Move to Baltimore

[David Baer]

After much debate it appears we may move to Baltimore, Maryland this spring.
I tried to pull up the Chesapeake Fleet web page but cannot get it to open.
Maybe some of the fleet members can help me out?
Most likely we will live in the City of Baltimore....ideas on marinas within 45 minutes or so with slip/mooring available?  Costs?
Registration/ excise taxes on Maryland registered boats?
We will be there about 2 years and I am debating just leaving the boat on the dry in Kentucky rather than transporting.  I do not have the down time to sail the boat to our new home.  Given all that, I do not want to miss out on exploring the bay.  How likely is it that I can find crewing opportunities?  I have owned the boat for 5 years, learned to sail in Asia while on assignment there(RYC cruising certification), so I have a pretty good combination of fresh and salt experience.

[Ken Juul]

I'm in the middle bay, I'll let someone up north answer area specifics.  The Chesapeake is a great place to sail. Many locales sponsor Wednesday Night races, good chance of finding a crew spot for them.  Also if you choose not to move your boat, plenty of places to charter for a weekend or longer.  Chartering also gives you the option of not having to transit to get to new cruising grounds if your vacation/weekend schedule is tight. Might want to compare the cost of chartering to the cost of moving, however with a March to Mid November season in most of the bay, I would be hard pressed not to move it.

[Mike Denest]

David,
We are currently located at the Baltimore Marine Center but will be moving the boat to Haven Harbour Marina in Rock Hall this spring.  They have a web site and offer boat charters.  Just search for Haven Harbour Marina.  Send me a message off the list if you would like to get together for some sailing.

[Roger Blake]

I'm in the Herring Bay area...directly east of Washington DC. However, I kept my boat at Spring Cove Marina in Rock Hall...a fantastic small marina catering to sailboats. During the winters, I hauled out at Haven Harbour Marina, a full service marina in Rock Hall also. There are also a couple other marinas in the Rock Hall Area. The only problem is, you would have to cross the Bay Bridge (Rock Hall is on the east side of the Bay)...in good traffic, not so bad. In bad traffic, a nigthmare. I live in Alexandria, VA and it took me 1hr 40mins, on a good day, to get from my house to Spring Cove Marina. On a bad day of traffic, 3hrs (there were more good days than bad days). Both Spring Cove and Haven Harbour had reasonable slip rates (I haven't been in the area for 2yrs now); however, Spring Cove is only open in the sailing season and you must haul your boat for the winter (or move to another marina). Here are some links to info on marinas on the Chesapeake: http://rvclassified.com/rvclassified_cfmfiles/dealers/directory.cfm?view=boat&category=33&search=state&distance=10&zipcode=&stateid=25; http://www.marina-info.com/minfo/us/usst21/usst21ind.htm; http://www.marina-info.com/minfo/us/usst21/usst21ind.htm; http://marinersguide.com/regions/chesapeakebay/; http://www.marinamate.com/m-md-ch.html.

Welcome to the Chesapeake...it's a great place to sail.

[Roger Blake]

David---I just tested the links in my earlier post...you'll need to make sure you delete the ";" at the end of each url. Just click on the link, then go the the URL (http:\\ etc.) and delete the semicolon on the end, then hit enter...it will then load the web page.

[Ron Hill]

David : Contact Lou Berman (Louberman@goeaston.net) or 410-770-4814 .  He can get you intouch with a number of C34 Fleet 12 members in the area that you're moving to.  You might also think about joining our group of more about 40 boats.    

[reedbr]

There is one gotcha though.  Check with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), but I think a boat in Maryland waters more than 60 days needs a Maryland registration, whch comes with a Maryland fee similar to sales tax (5%).  If a boat has a BucBook estimated value of $50K, the fee is $2,500.  Yes, they have even made sure that they cover documented vessels too. 

Maryland originally did this to stop folks from buying boats in Delaware (no sales tax) and moving them to Maryland waters.  As such, there might be an exclusion if you can show you already paid sailes tax on it once. 

http://www.dnr.state.md.us