Mid Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay - Rock Hall Day Trip

I'm planning a day trip from Annapolis to Rock Hall on an upcoming Sunday. I have a friend that owns a restaurant on Main Street, and I'm curious about finding a place to dock/moor for the day. I know there are some restaurant-side docks, however, I can't imagine they like it when someone saddles up and goes to another restaurant. Does anyone know the lay of the land in Rock Hall? Is there any where to dock or moor or anchor and have easy access to the shore? I have a 25' bow rider.

You may want to try the Sailing Emporium for a day long transient slip. They also have/had bicycles for use to ride into town. Rock Hall is a nice day trip. As mentioned, the restaurants, i.e Waterman's will let you dock for 2 hours if you patronize them. Sailing Emporium is across from Waterman's.

Which restaurant does your friend own? I had my boat in Rock Hall last year and have been going there since I was a kid to crab. What do you want to do when you are there? They have a trolley that runs and can take you around to different places.

Have you seen this page with the map of Rock Hall and the marinas? http://www.rockhallmd.com/marine2map.php?category1=marinas

Another marina, which is close to Sailing Emporium, is Rock Hall Landing. Haven Harbor is a beautiful marina but it puts you a little out of the way and you have to deal with the long no wake zone in Swan Creek and The Haven.

Just dock at the county owned bulkhead directly across from the inlet to the harbor. You will have no problems there and river rock outdoor store is right there. Besides fishing, they have beer, wine, gourmet foods and plenty of other neat stuff. They also rent bicycles. Im guessing your friend owns the kitchen. It is also an easy walk from the bulkhead. There is a new tram this year, like on the boardwalk in oc, that is a $1 each way.

Thanks for all of the advice.

I'll try the bulkhead . .. if that doesn't work, I'll try the sailing emporium.

My friend owns "The Kitchen at Rock Hall" on main street. He used to play rugby, so I'm going to get a band of old rugger's together and we're going to go there and drink his place dry.

i have never been to Rock Hall. We plan on one trip to the bay this year. Just cruising sightseeing and eating. Debating between Rockhall /Chester River and Sassafras River. Anysuggestions?

Of the two, and I have had boats on both rivers, I would say the Chester River/Rock Hall/Chestertown if you were only going to do one. I love the Sassafras for my family weekend outings, but if I was going to take one trip on the year and want to cruise it would be Chester River.

First of all the river is much longer so you will be able to cruise more. Second, on the Chester there are more places to go, you have Chestertown at the northern point and Rock Hall and Kent Island at its mouth. In the Sassafras there is Georgetown and all the marinas are lumped together.

Chestertown is a neat old town and Rock Hall is a great eastern shore watermans' town. Both have restaurants on the water/in walking distance from the docks.

Where are you coming from?

Bringing boat in by Trailer from WV near Cumberland MD. 28' Crownline Cruiser

Do you know a good ramp to launch and park the truck and trailer overnight?

This would probably be a better question for the people who live in Maryland - I live in Delaware and dont use the ramps a bunch. If you want to stay on the western side of the bay and boat across, i know there is Sandy Point State Park that has parking and boat ramps. I am sure the others on this site with more knowledge will chime in and help out.

Do you know a good ramp to launch and park the truck and trailer overnight?What a coincidence, we are planning a trip down there in the very near future so I drove down there Saturday to check things out. There is a nice county ramp at the NW end of the harbor close to the bulkhead (see link in post #3). The country ramp in the southern end of the harbor by the breakwater is for (very) small boats only. You can get the required pass from River Rock. I'm not sure of the price for non-residents, but it $25 for MD residents.