Chesapeake Bay, Solomon Island 5/23/08 Position 38:20.243N 76:2.619W

SeaTrek
Bill and Judy Stellin
Sat 24 May 2008 00:37
Last night at anchor in Reedville, and tonight at anchor in Solomon Island.  Slip costs are outrageous.  Here, it is $2.25 per foot per night.  That's almost $100 per night for us and out of the question.  Luckily, anchoring is better and free.
We are not 100 feet from the slip that would have cost so much.  Wouldn't you think marina managers with empty slips would discount them rather than have a potential customer thumb their noses at them and anchor within spitting distance.
I guess everyone has to run their railway there own way.
Reedville is another in a string of very pleasant surprises here in the Bay.  It was a fishing port years ago and was very prosperous.  When the menhaden fish market evaporated, so did the town.
Now it is a sleepy little village with some very fine old homes that have been well kept and look to be very expensive.  All are on the water which is everywhere in this land of rivers and creeks.  We ate out in a place that serves crab cakes.  ( Actually every place serves crab cakes ).  I could eat them three times a day.
Today we sailed to our present anchorage in the Solomon Islands and are with a bunch of cruisers from New Bern NC who we had a beer with and traded lots of cruising stories.
Again, we are about 2 miles up a small creek filled with fine homes and marinas.  It is a calm as a millpond here without a ripple in the water.  Sleeping is wonderful.
When I think of all the rolly rotten anchorages in the Caribbean I realize just how much I disliked  the place.
The Chesapeake could hold a cruisers interest for years.  Good sailing in the bay proper and the mouths of the great rivers that feed the bay, and loads of snug anchorages in beautiful settings.
Plus, the attraction of Washington DC where you can anchor in the shadow of the Capitol and the monuments, Annapolis with the Naval Academy, Baltimore and its magnificent Inner Harbor, and countless little bergs oozing with history and charm.  Add to that great food and easy shopping and there is all the reason in the world to spend time here.  Guess what, that's exactly what we are going to do.
We will go back to Deltaville and take a slip and haul out till about this time next year.  We will divide our time between the boat here and home.
Six months out of the water in the Deltaville Marina is only $1000.  An almost unheard of price.  Our friends Ron and Julie who we ran into there have spent three years in the Marina and rave about it.
The Chesapeake needs a few years of cruising to do it justice.