8/10/18 – 8/14/18: We left Chesapeake City, happy that yesterday was behind us. All those hard things we’d heard about – New York Harbor, the New Jersey Coast, the Delaware Bay – were now all behind us. We were really looking forward to a little “down time” in the Chesapeake Bay. And we would be there in only a couple hours!
We had to wait until mid morning for the tide and current to reverse itself and start flowing towards the Chesapeake Bay. We didn’t want to fight the current all morning. Slack water (the period between flood tide and ebb tide when there is zero current) was at 10am, so we only had a couple hours to wait. The marina we chose for our next stop was in Georgetown, MD, about 10 miles up the Sassafras River. It was only about 3 hours from Chesapeake City, so an easy morning of travel.
We set off, and within about an hour were officially in the Chesapeake Bay. We had finally made it! The northern Chesapeake Bay is extremely shallow, so we followed the shipping channel all the way to the Sassafras River, then turned the corner into the Sassafras River. We were greeted by a minefield of crab pots. Hundreds of them. And we were going right through the middle of them all. We spent the next half hour zigging and zagging, trying not to hit any of the floats. Fun! The river was windy and had lots of homes on either side. At almost every bend we saw a sailboat anchored. There were numerous fishing boats and trawlers and jet skis zipping about, out enjoying the day.
We arrived at the Sailing Associates marina in Georgetown, and the owner helped us get tied up. The docks were fixed, not floating, with huge pilings to tie to. There are also had 3 foot tides in the Chesapeake Bay. It takes a slightly different strategy to tie your boat with fixed docks and tides, so the owner showed us how to do it. We were happy for the assistance and tips. We could rest well knowing we were tied well and wouldn’t come back to see our boat hanging on the pilings because the tide went out and we tied our boat to the dock with short lines!
Georgetown, and Fredericktown right across the river, are tiny, tiny towns. Georgetown only has a population of 160 and Fredericktown is even smaller. But these two communities support 6 marinas with well over 500 boats here. There’s more boats than there are people! Other than the marinas, there wasn’t much here. We walked around a little and only saw a few restaurants, an ice cream shop, a small marine store / gift shop, and a post office. It was hard to believe, but the marine store was one of the better stocked ones we’ve seen! We knocked several thing off of our “things to get when we see them” list. Historically, Georgetown was a supply depot for the Continental forces in the late 1700’s. It was burned to the ground by the British in 1813. Only one building survived unscathed – the Kitty Knight house – which has since become a restaurant.
The marina itself was welcoming and homey. It reminded us of our favorite marina back in Port Stanley on Lake Erie. They had several chairs and benches to sit on, as well as picnic tables and grills to use. There was a small beach and also a pool to cool off in. The owners, Patrick and Patty, asked us several times if there was anything we needed, and to just let them know if we thought of anything. It was also quiet and peaceful here – a welcomed respite from the New York City / Staten Island / Atlantic City scene. We would definitely recommend this marina to any visiting boaters.
We stayed here a few days, waiting for some storm systems to pass. We long ago decided that we are on vacation and if we don’t have to travel in the rain, we won’t. Besides, the storms that were passing through were still raising flood warnings in certain areas (Georgetown being one of them), so we thought it best to just stay put until we had some nicer weather. Now that we’re here, we don’t know exactly our next destination. We will probably anchor our for a couple nights before finding another marina – probably in the Baltimore area. Until then, we are going to just sit and wait out the storms.
Pics of Georgetown
