Military marinas - Aberdeen in particular?

[gittist]

My wife and I live in Pennsylvania about 2 hours from the Chesapeake and Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) Army base. In seeking advice on buying a sailboat someone said that we should buy two boats, a little one to putz around in locally and a bigger one for the Chesapeake.

Thinking it over, we were thinking of a larger one for the Bay and using the marinas and storage on APG (we are retired military) to save the wear and tear on the truck and hassle of towing a 20+ foot boat through cities and back roads. When I asked about using APG this is the response I received:

"Sir, you must live within a 50 mile radius from the Bel Camp post office, zip code 21017. You are outside of this, and would not be eligible to use our marinas. Thank you for inquiry."

Anyone heard of this before? The way it sounds I couldn't even store the boat off base and use the ramp to launch the boat.

[a64pilot]

Never heard of it, but they can I'm sure set any rules they like.
I'm Retired too and that is part of the aggravation with MWR activities,they can set any rules they like, and often you aren't even apprised of the rules, until you have broken one, then they bring out the big book of rules and show you.
Just the way it is.
You take the good with the bad, nothing worse than a DOD Civilian feeling their oats.


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[missourisailor]

Wife being retired military, we also looked into renting a slip at a DoD marina on the bay.
Forget about any DoD marinas around DC, Baltimore or Annapolis. They have waiting list that are years long. And if you are not retired Navy, even longer.

The Norfolk area has a couple, that at least a year or two ago, had vacancies. But after touring them, decided that they were not to our liking.
Especially beings Deltaville is so close with marinas that were much better for sailors. A couple are even less expensive than the DoD marinas.

However, Deltaville is many, many hours away from PA.

Other are much more familiar with the upper Chesapeake than I, but I'd look into Rock Hall.

[Schooner Chandlery]

The "local area" rule is used when you want to store something at a heavily used MWR facility. It probably doesn't apply to the launch ramp at all. The rule is not in place for active duty military folks--they can reside far away and still keep a boat or storage locally. The MRW facilities tend to be pretty basic and not as nice as whatever is nearby (albeit civilian facilities used to be at a little higher cost though since Congress has also demanded that MWR services and facilities state-side must charge rates comparable to what civilian facilities would cost, those MRW prices are going up even though facilities are not improving that much) and ever since 2003-ish following big deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, the MRW funds raised by user fees and by the commissary and BX surcharges have been funneled heavily to the deployed troops so the larger state-side facilities (RV and marina in particular) are often not even spending as much money on upkeep as they are taking in revenues/fees. At some point we can hope that will balance out--and that we will have far less troops deployed, for that matter, too! but right now, civilian facilities tend to be better deals.

[gittist]

Google maps has Rock Hall as being slightly more than 3 hours (1 more than Aberdeen) but thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone have any local info for around the Aberdeen area?

We were looking for a place that we could leave the boat on a trailer, launch and recover it when we wanted to to, and winter storage.

Higher prices for less seems to be the way things are going.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I am still active working at Ft. Belvoir for now. I looked into the base marina but didn't exactly get a warm welcome from them. Mainly because I was asking if I could do any work in/on/around my boat. I also looked into the base RV/Trailer storage and both said "NO, not allowed". The storage place said they were strict pickup/drop off only. Facilities seem minimal on any military based marina and I wonder how much use they really get. I haven't heard of the mileage restriction before. If Belvoir has that, then I'd probably be outside of that anyway.

So, I put my boat, stored on its trailer, in Deale just south of Annapolis at a marina allowing DIY work and have been happy with it so far. One thing I've noticed, even for MWR, once you retire, your "priority" goes WAY down. Owner of the marina I'm at is retired Navy Captain and a good guy to work with.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

One thing I've noticed, even for MWR, once you retire, your "priority" goes WAY down. Owner of the marina I'm at is retired Navy Captain and a good guy to work with.

Yes, and it should too, as the active duty people are the ones that it is really meant for, need it the most, can't wait like us retired folks as they will be getting orders soon etc.
I don't like the DOD civilians having access though, with the good ole boys system, that usually means they get first pick, and that's wrong.

I kept my little boat at the Panama City Navy scuba school, big boat won't fit so I'm at the City Marina.
It wasn't much less money, and they were a PIA sometimes, the environmental concerns were over the top, but that was passed down from above I'm sure. The environmentalists watch the Military like hawks
But I knew for certain everything was safe and wouldn't be messed with, didn't worry about my young Daughter walking the dock at night etc.

[islandfeverJim]

I have had a boat here at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida for many years. We have the 50 mile rule as well. There is some flexibility there as many are from Orlando which is pushing the 50 mile rule. Is it 50 miles as the crow flies or 50 miles by road? Don't ask don't tell!

[Twidget]

I keep my boat at Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace MD. Not cheap but you can work on your boat and keep it on a trailer. They also have a boat ramp. Very close to APG.

[captrod]

I am docked at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Their rule is 100 miles. More don'ts than do's but good floating docks, elec. and water. Now they have just installed wi-fi in the marina. I guess someone wanted it. Pump out is a cart you can push to your boat. On the plus side, you get to watch the Blue Angles practice during the week.

[RABenko]

As a northern Chesapeake Bay sailor, I must agree that Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace, MD is a nice full-service marina and is just north of Aberdeen and thus closer to PA. Just south of Aberdeen are the Gunpowder River and Middle River with tons of marinas much closer than Rock Hall. Also on the eastern shore north of Rock Hall are the Bohemia River, Sassafras River, Wharton Creek, and Fairlee Creek. All have marinas with the facilities you are seeking. Only the Sassafras has a long trip from the marinas out to the Bay ... that can be a pain in a sailboat while you're constantly maneuvering to ride wakes from the powerboats outside the 6 knot limit (which is most of the river).

One thing to pay attention to on the western shore are the Amtrak bridges with only a 12' vertical clearance. Several of the marinas there are upstream of the bridges ... you can tell by the lack of sailing vessels there as well as no "tall" power boats. Most fly bridges will not clear a 12' fixed bridge.

[jmschmidt]

Get a PO Box at a Zip Code near a military base and us it for your marina billing address.

[Photosean]

I'm at Calvert Marina but right across the street is Solomon's MWR marina. They have plenty of slips, water and electric included for $1900 a year. My place is a few bucks cheaper but I have to electric.

The gal says they have plenty of slips no mile restriction and can accommodate amy size boat.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Yes, and it should too, as the active duty people are the ones that it is really meant for, need it the most, can't wait like us retired folks as they will be getting orders soon etc.
I don't like the DOD civilians having access though, with the good ole boys system, that usually means they get first pick, and that's wrong.

I kept my little boat at the Panama City Navy scuba school, big boat won't fit so I'm at the City Marina.
It wasn't much less money, and they were a PIA sometimes, the environmental concerns were over the top, but that was passed down from above I'm sure. The environmentalists watch the Military like hawks
But I knew for certain everything was safe and wouldn't be messed with, didn't worry about my young Daughter walking the dock at night etc.

I can agree with the DOD civilian access.

I got promoted in April so they got their hooks in me for a couple years before I can retire. I may end up like my dad, retire and avoid the bases all together.

[gittist]

IRT "I don't like the DOD civilians having access though, with the good ole boys system, that usually means they get first pick, and that's wrong." and priority.

Yep, and for me I was never had the right priority even on active duty. I'll keep my thoughts to myself on the later.



Thank you for all of the info on the local Marinas and suggestions, and keep that part of the thread going :-).