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 Post subject: MD / VA - Chesapeake Bay
PostPosted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:04 am 
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In the spirit of the DE/MD Eastern Shore thread, I wanted to inquire about beach cat-friendly sailing spots, sailing clubs, and towns on the Chesapeake Bay. Mast-up storage would be a critical factor.

For example, I've visited the West River Sailing Club in Galesville, MD. The area looks very nice, but there are "only" one design N20, A-cat, and now F16 classes there. Excellent high-level competition. But no Hobie Cats allowed.

A colleague of mine keeps his Catalina in Mayo, MD. But I'm not sure whether there are places for beach cats around there.

On the DelMarVa side of the Chesapeake Bay, I've heard good things about Rock Hall Yacht Club. But I know nothing about the town itself, or any towns nearby.

Are there any good places North of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge? West or East side? And, of course, South of the Bay Bridge, where the Bay gets wider and wider?

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Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:38 pm 
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Does the lack of responses imply that there aren't (m)any Hobie Cat sailors on the Chesapeake Bay? Is the Bay really dominated by boring, octogenarian keelboat racers? That cannot be true!

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:03 am 
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Roland
I can give you a few ideas but I am not familiar with the areas south of Annapolis.

There is a public catamaran launch site at Sandy Pt. State Park in Annapolis but there is no overnight storage.

For mast up storage on the Chesapeake your options are going to be a yacht club or a marina that has a dry sail area. You can find listings of yacht clubs on the bay at http://www.cbyra.org/. There is a place right by the bay bridge on the Annapolis side that has a small beach and used to have some catamarans http://www.podickorypoint.com/. I haven't been there for years though. I don't recall there being any organized racing at Podickory Pt. though. It's more of a marina with a club house than your typical yacht club.

You mentioned Rock Hall Yacht Club. I have been there a few times and it is a nice place. There are few Hobie sailors that keep their boats there and it seems to be an active club. The club is in a very rural area about five miles outside of the town of Rock Hall.

If you are willing to go a little further Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association http://www.rbsa.org/ is a great Hobie sailing venue. There is an active Hobie fleet here and lots of Hobie Cats are stored at this club. The wind here is typically more reliable than on the Chesapeake too. There is actually a Hobie regatta coming up here in early May. You can find details at http://www.div11.hobieclass.com/. We would love to have you join us.

Rich


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:38 pm 
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Thanks for the great feedback, Rich!

Rich McVeigh wrote:
There is a public catamaran launch site at Sandy Pt. State Park in Annapolis but there is no overnight storage.


I have heard about Sandy Point, although I didn't realize there is no overnight storage. That would definitely be an issue, as I wouldn't want to trailer a Hobie back into DC.

Rich McVeigh wrote:
For mast up storage on the Chesapeake your options are going to be a yacht club or a marina that has a dry sail area. You can find listings of yacht clubs on the bay at http://www.cbyra.org/. There is a place right by the bay bridge on the Annapolis side that has a small beach and used to have some catamarans http://www.podickorypoint.com/. I haven't been there for years though. I don't recall there being any organized racing at Podickory Pt. though. It's more of a marina with a club house than your typical yacht club.


I'll definitely have a look at the CBYRA website. I actually sailed by Podickory Point last summer on a colleague's J-boat, which he keeps at a marina further upstream from Podickory. Looked nice, although dominated by power boats. I've also heard serious racers refer to Podickory Point as a place for "yahoo sailors," i.e. sailors who don't race and just doodle around. Being that I'm somewhere in between, I wouldn't have any hard feelings either way.

Now that you mention it, I bet there are further options North of Annapolis, more towards Baltimore. The naval heritage of Baltimore is arguably just as strong as that of Annapolis. Certainly these days in terms of commercial shipping.

Rich McVeigh wrote:
You mentioned Rock Hall Yacht Club. I have been there a few times and it is a nice place. There are few Hobie sailors that keep their boats there and it seems to be an active club. The club is in a very rural area about five miles outside of the town of Rock Hall.


Interesting note on RHYC's rural location. I actually looked up houses in Rock Hall out of curiosity, and then mapped directions to RHYC, which was about 15 minutes outside of the town itself. Now it all fits together.

Rich McVeigh wrote:
If you are willing to go a little further Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association http://www.rbsa.org/ is a great Hobie sailing venue. There is an active Hobie fleet here and lots of Hobie Cats are stored at this club. The wind here is typically more reliable than on the Chesapeake too. There is actually a Hobie regatta coming up here in early May. You can find details at http://www.div11.hobieclass.com/. We would love to have you join us.


RBSA is excellent! In 2008, I took a group of friends there for an awesome overnight. We drove out on a Monday after work, had dinner at Dogfish Head Brewery in Rehoboth Beach, spent the night camping at Cape Henlopen State Park, and then rented a couple of Hobie 16s at RBSA the next day. Couldn't have asked for a more welcoming and helpful staff there, even though none of us are members.

The wind on Rehoboth Bay that day was slow and steady in the morning, which was perfect for initiations. And then it gradually picked up in the afternoon, which let all the newcomers experience that sense of speed that only multihulls can provide. It was an absolute blast! The only downside is the 3-hour drive from DC, which might get tiresome after a while, especially for shorter (1-night) weekends.

Rich, are you a member of RBSA? Your multiple references to "here" make it sound like you are based around Rehoboth. In any case, thanks again for all these pointers! Lots of good stuff to consider.

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Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:30 pm 
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Roland
No I am not a member at RBSA but have sailed in many regattas there. I live in MD three hours from there too.

Rich


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 9:40 am 
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I realize this is a very old post, but I may not be the only newcomer looking for info on DE.
Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association is south of Dewey Beach, so it's much closer to camp in Delaware Seashore State Park South Camping Area than it is to drive north past Rehoboth to Cape Henlopen State Park. There are restaurants in Dewey, although perhaps not as upscale Rehoboth. It's not far to Rehoboth or Cape Henlopen from Dewey, but traffic can be very heavy and slow, especially on summer weekends.
I must add that I haven't camped at either park, but have heard good things about both.


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