Location, location

[crieders]

I am now living in Williamsport and Haverford Pa. Long Island is just too inconvenient.
Specific Suggestions on best places to keep the boat?
NJ shore? Chesapeake?
I checked Neshemy State Park but thats way up the Delaware above Philadelphia.

[mdidomenico]

I am now living in Williamsport and Haverford Pa. Long Island is just too inconvenient.
Specific Suggestions on best places to keep the boat?
NJ shore? Chesapeake?
I checked Neshemy State Park but thats way up the Delaware above Philadelphia.

how would you define "best"?  Mine is currently in Barnegat, NJ, but other members here are in Philly, Chesapeake, and the Raritan river

[KWKloeber]

You're closer to two wonderful international waterways with lotsa opportunities for trips to NY Pa OH ONT etc.

[WTunnessen]

Weekend traffic might be a consideration. On the Chesapeake, Rock Hal, the Sassafrass, and Havre de Grace are popular ports with sailors from Phily. My yacht club - Chesapeake Yacht Club - has some great incentive offers to at track new members, but it's a ways from Phily on the West River south of Annapolis.

[Jim Hardesty]

Looks like you are going to be a drive from where ever you decide.  Consider one of the Great Lakes.  No hurricanes, salt-free, and no sharks. 
I'm just saying its worth a thought.
Jim

[Bill Shreeves]

We're just 2 seasons in on our boat.  The first season was on the Barnegat Bay in New Jersey where we bought her.   In June of our second season, we moved her down to Worton Creek on the Chesapeake and we absolutely love it.   About the closest point on the Upper Chessy for you is Havre De Grace.  Still have lots of destinations however, I think you'd be looking at a bit of motoring between deep water and the marina each way.  Check the charts.

[crieders]

Wow do we actually have members in Philly? I would love to chat with those folks. My son works for Tow Boat US Phila and is not crazy about the river for a 34 foot sailboat.

[WTunnessen]

The advantage of the Eastern Shore of Maryland is that from Phily, you only have to be on 95 for a short period, which mean less traffic issues. The traffic thru Delaware on 301 is not usually too bad since it does not go to the beaches. But I lived in Phily quite a few years ago, so things may have changed.

[Roc]

We are in Rock Hall, MD....  MANY boat owners at our marina (and on the Chesapeake in general) are from PA.  If you live outside of Philly, the eastern shore is where you need to be 

[crieders]

Roc what marina are you in? I have a deep fin keel. Will that work in your area?
do we actually have members in Phila on the Delaware?

[crieders]

Looks like we cant search by location unfortunately

[Alex W]

I live outside Philly (Phoenixville).  I raced J27s with Liberty Sailing Club on the Delaware for several years before buying my 34.  Its a fine river for getting comfortable with the boat, but I think you'll get bored very quickly... you can go north, your can go south, you can go north, you can go south....  Not many places to go and strong currents that need to be figured into any trip. 

I have the boat on the Chesapeake (Maryland Marina, Middle River) now and am very happy with it.  Right now there are 3 C34's at the marina, and a couple others nearby.  Rock Hall, Baltimore, and Annapolis are all easy weekend trips, and Middle River's south of the sometimes restricted waters around Aberdeen, and the shallows of Havere de Grace.  Up to a 6' draft is very doable for the upper Chesapeake.  Frankly I think you'd have more trouble on the Delaware - all the marinas silt in from the river and have to be dredged every couple years... a big expense they all seem to avoid paying until boats start leaving. 

I don't think traffic is too bad driving to Middle River, but I would go Eastern shore before I considered moving to the south side of Baltimore.  Rock Hall is a great town, and I love visiting, but I like the slip fees where I am.

  Alex

[Breakin Away]

I live in Swarthmore, and have direct experience with many of the possibilities you mention.

In 10 days we'll start our third season on our C34MkII. We keep her in Rock Hall (different marina than Roc), and winter on the hard in Essington on the Delaware. It's a two-day trip between the two, but I really like having her 12 minutes from home during the winter.

Everyone is different, and your deep draft may affect your choices somewhat. The eastern shore of the Chesapeake is dominated by people from the Philly suburbs. Half the people in my marina live <20 minutes from me (total coincidence - I didn't know any of them before we moved down there). We like Rock Hall because you can go North, South, West, or East (into Chester River) depending on the wind. Also, there are literally hundreds of destinations within easy reach - we haven't even scratched the surface yet. Havre de Grace is closer, but a long motor, and directionally constrained. We haven't been into Middle River, but we've heard about marinas with more reasonable prices there. (Rock Hall is definitely pricey.) Bohemia River is pretty area and lower cost, but with your draft it's probably a no-go. Sassafras River is beautiful, but another long motor before you're sailing.

Before buying our current boat, we sailed our C250 on the Delaware River for 6 seasons. We kept her in Essington, where the water was plenty deep. I would tell people "it doesn't suck as much as people think." Our kids were younger then and we did almost exclusively daysailing, so we wanted to have the boat near home all year round. It was a great boat for the Delaware. Unless the wind was blowing north-south (rare), we would tack every 10 minutes, but the C250 had the genoa winches on either side of the companionway hatch, so my wife would just sit there with a winch at each shoulder and easily tack the jib. Or, if I was singlehanded, I'd use a wireless autopilot remote and auto-tack from the same position. From Essington, we had a few overnight destinations, including Penns Landing Marina to the north (our favorite from there), Delaware City to the south. We even took her through the canal to Chesapeake City, Bohemia, Rock Hall, Sassafras, and Baltimore on several cruises, and also down to Cohansey River. So it's not all bad, but I do think a C34 is constrained in those waters. You should keep her somewhere that you can stretch out. The downtown Philly marinas are mostly dumps with lots of shady characters around, aside from Penns Landing (but they lack most basic services, so best only for a few days visit.) Upriver, Winters Sailing Center is a very nice marina (Catalina dealer), with a surprising number of big sailboats - much more than I would expect from the narrowness of the river there and the shallowness of Dredge Harbor.

There are lots of choices, but it's hard to beat the Chesapeake for a sailboat. We use it as our vacation home, and head down almost every weekend regardless of the weather forecast. (Central air helps a lot with that, since we can just stay in the slip if it's one of those infamous sticky Chesapeake nights.)

Also, road improvements have made weekend traffic to the eastern shore much less of a problem. The new interchange from I-95 onto Delaware Route 1 (there is traffic, but it keeps moving), and they're building new a bypass past Middletown that will shave another 10-15 minutes off the trip. We make it to Rock Hall in 1:45.

[Roc]

We are at Haven Harbour in Swan Creek.  There are many large boats in our area, that I will guess have deep drafts.  Channel is around 6'.  I'm guessing that Rock Hall harbor may have a deeper channel.  There are marinas there also (My marina, Haven Harbour bought Sailing Emporium and now named it Haven Harbour South.  They are doing extensive work to upgrade it, so you might want to check that out.).  If you contact Haven Harbour, tell them I gave you the reference and I can get a coupon to put towards free service! 

We've been at Rock Hall since 2001.  Have enjoyed every minute of it.  Lots of destinations and adventures to discover.  The Chesapeake is like Disney World for Sailing! 

[crieders]

Great information
Thanks everyone
I will check these places out
Looks like no JS