First time Charter in Chesapeake - Rock Hall Pirate weekend

[gwmort]

Next month we have our first charter booked, 3 days from Annapolis (Actually sleeping aboard Thursday night and the charter is fri/sat/sun). We really want to be in Rock Hall for much of the day on Saturday for the Pirates Weekend festivities (we've been before by land and have been really looking forward to going by sea). However, I just spoke to the skipper assigned by the charter company and he said there is no room at any of the marinas.

Should we stay further away and travel into Rock Hall, are there good anchorages nearby (we did rent the dinghy too)? We have the professional skipper so my own meager seamanship skills shouldn't be the limiting factor.

We're really flexible about what to do on Friday, and obviously Sunday is sailing back to annapolis to turn the boat back in.

Experiences and suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Bluemansailor]

You can usually find room in Swan Creek and its a short dinghy ride to one of the marinas there- though they are know to charge to leave your dinghy there!

[gwmort]

My wife is pretty nervous about using the dinghy. I am thinking of looking for marinas a little farther away.

I live in Delaware so we could pre-position a car nearby before we start the charter, but being so close to home and on such a short trip it feels like it would ruin it to drive into town like we did last year.

[4arch]

The marinas in town and in Swan Creek book up for that event by early spring but we have had success getting in last minute, probably on somebody else's cancellation. A lot of marinas will also rent out the slips of permanent slipholders who decide to get out of town for the weekend, but they don't always find out who's doing so until the last minute. What has worked for us in the past is to start calling the marinas on the Friday before. If that doesn't work, we keep calling on Saturday morning. We usually find a spot, even if it isn't at our first choice of place. If you can't find a spot in town or at one of the marinas on the Swan Creek side, the next closest marina is Lankford Bay Marina, which is on the "back" side of town off the Chester River. I believe they may run a shuttle van into town on weekends. In any case, it's probably worth calling around starting now on the off chance something has opened up.

[Finistere]

Try Spring Cove

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by gwmort

My wife is pretty nervous about using the dinghy. I am thinking of looking for marinas a little farther away.

I live in Delaware so we could pre-position a car nearby before we start the charter, but being so close to home and on such a short trip it feels like it would ruin it to drive into town like we did last year.

It'd maybe be slightly unorthodox, but your skipper could probably drop you in town direct from your charter boat... and then come get you (again with the charter boat) later once you've had enough fun with Pirates and Wenches

That might not be easiest for your skipper, and it might mean some juggling to find a/another spot in the anchorage (Swan Creek is a good one), but you might discuss it with the company...

-Chris