Kim Coble, Maryland executive director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation: “The Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge on the eastern side of the Chester River is an incredibly beautiful spot with lots of bird life and great fishing. The thing that struck me the most is that there’s not much development there. And it’s an easy boat ride from the western shore, where I live-it’s the best of the Bay. It’s good to find some solitude.”
Mark Myers, commodore, Annapolis Yacht Club: “We like to go up the Wye River, past Shaw Bay, where there aren’t so many boats, and it’s very scenic. There are little coves and beaches on the river where you can anchor, and you can easily get back to St. Michaels if you want. We love the Corsica River, too. The kids enjoy swimming there where the water is a little clearer. The lower Bay at Indian Creek, just before Windmill Point and before the Rappahannock River, is great because the water changes-it’s clearer, saltier, with that fresh scent-you can sense that you’re getting close to the ocean.”
Gary Jobson, ESPN sailing analyst/author/America’s Cup winner: “I found a really cool place up the Choptank River named Choptank. The town is about ten miles north of the bridge in Cambridge. It’s a little bit of work to get to, but there’s plenty of deep water, it’s scenic with lots of birds, and there’s a little general store. Nobody goes there, so the town loves you for showing up. There’s a small marina there, and there’s also a good place to anchor across the river in a small creek. It’s fun to go south, too. The Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville, Va. on Fishing Bay is nifty. They like it when people show up and welcome you.”
Dick Pettingill, president, Commercial Real Estate Brokerage and Chris Pettingill, managing director, Columbia Consulting Group: “Swan Creek is a beautifully protected anchorage close to Rock Hall, Md. There’s plenty of room for rafting up with other boats. We like to tie up High Time, our Carver 405 motor yacht, at the Osprey Inn in Rock Hall, where there are wonderfully wide and well-kept docks. The restaurant’s food and service are great, and the ambience is delightful. From there we like to walk into town or stroll down the road along the shoreline, where there are interesting marinas and waterfront homes.”
Tom Sliter, commodore, Shearwater Sailing Club: “North of the Bay there’s a wonderful little anchorage destination, Worton Creek. It’s on the upper Eastern Shore, east of Pooles Island. On a midweek escape two years ago, we sailed over and spent the night. In the morning when the sun came up, we were surrounded by wildlife. The egrets were there as a light fog was settling on the water. It was picture perfect.”
J. J. Marie, president, Zodiac of North America: “I like Hunting Creek. It’s close enough to St. Michaels but far enough to offer quiet and secluded anchorage. It’s on the Miles River, just past town. I also like to take my boat to the Silver Swan, a great restaurant right on the Bay across from Thomas Point in Stevensville.”
Debbie Gosselin, owner, Watermark Cruises: “I love Oxford. It’s such a pretty little town. I like to go to Le Zinc, a small, cozy restaurant in an old house with great American food. It’s an easy ten-minute walk from the Tred Avon Yacht Club, where we usually start off for a drink. We either dock at the club or anchor out on the Tred Avon River.”
Anne T. Seta, Annapolis resident: “I grew up on Back River in Baltimore County, where my parents had a modest home but with boats-always boats. My grandfather lived next door. He was always fishing and crabbing, so I have an early history with the Bay and a love of it. We’ve been everyplace on the Bay by boat, and we prefer the quiet places. We love Irvington, Va.’s Tides Inn on Carters Creek and the St. Mary’s River. We usually prefer to eat on the boat where it’s peaceful-we don’t use a phone or fax. To us, it’s heaven on earth.”
Peter Howard, sales director, Hinckley Yachts, Annapolis: “Last year I discovered the Chester River. It’s fairly shallow, but that’s not a problem for our thirty-six-foot Hinckley picnic boat with its eighteen-inch draft. There’s a wonderful little beach near Queenstown. I like to take my family there, beach the boat, and spend the day.”
Don Frye, vice commodore, Shearwater Sailing Club: “There are so many great mooring choices on the Bay. On a beautiful evening, we like to drop a hook at the head of Whitehall Bay and have cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and watch the sun set. Another favorite is Galesville on the West River. We like to drop a hook or tie up at a good restaurant.”
Jeffery Cole, chief petty officer, Coast Guard, Annapolis: “I work on the water, and I don’t get a lot of recreation time, but when I do, I like going up the Severn River, near Round Bay. There’s a nice little island, St. Helena’s. Go back behind the island where it’s quiet. My other favorite place is the Miles River off of St. Michaels; it’s a beautiful little spot. No matter which way the wind blows, you’re protected. You don’t have a lot of chop in there. A visit to the town of St. Michaels is very nice, too.”
Konrad Woermann, retired yacht importer: “I like to take Fortuna, a very comfortable, thirty-eight-foot X-Yachts racer/cruiser, to Onancock, Va., just southeast of Tangier Island. It’s a lovely old town with a picturesque, deep-water harbor and well-maintained docks. The harbor is completely protected from all directions, so one could easily ride out a storm in Onancock. It feels like the proverbial snug harbor. The atmosphere is very laid back. One time, we took the ferry over to Tangier Island and had lunch in one of the seafood restaurants. Another anchorage that I like is quite remote. It’s St. Leonard Creek, off the Patuxent River, where you can find some beautiful little coves to anchor. The shores are wooded, there are cows grazing right down to the creek, and it is just such a peaceful atmosphere. You want to relax, start the barbecue, and live. If you feel like eating out, motor up to the mouth of John’s Creek to Vera’s White Sands, where you can have food and drink and make merry. But I like to stay on board and feel like I’m somewhere very far away.”
Ric Dahlgren, Annapolis Harbor Master: I like Urbanna, Va. It has an almost totally hurricane-proof little inlet. I go for the Urbanna Oyster Festival in November. It’s a delightful event with bands and lots of seafood booths; it’s a big deal in Virginia.Urbanna is a very old, small town, smaller than Annapolis, with interesting restaurants and shops where you can find a neat hardware store.”
Iver Franzen, naval architect, captain, Clipper City schooner, Baltimore: “I design boats and do a lot of professional sailing, so I don’t have time to do too much cruising. But the last time we went, we traveled about a third of the way up the Nanticoke River and dropped the hook for the night. It was a very pretty nice anchorage. One time we tied up in Crisfield for three or four days because of a really bad storm that hunkered us down. Fortunately, the hurricane stayed far off shore as we discovered this nice, quiet place that’s still a bit of a working town, rather than a postcard town. It’s farther down the Bay so it’s not as highly trafficked. We also like Baltimore and Norfolk. We like the extremes-the quiet little anchorages as well as the big cities with a lot going on, with theaters and good restaurants and all.”
Jahn Tihansky, president, J World Annapolis: “There are a lot of great places close to home that are often overlooked. Everybody wants to go to St. Michaels or Oxford, but they are long hauls. In light winds, you have to motor for the better part of the day.There are some nice places right up the Severn River. I really like Luce Creek on the south side or Clements Creek. After work we can get there in an hour and arrive before the sun sets. The scenery is beautiful with big acreage property-it’s very protected.
Katherine Leonard, maritime artist, Annapolis and Larry Leonard, president, Quantum Sail Design Group, Annapolis: “We usually go to St. Michaels on the weekends because we like the restaurants and shops, especially The Bistro. It has a cozy French cafŽ feel to it. The Mind’s Eye, a great craft art shop, has lots of artistic things. We like to take our Tiarra 31, Sea Check, there around Thanksgiving, and go Christmas shopping, too. They have a nice Midnight Madness in town in December. We always tie up at Higgins Boat Yard; they’re always friendly to us.”
Suzanne Pogell, president, Womanship sailing school, Annapolis: “I like to get away from it all, and there are some wonderful isolated spots to anchor and cruise and gunkhole [explore] on the Sassafras or Bohemian Rivers. They’re northeast, if you cross the Bay from Annapolis towards Chesapeake City. (There’s a lovely little town, George-town, a ways up the Sassafras.) It’s still very rural and peaceful over there-you’re not going into busy little towns. You can still hear the birds sing. I also like to go south towards Tilghman Island on the Eastern Shore. You get into historic colonial Maryland; it’s fascinating.”
Ronald Franks, secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources: “My favorite place to moor my boat in Maryland is Queenstown Creek. It’s the perfect spot to tie up overnight because it’s a hurricane harbor, protected on all four sides. The entrance has a sandbar that parallels the channel on both sides. It’s great!”
Kathyrn Wood, owner, Annapolis Sailing School: “One of my favorite destinations is Solomons Island. It’s a real sailing town, where you can get fuel and repairs if you need them. And it has great restaurants. I love it!”
Rick Kellam, owner, Broadwater Bay Ecotours, Exmore, Va.: “The Machipongo River on the seaside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore is a safe, tranquil haven for boaters. The scenery is pristine, and the birding is phenomenal. To get there, you have to come in through the Great Machipongo Inlet and head northwest toward Willis Wharf. There’s one restaurant there, E. Willis & Co., that’s outstanding.”
Freelance writer Mary Ann Treger is a longtime Annapolis resident.
