze, black flies I've encountered anywhere in the world. They'll take a chunk of meat out of your leg the size of a Virginia Baked Ham. The only thing I've found to keep them at bay was Avon Skin So Soft, which seems to work for a variety of bugs. Yeah, I know, it smells perfumey, and it's greasy, but it works. It also works to keep those no-see-ums from sneaking in the boat through the hatch screens. I put some in a spray bottle and diluted it 50/50 with water, then shake the bottle and sprayed the screens. Nothing in the insect world, including spiders, will get near it. I use the same spray mix at home to keep carpenter ants and other critters outside - works like a charm.

Like others have posted, the Chesapeake has a lot of options during August, and most of the time the nights are relatively cool. Air scoops, screened hatches and ports, and 12-volt fans will all help. I've even hosed down the cabin top with the saltwater washdown system to cool the hull a bit when it's really hot.

Someone in the Marina rigged up a neat, cockpit enclosure last week that I thought was custom made for his boat. Turns out he purchased an inexpensive, screen enclosure that came with a lightweight aluminum frame from the local WalMart. He merely eliminated the frame, draped the enclosure over his Bimini top, and attached some some small sand bags to the corners to hold it down. The bugs were kept out of the cockpit, and he and his lady friend slept on cockpit cushions that night in a bug free environment. He said the tent-enclosure costs him about $69 on sale.

Good Luck,

Gary

[pholzinger]

August sailing can be great, do not miss the Choptank River and the adjoining Tred Avon River in Oxford. If you get a full moon be sure to use it to your advantage, you will not regret it. The sailing is fantastic and anchoring is as easy as you will ever find. You may be awakened by a crab fisherman playing music or talking to his crew loudly. Anchor in town Creek in Oxford then head up Broad Creek to San Domingo Creek. Choptank is hands down the best sailing on the Bay in my 10 years experience. Enjoy!

[Travlin-Easy]

I can relate to the loud crabber in the Choptank. My wife and I anchored up in Broad Creek about midnight during September of last year, a place that was relatively close to the creek's north shore along the edge of a drop-off. Got to sleep about 1 a.m. and looked forward to getting up late, having a good breakfast and sailing upriver to Oxford.

About 5:00 a.m. the boat rocked pretty hard, enough to wake both of us from a sound sleep, then a crabber's VHF, or maybe it was a CB, blared at volume levels of a rock concert. He was griping about people that anchor in places where he sets his trot-lines. At times he was less than three feet from our boat, so I guess his statements and excessive noise were meant to drive me from the place where we had anchored. My wife was intimidated - I wasn't! She insisted that we pull anchor and get out of there, fearing the crabber might resort to violence to make us move. I took my good old time pulling the anchor, waved to the a$$hole as we motored past him and proceeded to Town Creek. To this day she refuses to anchor in the Choptank River or any of its tributaries.

Cheers,

Gary

[Ti' Punch]

The one good thing about the flies is that they are too brave for their own good. If you are paying attention you usually have time to squash them before they bite. For some reason, they don't fly away like normal house flies. If you are busy with something and don't notice them land, they will lay a hell of a bite on you. One got me on my calf the other day, then tried to come back for another bite. I was ready this time and flattened him, but he was full of blood. Nasty little buggers.

[SeaKing]

The Chesapeake is great, lots to see and sail as everyone has said. We decided not to go out this weekend due to the hot weather. We went out last weekend and on the 4th for fireworks and we have AC on the boat, darn jellys stopped up strainers for the ac and generator. But we survived, we h ad lost power at home for 4 days starting on friday, sure glad we had the boat to go live on.

RickyEM, if you get up around Annapolis give me a shout and maybe we can do a little raftup. I am in the Chesapeake Multihull Assocation here in the bay, a few weeks back we had a small raftup with 26 hulls and 10 masts, a mix of trimarans and Cats. These guys had just finished a race to St. Micheals and the next day was a race back

So give the Bay a shot just be prepared for some heat

[Mrs.HappyBoater]

The Chesapeake Bay is awesome. Don'tbe scared off. Great anchorages. Many sailing vessels anchor on the West River. Near Chesapeake Yacht Club.