Time to Cross The Bay

Our plans would take us over to the western shore to visit with friends on Rock Creek in Pasadena, MD. We decided to go down river and find an anchorage that would put us closer to the Bay and make our trip to Rock Creek shorter the next day. The options were Langford Creek or Grays Inn Creek, near the mouth of the Chester River. We departed Chestertown on Sunday afternoon, and as usual, the boat traffic was pretty heavy. We had tried to wait for the powerboat group at the marina to leave because we knew they'd be running full speed down the river to get home before their normal boat slips ran away. All of them had left but one Cruisers Inc. 455, and it came past us full throttle, throwing up a huge wake that rocked every boat on the river. The lack of consideration for the safety of others still baffles us today. The decision to stop in Grays Inn Creek instead of Langford Creek was made mostly because there is always lots of boat traffic in Langford on weekends. It turned out to be a good decision.

We haven't anchored in Grays Inn Creek before so it was nice to experience a new place. The creek is deep and there are several anchoring opportunities depending on wind direction. We traveled a little farther up the creek than we might have because the winds were forecast to increase and the river was open to the forecast direction. We knew from past experience that there was a good probability that winds would be stronger than forecast, so we headed up the Grays Inn Creek branch of the river and dropped anchor near the western side. It was another beautiful anchorage with little boating activity other than a local small sailboat and a couple of waterman working a trot line. The wind increased to over 20 knots during the afternoon, but the creek offered good protection and holding. By early evening, there was little more than a light breeze. This was a good sign and the next morning we were underway shortly after the sun came up to take advantage of  light conditions to cross the Bay to the western shore.

Wind and seas were on our nose making the crossing from the Chester River over to the Patapsco River. The wind had picked up to about 5 to 8 knots and seas were 1 to 2 feet. Not at all uncomfortable. The river leads up to Baltimore and is very heavily industrialized. The remnants of the Bethlehem Steel Plant and the current shipyard can be seen on the north shore and a large power plant is opposite. Rock Creek, our destination, is near the power plant which is always visible by the belching smoke from the stacks. Spanning the river is the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the gateway to the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Once we sighted the well-known "White Rocks" near the entrance to Rock Creek, it was almost like coming home again. We spent many years in this creek before we headed off to do some serious cruising. On this trip, we would only be spending a few days visiting at a friend's dock. There is a long shoal that extends almost to the ship channel off Ft. Smallwood that has to be cleared before turning directly into Rock Creek. Once inside, the speed limit in the entire creek is 6 miles per hour. There are two marinas and a yacht club inside the creek entrance. The yacht club takes transient vessels from time to time.

Staying at any of the marinas will put you a long way from anything, so if you have plans for provisioning, etc., a car is needed. None of the marinas offer a courtesy car. Farther in there are two service yards with limited dockage and haul-out facilities. Our friends live past all of the marinas and yards in a section of the creek that has been utilizing a bubbler system to try and bring back the health of the waterway. This gives the creek the look of a white water river, even though the depths are 12 feet all the way in. There is no anchoring allowed in the creek where the bubbler system begins. There are a couple of good anchorages near the large marinas and the yacht club. We were soon tied up at our friends dock and enjoying their hospitality. Our friend Bill was in his skiff checking his crab pots as we arrived. A crab feast was planned for the afternoon and we were certainly looking forward to it. It's always good to reconnect with friends, especially those we haven't seen for a long time.

After a few days, we needed to move on to the Baltimore Inner Harbor, where we planned to stay put for about a month to take care of a few personal things and finish The Great Book Of Anchorages, The Bahamas. We want the book available in the stores by mid to late September so boaters heading south to the Bahamas will have a copy on board. We made reservations at Henderson's Wharf in Fells Point through the Marinalife website reservations system. The trip from Rock Creek to the Inner Harbor at a leisurely pace took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Along the way, we passed ship yards, power plants, commercial wharfs, the Baltimore Marine Terminal and historic Fort McHenry. The Patapsco River is very industrialized and we wouldn't call this a scenic trip, unless you're into commercial industry. Henderson's Wharf juts out on a point just as one enters the Inner Harbor area. It was early when we arrived so we had to stand off and wait for a few minutes until someone could get down the dock, assign us a slip and help with lines. Except for some of the T-docks and side ties, most of the slips have very short finger piers and many do not have pilings on which to tie between the slips. This required us to back into the slip or we wouldn't be able to get off the boat without trying to climb over the anchor platform. The weather cooperated and backing in didn't present any problems. In wind and current conditions, this can be challenging with our single engine and no thrusters. Tied snugly in the slip, it was time to take care of business and do some exploration around Fells Point. We also had a concert to attend in Washington over the weekend, so we were looking forward to a change of pace and a little distraction. More on that later. Don't forget, as always, for more photos and information, visit our Facebook page. 

Enjoying the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay

Our time spent with friends is always too short, but we convinced our friends Edwin and Silvia to come along with us on our trip from their house on the Wye River to Chestertown. Their son dropped off their car so they could get back home, and the weather couldn't have cooperated more. The trip down the Wye was just as spectacular as the trip upriver. Our only challenge for the day would be transiting Kent Narrows. The channel out the north end is well known for its shallow spots, being narrow and constantly moving. As we approached the drawbridge in the narrows, we called the bridgetender to let him know we needed an opening. He decided he didn't need to open on time, and boats on both side waited until he was good and ready. Fortunately, we made the bridge at slack water so we didn't have to deal with the strong currents that can make waiting for the bridge interesting. Once we finally did get through, we would have to negotiate the channel on the other side.

There is a shoal just on the north side of the bridge that is marked by a special purpose buoy. Other than that spot, the depths in the Narrows are pretty good with marinas and restaurants on both sides. Once past the marinas, etc., the channel makes a turn to the east and then to the west. At red marker 8, the depths dropped to 6.9 feet. We were at high tide. From red 8, we took a direct course to green 5 then green 3, which is a relocated floating buoy. Using this approach, other than at red 8, we saw 10 to 12 feet of water throughout. It's important to stay in the channel and not let the currents carry you into the shallows. Once clear of the last set of markers, we set a course to take us up the Chester River.

The mouth of the Chester River is wide, and if the wind is out of a westerly or southerly component, a pretty good chop can build up. This day had light winds, and our trip up the river was comfortable and pleasant. It's about 25 miles up river to Chestertown, which was our destination. The Chester is just as stunning as the Wye River, maybe more so since there is much less development. There are the ever present commercial crabbers running their trot lines back and forth, up and down the river. There is also a lot more recreational traffic on the Chester than the Wye. For the first 10 miles or so, we had the current with us, and then the tide switched, slowing us down considerably. This was important since we had reservations at Chestertown Marina and they closed promptly at 5:00 PM. The chartplotter put our ETA at 4:58 PM, so we were cutting it close.

At 4:00 PM, we began calling the marina to let them know we were arriving near 5:00 PM. They didn't answer the phone and had already told us they didn't have a working VHF radio. We continued calling for the next hour with no answer and began to get concerned that we would not have a place to dock for the night. We had to get our guests ashore, rain and thunderstorms were possible for the afternoon, we had plans for dinner and the reversing currents in the Chester River are pretty strong for anchoring. It was really annoying that we couldn't get the marina on the phone. Other than that, it was a great trip. We finally reached the marina a few minutes after 5:00 PM and found someone working on their boat at the fuel dock. We asked them if there was anyone in the office and they finally got someone on the dock for us. We settled into a slip for the night and went to dinner with our friends.

Chestertown Marina is an interesting place. The marina has been purchased by the town and they have spent nothing to refurbish or repair the place other than replace a few dock boards. What makes it more interesting is that several of the docks and a good amount of the restaurant parking lot are under water every day at high tide. If you happen to be unlucky enough to be tied to one of those docks, you will have to wade through the water to get ashore. The docks are very, very slippery when wet from constantly being under water, so caution is required. The restrooms are just okay and kept clean, but there is one toilet, one hand sink and one shower. If someone is already in there, you have to wait. This is the only marina in town so they have a captive audience and seem to know it. The rates are $ 1.75 for weekdays and $2.00 per foot for weekends. Electric is extra. In our opinion, this is very expensive for the poor conditions of the marina. After two days, we were asked to move to the town dock with no power or water because a group of boats were coming in and most of the slips in the marina are too shallow for cruising boats. The town dock was offered at half price since we had paid full price for 2 weekdays.

Chestertown still maintains its colonial charm. This is Susan's home town (the home pictured to left is where her mother was born) and we were here for a few days so that she could reconnect with relatives, friends and former classmates. We arrived on a Friday afternoon and wanted to visit the weekly Farmers Market held in the park each Saturday during April through October. The Market offers fruits, vegetables, baked goods and even grass fed beef from local farms. There are also arts and crafts from local artisans and merchants. It had been raining on this Saturday so the turnout wasn't great, but it was still good. The downtown area offers a variety of restaurants, boutiques, a small pharmacy and shops. Walks along the side streets offer a glimpse of the homes dating back to the 1700s, all beautifully maintained and restored. There is a small convenience store a few blocks from the waterfront. Unfortunately any serious shopping for groceries, etc. needs to be done well out of town and will require transportation. Several festivals are held in town every year and the Annual Tea Party Festival is a don't miss with reenactments, complete with ship boardings and cannon fire. Despite the drawbacks of the marina, we completely enjoyed our stay and Susan connected with many childhood friends and classmates. Too soon it was time to head back down river to our next destination.

Coming Soon: The Great Book Of Anchorages, The Bahamas

Susan has been sweating over the keyboard for months and The Great Book Of Anchorages, The Bahamas, will be available in September 2013. We're sure you'll agree, the book is going to be a fantastic resource for boaters heading to the Bahamas, whether it's your first time or tenth. Look for the official announcement here and on our website, http://www.tgboa.com/ , when it's available in the stores. Here's a sneak peek. Click on the photo to enlarge. We hope you are as excited as we are!

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