Chesapeake Bay Cruising
Our Chesapeake Bay Cruising section features insights from boaters and liveaboards; tips and stories on cruising the Chesapeake Bay, Great Loop, and Intracoastal Waterway (ICW); along with travelogues from destinations off the Bay and expert tips about boat maintenance and safety. For charter vacation stories visit our powerboat chartering section. And find more DIY articles in our How-To section.
December 18, 2017
This short story was composed aboard an old mid 60s, 17-foot wood console Boston Whaler after the author was marooned on a mud bar on the Choptank River, three or four miles south of Denton.
December 11, 2017
Traveling down the ICW for the first time is a big endeavor, but there’s no need to feel you’re going it alone.
November 9, 2017
Every boy, it’s said, deserves a Whaler. Having missed out on that birthright in my youth, I’m making up for it now. As a kid, all I ever had was beat-up wooden rowboats.
November 9, 2017
Have you changed prop sizes on a Classic Chris-Craft? This boat owner did it on his boat. Why the prop change? Maybe looking for more top speed? No.
October 23, 2017
Going to Davis Park is like stepping back in time to an era of neighborhoods, kids being out all day exploring, smiling, and saying hello to strangers.
October 19, 2017
For boaters who cruise the Bay and beyond, the Great Loop is synonymous with exploration and adventure.
September 25, 2017
First let me start out by saying some people are going to get seasick no matter what they try to do to avoid the c
September 20, 2017
Ticketing is underway for TrawlerFest-Bay Bridge, a boat show and seminar series that includes a diesel engine course with two of the nation’s finest instructors on the topic.
September 19, 2017
It all began in 1982 when I decided to upgrade my 20-foot Grady White center console to a larger boat which would allow my son and me to fish the offshore waters of Ocean City, MD.
September 11, 2017
The start of fall might still be a few weeks away but with these crisp mornings we’ve been having, it’s hard not to daydream about falling leaves and fall cruising weather.
August 28, 2017
When Gene Miller and I rode home from Remington, VA, 10 years ago, towing behind us the ageless beauty we’d purchased, a replica
August 20, 2017
The famed Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen once said, “Adventure is just another word for poor planning.” In Amundsen’s time explorers were very much on their own, without the support of a vast
July 17, 2017
Hart Miller Island is a 1100-acre island located in Baltimore County on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of Middle River. It is accessible only by personal boat. On May 7, 2016, the South Cell of…
July 13, 2017
Getting the whole family out on the water for the day can be a feat of strength: the kit and caboodle associated with small children can often make a day of yard work look attractive, and teenagers
June 29, 2017
Each day, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) community of cruisers sit on our decks along
April 27, 2017
Phil Barbalace and his wife Karen went from being sailors to Great Loop adventurers on their trawler, the 2009 Mainship 40 Seascape, on a two-year Great Loop adventure.
April 5, 2017
No manatees. Not one. 400 miles of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), hundreds of “Slow Minimum Wake Manatee Area” signs, and not a single manatee.
February 24, 2017
The Upper Bay in astern Baltimore County has long been a haven for powerboaters, with rivers and creeks aplenty, and a myriad of fuel docks, marinas, and dock bars dotting the shoreline.