Moving to New Home Port

[pschleck]

My wife and I are planning to move to Richmond VA and will be looking for a new home port for our 41 ft. sailboat with 5' 2" draft. Would like recommendations for a marina and nearby boatyard with good access to Chesapeake Bay. Drive time from Richmond should be 90 minutes or less.

[Bill O]

Yankee Point Marina on the Corrotoman River (which is off the Rappahannonk)
Only visited it to see friends, but seemed like a nice marina, nice staff and workshops to handle any repair in a good cruising area.

Plenty of water to get our 6.5' draft for fuel/water.


Bill O.

[Fiveslide]

I'd probably go Cole's point marina on the Potomac. Nice and protected. Right across river from Tall Timbers marina which has the boat burning party every holiday, I guess they still do that. I really enjoyed that area.

[RGN]

Here is another vote for Yankee Point. For all the reasons already stated , plus a few. Yankee Point is a safe place, for your boat, your car and for you. It is in a lovely location and is CLEAN.

Give them a call or a visit, Ken is the boss man and his wife runs the office.

I spent two months there on the hard, when I first got my boat, I have nothing but good words for them.

Tell 'em Randy sent ya. (Which will mean nothing but will get a smile) .

[Barometer]

Try marinas in Deltaville. There's nice ones there like Doziers and Stingray Point

[Nike41]

I would also recommend Deltaville. It is an easy hour and 15 min drive to Richmond. Easy access to the Bay and numerous marinas and yards to choose from which will accommodate your draft. Probably more sailboats there than permanent residents.

[Moody46CC]

I keep my boat in Chesapeake Boat Basin, Northern Neck, Kilmarnock. 11-15' depth. But it is not large and there is a waiting list--I think.

Used to be in Deltaville for over a dozen years. Couple of things to ruminate about. Counties in VA are the ones who tax boats. Deltaville is in Middlesex County which DOES have a boat tax. Positive: good marinas and yards. Negative: the town is slowly going under, and the boat tax. Stingray and Fishing Bay are good marinas with adjacent yards, a real plus. There are many more marinas, but my not mentioning them is only because I have no personal experience.

Down near Norfoilk, no boat tax.

On the Northern Neck, there is not much on the VA side of the Potomac. On the other side, the MD side, there is a steep boat tax, albeit paid once. Also way beyond your 90 minute ride. Back to Northern Neck: Yankee Point is nice but it is 30 minutes up the Corrotoman River from the Rappahanock and from the entrance of the Corrotoman to the mouth of the Rapphanock in the Bay is another 8 miles. Too far from the Bay in my opinion, but if river cruising is your thing, excellent. At Kilmarnock is Chesapeake Boat Basin where there is a yard, and they really won't do sailboats, but they will haul in case of hurricane. Kilmarnock also has three grocery stores to include a Walmart for provisioning and the only hospital in the area. Further north at Reedville is Jennings Yard, which is absolutely no frills (power and floating docks) but very well protected and a nice spot and more than reasonable. The sole negative is a Menhaden plant which when wind goes wrong, can be smelly. There are a couple of other places (Horn Harbor), but you are on the edge with 5'2".


I'm not from VA, but I can say that dockmates in Deltaville and Chesapeake Boat Basin are nothing but Richmond or Valley folks.

[Painted Skies]

Our US home base is in the Northern Neck of Virginia (Burgess) so we've had a bit of experience with the various marinas in the area. Also, I worked in Deltaville for 6 years.

If you are trying to avoid the personal property tax (which is assessed at different rates by each county), you should consider Lancaster County as they have waived this tax on boats more than 5T; this county includes Kilmarnock, Irvington, Weems and Lancaster. In the Irvington area there are several marinas to choose from including Carters Cove Marina in Weems, Rappahannock Yachts (both about 75 minutes from Richmond) along with the previously-mentioned Yankee Point Marina. Note that only boats that are berthed in a Virginia county on January 1 each year are subject to personal property tax. So if you travel to the Bahamas each winter - personal property tax is not a consideration.

Northumberland County (Reedville, Fairport and Great and Little Wicomico Rivers) have a lower personal property tax rate than some of the other counties; Jennings in Reedville is an excellent choice but is further from Richmond (100+ minutes). The old Horn Harbor Marina on the Great Wicomico has been recently sold and is now called Blue Compass Marina; it is very reasonably priced, however check the details of any lease as they used to have a rule requiring removal of all boats for named storms... not always convenient if you are a couple hours away.

In Middlesex County (Deltaville, Urbanna), another excellent option in the area is Regent Point Marina on the Rappahannock River which has an active yacht club (if you are into that) plus the ability to haul out using a hydraulic trailer which is preferable for us with a dark Awlgrip'd hull that is easily scratched with Travel-lift straps.

Westmoreland County which has a few marinas on the Potomac River (including Kinsale, Coles Point) is convenient for folks living in DC but is a long way from Richmond IMO.

Suggest that you check your charts to determine how far it will be to reach the bay from your new marina berth - some marinas are a long way up the rivers. The Northern Neck - the area between the Potomac River and the Rappahannock River - has some the most delicious cruising on the Chesapeake Bay, but its waters are mostly ignored by cruisers transiting north and south with the seasons. Be sure to check out Antipoison Creek, Dymer Creek, Dividing Creek, Mill Creek, Cockrells Creek, Barrett Creek, Tipers Creek and Horn Harbor (the one off the Great Wicomico)... and enjoy!