Choosing The Right Chesapeake Marina For You

By Larry Brooks


Chesapeake Bay is an inland waterway off the Atlantic coast of the states of Maryland and Virginia. It covers an area of nearly 65,000 square miles and acts as a reservoir for more than 150 rivers and streams. The estuary is 200 miles in length and just under three miles wide at its narrowest. Its 12,000 miles of shoreline are serviced several dozen Chesapeake Marina. An area of huge ecological importance and outstanding natural beauty, the bay has been immortalized in Tom Clancy's book, Patriot Games, published in 1987 and in the 2012 eco-horror flick, The Bay.

Whether you are looking for a marina with full-blown resort facilities and boat services, or a secluded mom-and-pop operation away from the crowds, there will be a marina to suit your needs. Some have fitness rooms, Olympic-sized swimming pools and other sporting facilities. Generally, the more slips a marina has, the more elaborate the facilities.

Sea nettles, or jellyfish, are capable of delivering painful stings to unwary swimmers. They make their home on the U. S. East coast, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. For some reason, they are massively plentiful in Chesapeake Bay. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) runs a map on its website. It forecasts where there are likely to be blooms. They tend to colonize the tributaries in the central bay. Nettle-free marinas are quick to point this feature out in their literature.

Bohemia Bay, for example, is located at the head of the bay. It has a lighted entrance channel with a lighthouse and a jetty. It has a private beach that the proprietors boast is jellyfish-free. There are two swimming pools, one dedicated to children and a larger one. The club lounge has a free wifi and swap library. Other amenities include a service yard with factory-trained mechanics and facilities for pumping out holding tanks.

Skipjack Cove is a few miles south of Bohemia Bay on the Sassafras River. Accessible by Highway 301, the marina boasts 365 slips with full service dockage for ships up to 150 feet in length. Amenities include a full service restaurant, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, bathroom and shower facilities and a laundry.

In fact, a lot of marinas cater for families and have a wide range of amenities. A lot of them have swimming pools, a safer alternative to taking your chances with the jellyfish. Some have incredibly comprehensive services for the boats as well as the two-legged guests.

For example, eight miles off of Interstate 95 is a huge resort with high-capacity forklifts, certified boat service departments and a 40-ton travel lift. The resort spreads over eight acres and has three sandy beaches as well as a bar and grill where visitors can enjoy live entertainment. If you are looking for a new boat, there is a large dealership with brokerage and used boats.

The bay itself is mostly shallow. While it has an average depth of 21 feet, nearly a quarter of the waterway is less than six feet deep. The ambient climate is described as humid subtropical. Summers are hot and steamy, while winters are cold to mild. The surface of the bay freezes only rarely, the last instance being the winter of 1976-77.




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