Destination Lankford Bay and Tolchester Marina

	July 4 Getaway * July 5, 2000 Destination Lankford Bay and Tolchester Marina
Friday morning we wake up to a rocking rolling boat. Nothing like the still night before. Poking my head out, I could see the marina flags held out stiff by a constant 15-knot wind. So much for our smooth trip, looks like we were going to have some action after all. First thing we had to do was fuel up. Of course we could have done this in the very still air the night before, but there is nothing like a little stiff wind near the fuel dock to wake you up, I always say. Fortunately, we had the wind coming from dead astern at the fuel dock. Although this was preferable to a cross wind bent of making us cozy with the pilings, it made pulling straight end a bit more dangerous (to our gel coat) than I cared to risk. Lisa reminded me to fall back on some of our earliest boat training. That is, it is a lot easier to steer a stern into the wind that it is to steer a bow with the wind at your stern. We pulled past the dock and executed a near perfect landing by backing right to the fuel pumps and catching a line. Was it so easy on a still day! After leaving the fuel dock we allowed the wind to push us around to line up with the inlet. As we looked out, wind blown waves and white caps were the order of the day. We cleared the inlet, began to take our licks and got on our horses for Lankford Bay. Besides a few good rolls, our trip to Lankford Bay was uneventful. A combination of choppy water and early Friday morning departure meant we had the water to ourselves. We enter the Chester River and followed it east. Passing Kent Narrows and Queenstown Harbor the Chester River turned north. Thanks to a deep channel and frequent buoys navigating this river is a breeze. As you make it to Grays Inn Creek, you pick up green can buoys and follow them up Langford Creek. While you are near here, look due east of Green can "1". You should be able to see the entrance to the Corsica River, a favorite anchorage of many. As you pass green can "7". You begin to see Lankford bay on your port side. A turn to port lines you up with red day marker "2", which is kind of hard to see at first. Nonetheless, you can't miss the three flagpoles of the marina, so aim for those. We found the water to be plenty deep (6 feet) in the channel even at low tide, so unless you draft is exceptionally deep no need to worry.
A little roughed up, but mostly looking to finally put the week behind us, we pulled into our slip right below the flagpoles. Immediately, we knew this was going to be a good stay. As we looked across the stern from our slip we were treated to an impressively scenic view of Davis and Langford Creeks. After tying up, we made our way over to the well-stocked marina store where I settled up for the night with the attendant and was given the run down on marina operations and a well laid out visitors guidebook. As we took a brief walk around we were taken by the tidy and quaint appearance of the marina. Lankford Bay has its roots as a waterman's facility and is still used for this purpose today. A full service boat yard complete with travel lift, fuel docks, and service facility are available. Lankford Bay has about 100 slips and 20 or so moorings as I recall. There is a good mix of boats, so both power and sailors have discovered this haven. A quick inspection of the head, which is mandatory at all stops, got thumbs up from the wife. Never under estimate the power of a clean, air-conditioned head on your psyche.
While on our walk about, we stopped next door at a seafood company named Chester River Crabs. Working boats bring crabs in here for sale around Rock Hall and elsewhere. But don't let the name fool you; other items are also available for retail take-out. Not feeling up to crabs, we ordered a pound of steamed shrimp and corn and agreed to come back about an hour or so later to pick them up. In the mean time we went to the pool for a quick dip. To say this pool has a view would be an understatement. The pool is semi-above ground construction situated atop a bluff that overlooks Davis and Langford Creeks. We could have stayed there for the entire weekend! I found a hammock that is conveniently located on the same bluff and got to lie around for a few more minutes before the shrimp were ready. Once the appointed time rolled around, I picked up the shrimp and we had a great lunch at one of the many picnic tables.
Lankford Bay Marina is technically in Rock Hall Maryland. But don't think you are going to walk, or even bike, to town center. Unless you are Ben Johnson or Lance Armstrong it is just too far away. Fortunately, most of the restaurants in town will run a shuttle service to the marina. A list of these restaurants is given in the marina booklet given to guests as they arrive. For little more reason than she liked the name, Lisa chose Bay Wolf as a place for dinner and made arrangements to be picked up around 5:30. Just about right on time the Bay Wolf courtesy wagon pulled up. A quick 10-minute ride and we were at the restaurant. Bay Wolf is right on the corner of Rock Hall Avenue and Main Street. The dress is casual and the menu is varied with a slight German theme. If table dining is more than you want, there is also a bar with tables for more casual fare. The food was great and the price was right. As we sat and contemplated our evening we considered walking down town. As our driver walked by, he informed us that we did not have to go right back to the marina and if we wanted to walk about town he would take us back whenever. We later found out the driver is actually the owner! After a busy day of eating shrimp and laying about, we decided that we had enough activities and returned to the marina where we walked among the boats and enjoyed a quiet evening watching others pull out for the weekend and make their way down Langford Creek.
Lankford Bay was as relaxing and pleasant as we had hoped it would be. From the near spotless grounds, quaint atmosphere, and quiet creeks there was little to detract us from our intent to unwind. The scenery is beautiful and the currents and waters easy to navigate. Lankford Bay has been added to our list of places to go when we want to unwind and simply lose ourselves in atmosphere. Next time, we'll have to bring some more energy to tackle a dozen crabs, but that is about it.
As the sun rose Saturday morning, we got our morning walk in and got ready to untie and begin our trip to Tolchester Marina. I estimated it to be only a short two-hour ride down the Chester River and up the Bay. The sun was out and the winds much less than Friday, so this day was going to be a much more pleasant experience. The ride over to Tolchester was straightforward and traffic was light. As we came out of the Chester River and headed north we fell in behind a group of boats heading north also. As often the case, to make our lives easier we fell out of line and moved into the middle of the bay where we could avoid other boats coming south more easily. Lisa had the helm this day and had a pretty good time running through the waves and wakes. I held the dog.
The main merchant channel runs up the eastern shore and ensures deep water for the largest ship. The channel creeps towards the eastern shore and gets right up on Tolchester Beach near the marina. As luck would have it, we could see a tanker coming down the channel and we estimated it would be right in front of the marina when we made it there. So we swung out wide to let it pass. As we looked behind us, we saw the convoy of boats we were following earlier continuing up along the eastern shore. From where we sat, they seemed to be oblivious of the rather large tanker right in front of them. Of course, they saw it. Just seemed like they didn't care. They continued on their course and crossed, closely, right in front of that ship. Amazing.
We finally made it to the Tolchester Inlet and made our entry. As this marina is right on the bay, the inlet can be a hair tricky if the seas and currents are up. We got in easy enough and were only pushed around a little. To keep the waves out, the inlet zig zags past a couple of barrier jetties. The first can be hard to see over if your boat is low, so be prepared to deal with an on coming boat as you come around the first barrier.
	We pulled around to our slip and were a little less than impressed. Unlike Lankford Bay, Tolchester Marina is a bit more rough hewn and we found ourselves in a row of working boats surrounded by crab traps. By the end of our stay, the rough hewn appearance would remain, but our opinion would be much better.
	Tolchester Marina is a full service marina. As well as a fuel dock, travel lift, and boat yard there is also a Restaurant, pool, covered slips, laundry, tennis courts and other amenities. What sets Tolchester marina apart from many others is the privately maintained beach and beach bar right on the bay. As our day progressed this accommodation would pay for our stay by itself.
The marina office is a bit hidden, but we eventually found it on the second floor of the main building, right next to the restaurant. Now that I think about it, I did not find a ship's store. But perhaps I did not find one, as I did not seek it. A quick payment and we were back to the boat to get the AC switched on and get back to the beach.
The Tolchester marina beach is one of the facilities biggest attractions. The beach is wide, sandy, and groomed to remove the trash deposited by the bay currents. The marina pool is set right on the beach parents can watch their kids play on the beach in relative comfort. In the pool facility is the beach bar, which serves all manner of mixed drinks, wine, & beer and also has a snack menu.
Picnic tables line the beach and if the yacht club we met while at our stay was any indication, these make for a great gathering place. Another feature of this marina is the main shipping channel that passes right off the beach. Although some may not call it scenic, there is something that transfixes your gaze when a tanker or freighter passes not a long five-iron shot from where you stand.
Seeing a crowd of yacht club members developing at the small pool area, we found a place along the shore line beneath some trees next to the tennis courts. This location provided some haven from the throngs of people arriving for the yacht clubs get together and was actually quite nice. We ended up spending most of the day at this spot; snoozing, playing catch with the dog, and watching the boats leave and arrive from places unknown. On this day the seas were quite still and the sky clear enough we could see the Francis Scott Key Bridge and Hart-Miller Island across the bay from us. Each well known boating destinations of the upper bay. Other marinas give you quaint; this marina gives you beach and sun. After returning from the beach and taking a rest and matinee at the boat theater, we decided to head on over for a sunset over the bay walk and dinner at the marina restaurant. The marina food at the restaurant was good and typically generic. Perfect for a casual dinner. A bar within the restaurant with television is an option if your sunsets get rained out. The prices were fair, and the atmosphere good. So what's not to like? So long as you can handle basic dining you'll probably be pretty happy.
After a night of heron watching and a still night's sleep we awoke to graying skies the next morning. Degrading weather seemed to be coming on, so we packed up, untied, and headed out. For sure these were two days at two fine marinas. Each as different from the other as the sunny skies the day before and the clouds we were looking at now.
But each with its own appeal and accommodations that will bring us back again. If it is for the escapism that is Lankford Bay or the beach and waves of Tolchester, we'll have a place to go to find them. For now, it was back into the waves and chop that greeted us on our way out just two days before.
Quick! Grab the dog and GPS before they are both flipped out.....
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