A Chesapeake Bay Trek

Some of our crew enjoyed a spin around the Bay in July and we haven't previouusly had the opportunity to tell about it. We wanted to be up there for the crabs and beer and doin's around Annapolis and the Eastern Shore, so we did it. The objective was to charter a cruising catamaran to see how all went with that in protected waters. A few of us had tried one a couple of other times in Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay and liked it and we wanted to make another go. Cats are hard to find in the Bay area but we did get one lined up. Four of the crew arrived in the afternoon and after boarding the vessel in Eastport spent the evening carousing Annapolis and sampling the local fare at a number of the friendly establishments. A couple of the guys were on a search for the "best" crab cake so pursued that in each restaurant we could find. They finally proclaimed Buddy's on the waterfront as the best...so far. We set off the next morning motoring (just a little wind from the north) up the Bay over to the Rock Hall/Gratitude harbor and berthed up right at the Rock Hall Crabhouse. We were able to explore a number of spots there even being chaeuferred to a couple of places by a local bisto worker. Crab cakes were sampled by no definitive decisions could be made. The beer seemed fine though. We slid down into the Chester River and crossed behind the north end of Kent Island the next day to berth at Mear's Marina at the Kent Island Bridge. Now the crab cake run began in earnest as there are at least ten plus places within walking distance here that feature the delicacy. The next morning, the "best" crabcake so far was proclaimed to be found at Abbey's on the Dock. We were delayed getting away from our berth due to controls malfunctions and found we had to get another boat. The charterer brought a substitute vessel to us in a few hours but alas, it was a sloop as no other catamarans were available. Hoever, we put off and proceeded down Eastern Neck and up the Miles River to St. Michaels. Not much to tell about this as we had to anchor out and found the water taxi was not running. We were disappointed in not getting ashore for crab cakes and the local color there. The next day we sailed across, yes, sailed across to Galesville and spent a great evening at anchor in the West River. The following day we went up the South River and tried crabs and crab cakes at Mike's. Those were deemed top of the line also. We anchored for the evening and went on around Thomas Point light back to the home berth in Eastport the next morning. We did get a good sail off Annapolis for a while but the wind soon said goodbye to us. Anyway, all in all, we got a chance to look around the Bay by boat and it was enjoyable. We plan on doing it again this summer. Come along!