Home Marina

Doug and I recently met another boating couple at a bar. They hail from Stoney Creek Bridge Marina - which also happens to be one of our favorite places to purchase gas for our boat. This couple wanted a good marina to visit in Baltimore with easy access to the Canton neighborhood. We, of course, told them about our marina and it made me realize that I've never written about Anchorage Marina on this blog.
Reasons to visit or permanently stay at Anchorage:

*541 slips - with that many boats there is always someone around so you'll be sure to make friends (we always miss our boating friends during the winter months)
*A floating pool - they replaced one of the slips with a freshwater pool and it has a great view
*Easy walking distance to a variety of bars and restaurants including (all distances according to Mapquest walking map):

• Langermann's - ask about the Anchorage Marina discount (across the street from the marina)
• Chesapeake Wine Company - the olive tampenades are fantastic and try one of their Tuesday night tastings (across the street from the marina)
• Mahaffey's Pub - join the 100 beer club (0.31 miles)
• Mama's on the Half Shell - great seafood options (0.38 miles)
• Vaccaro's (0.41 miles) and Dangerously Delicious (0.35 miles) - for your dessert fix
• JD's Smokehouse - 50 beers on tap (0.47 miles)
• Jack's Bistro - try the mac + cheese + chocolate appetizer and one of their specialty cocktails (0.61 miles)
• Yellow Dog Tavern - brunch on Saturday and Sunday (0.68 miles)
• Annabel Lee Tavern - the longest walk but worth it for the food and fantastic atmosphere (0.98 miles)

*There is easy access to groceries with a Safeway almost directly across the street from the marina.
*Need a coffee fix? Try the Firehouse Coffee Company (0.38 miles from the marina) or the Starbucks across the street from the marina.
*It's a cooperative marina so you can own or lease a slip - your choice. Slips currently for sail are listed on the marina website.
*Each dock has a security gate so you don't have to worry about random visitors.
*Take a taxi (street or water) or take a longer walk via the promenade to other parts of Baltimore: Fell's Point, Inner Harbor, Camden Yards.

The one downside is that parking is very tight at the marina. We live less than a mile from the marina yet oftentimes have to drive because of coolers and overnight bags. We rarely find a spot in the marina lot but never have trouble finding street parking very close.

What marina do you like? Why?

Manatees!

No, not in the Chesapeake Bay (although Chessie is proof that it can happen).

Doug and I went to visit friends in Tampa, FL over New Year's. About a week before we were scheduled to leave, I came across a random article on Yahoo about the top snorkeling sites in the world. Always a glutton for the punishment of reading about trips I cannot afford to take, I happily clicked on the link. The tenth location listed was snorkeling with manatees in the hot springs of Crystal River, FL.

Wait! Florida?!? Hmm....help me Mapquest. How far is Crystal River from Tampa? Only one hour? How can I make this happen?

I started researching and discovered that the best time to see the manatees is between November and March. The Gulf of Mexico gets too cold for them so hundreds of them move into the warmer water of this river.

As my friends know, I'm a bit of an animal lover. So, I wanted to find a reputable place for my excursion. This time it was TripAdvisor to the rescue. There are many places that offer snorkeling with manatee trips in the Crystal River. After reading many reviews and calling around, I booked a trip for three of us with RiverVentures.

We were on the 6:15am tour. If you plan to do this, take the earliest tour you can find. It may seem crazy to get on a boat and look for wildlife when the sun hasn't come up, but this is the best time to see and interact with the manatees. Plus the sun had come up by the time we reached our anchor spot.

We were given wetsuits at the dive shop, watched a short video about the rules and regulations about interacting with manatees, then set off for the boats. Our captain, Mike, was awesome! First off, he is a marine biologist so he knows and cares a lot about the animals. Second, he speaks many languages. We had a German couple on our boat and he was able to (minimally but effectively) communiate with them. Third, he was a friendly guy.

Florida was hit with a bit of a cold spell while we were there - it was December after all. So, it was only 41 degrees outside when we got in the water around 7am. But the water was 72 degrees! I was a little cold but quickly forgot when I saw my first manatee.

Snorkelers have to stay at the top of the water and let the manatees come to them. The first few I saw just nonchalantly swam underneath me. It wasn't long before we all got a chance to get up close and personal with a few playful manatees. When you touch them they will often roll over for a belly rub. One even nudged my husband to play when he wasn't paying it enough attention. And I got my Christmas wish - a manatee kiss. I had a manatee face within inches of my own face. We must have seen forty manatees on our trip including one that decided to make our anchor line into a chew toy.

This was the best wild animal interaction I have ever had and I highly recommend it to everyone. I also highly recommend RiverVentures. The reviews on TripAdvisor are right. They are great. Many thanks to our captain for taking so many photos of our group's interaction. We went home with a disc with over 200 photos (many seen along the side of this post).

What a Difference a Day Makes and Holiday Cheer

This weekend we took what will probably be our last overnight trip of the season and went to Annapolis for the night. The trip down was treacherous. The weather was gorgeous so the waves took us by surprise. There were 4-5 foot rollers in the bay. I actually considered putting on a life jacket. I can't tell you the last time I saw waves like that on the bay. Like I said, it was a really nice day so the sun was shining bright. With the rollers and the sun it was difficult to see the crab pots. Honestly, I think we got lucky.

Once we got to Annapolis we had a great time. It was a little chilly but nice and sunny. It was a busy day in town. There was a Navy home game and there was a tug of war across the harbor. I'm glad we arrived early because they closed Ego Alley and half of the harbor for the tug of war at 11am. The rope stretched across the harbor. We would not have been able to access the city until 1 or 2pm if we had waited. But it sure looked like fun. Don't worry, they didn't let the tug of war pull people into the frigid water.

Annapolis is ready for the holidays:
As usual, we spent some time at Pusser's for college football. I've never noticed these signs before, but how can Montego Bay and Key West be in two different directions from Annapolis? :)Many thanks to our fantastic bartender Jerry. He braved the chilly temperatures at the outside bar with us.

We had one couple meeting us in Annapolis for the night. We had other friends that had spent the night in Annapolis the night before. We met up with them for lunch and convinced them to stay with us too. Apparently, the boat can fit 6 people for the night (our previous record was 5 people). We have ceramic space heaters so it was warm even outside of the cabin for the two people that had to sleep "upstairs."

When we left the next morning, the bay was like glass. I have never seen the water under the bay bridge as calm as it was that morning. Like I said, what a difference a day makes.

New Reef

The Chesapeake Bay has come a long way, even in the short time that I've been boating here. The water in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore is getting clearer. Crab and fish populations are improving. And now I hear about this new project: New Reef Created in Chesapeake Bay. The article isn't long, but here is a real quick synopsis:

A dam was demolished. Rather than toss all that concrete into a landfill, it was tested for contaminants and broken into small chunks. That concrete is now sitting on the bottom at the mouth of the Chester River as a reef. They plan to seed the area with baby oysters. Let's hope it works!

For my fellow boaters: "Designers worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard to build a reef that would not impede vessels." Not bad - trying to save the environment AND considering the desires of humans. I wonder if I should get an upgrade for my boat GPS? While the reef won't "impede" vessels, is it somewhere that pleasure boaters could go in the past? I'm not complaining, I just don't want to be cruising along thinking that the water in front of me is deep enough and CRUNCH! My guess is that signs will be posted for a while until everyone is used to it.

We have a long way to go, but I'm so happy to see steps being taken to fix what we messed up. I hope the baby oysters like their new home.

Newport, Rhode Island

We missed the Annapolis Power Boat Show because we were in New England for a friend's wedding, but we still managed to find some boat fun in Newport, RI. We went to Newport for the Bowen's Wharf Seafood Festival. If you ever happen to be in the area during this free festival, I highly recommend making the time to go. The freshly shucked oysters and hot clam chowder were exactly like I remembered from my childhood (I was born in Rhode Island). We made the smart decision of getting into town about thirty minutes before the festival started. By the time we left Newport, the festival was packed and the exit off the highway was backed up.While at the festival we saw an unexpected reminder of the fact that we were missing the boat show. We only miss the show for really good reasons - like weddings. In total, I believe we've been to 9 of the last 11 shows.
We found a really interesting boat while touring around Newport. I had to take a photo from a bridge and wish we could have gotten closer. Is it a sailboat with the mast removed?I'd like to add Newport to my list of places to live on a boat but think I will have improve my boating skills. Can you imagine navigating between these rocks to get to your mooring ball? Granted, it was a very windy day, and there are also marinas which I assume are easier to navigate, but the Newport boaters must be really comfortable with their boats.

College Football in Kent Narrows

After many weeks of cold weather, we had a random warm weekend. I'm a little behind on posting, so those of you in Maryland, remember how nice it was a week and a half ago? We sent out an email and had a full boat almost immediately. 10 people can fit on a 3760 for a day trip - we don't do it very often and had to pull life jackets out of the dock box.

Pussers is typically our favorite college football spot but it was the same weekend as the Annapolis Sailboat Show so we had to find another location. We hadn't been to Kent Narrows in forever and had a great time at Red Eye's Dock Bar.

Beware - It was a little tricky getting into Kent Narrows. I'm glad we followed some other boats in. The tides must be messing with the channel and a new shoal is making everyone go to the outside of the channel. Being slightly off season, we were able to dock right at the fuel dock. We were also the early birds so we had our pick of barstools in the shack with TVs. Red Eye's is hardly known for their cuisine and unfortunately some of the meals with lacking - steak covered in hot sauce is not the best preparation for a surf and turf plate. But the drinks were good and some of our crew participated in their own personal cornhole tournament.And the local wildlife is friendly enough to eat right out of your hand.I think we need to put Red Eye's into our general rotation.

Clam Bake

Last weekend we went to Fairlee Creek for a clam bake and bonfire. The weather forecast was rainy and 60 degrees but we have some diehard boating friends and 5 boats made it out for the festivities.

I had never been to a beach clam bake before so I was really excited to see how this was all going to work. It's really easy and I highly recommend you try it if you like seafood.

First dig a pit in the sand. It only needs to be about 8 inches deep.
Next, fill the pit with charcoal and light it. Give the charcoal some time to fully heat up. Once the charcoal is ready, put some water in the pots and let the water heat up. I was really surprised by how quickly the water boiled sitting out in the open, especially since last weekend was so cold. The two end pots have only a few inches of water to steam the potatoes and corn. The middle pot was about half full of water. We used that pot for the shrimp, clams, and mussels. Adding old bay to the water is a great way to season the shrimp. You can make life easier by putting the clams, mussels, and shrimp in netting bags. You can do this while you wait for the water to heat up. The potatoes and corn take the longest to cook. Put them in the pots first. They should be ready in about 30 minutes. The shrimp, mussels, and clams take only about 10 minutes to cook. You'll know the shellfish are ready when they crack open. I was a little late to the game getting a photo of the results. Honestly, it all smelled so good that I dug in before thinking about the camera. I did get a picture of the remnants of the seafood. Can't wait to do this again!