Canoeing & Sailing in Maryland & Virginia - Chesapeake Bay: Access and Resources

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Outside Magazine, October 2000

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Dispatches: Paddling
Chesapeake Bay: Access and Resources
Keeping the shiny side down

By Tim Neville

THOUGH THE WATER IS OFTEN quite shallow—sometimes less than a foot deep miles from shore—paddling the Chesapeake isn't always a mellow trip, thanks to 50-mile-per-hour squalls that blow in without warning. Unless you're experienced in ocean navigation and rough-weather paddling, stick within a mile of Smith or Tangier, or go with a guide. Tangier Sound Outfitters offers two-day kayaking trips around the northern and southern islands ($150; 410-968-1803).

Surfing
Ocean City's coast is no exception to the East's infamous mushy breaks, but October brings offshore storms pumping head-high swells. K-Coast Surf Shop has surf reports and rentals ($25 per day; 410-723-3330).

Canoeing
Wild ponies roam Assateague Island National Seashore (410-641-3030). Launch a canoe from the island's South Ocean Beach, located at the end of Route 611 about 15 miles south of Ocean City, and paddle the marshes and coves to the south. Camp on the beach.

GETTING THERE: Delmarva is about an hour's drive east over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Washington, D.C., and five hours south of New York City. Or you can fly to Salisbury, Maryland, from Washington, D.C. (U.S. Airways, $150 round-trip; 800-428-4322).

GETTING AROUND: Captain Jason's Freight and Passenger Service will take you and your kayak from Crisfield, Maryland, to Smith Island ($10 per person, $5 per kayak; 410-425-4471). To get to Tangier, hop a ride on the daily local mail boat, also out of Crisfield ($10 per person, $10 per boat; 757-891-2240).

WHERE TO STAY: On Tangier Island, guests skip oyster shells from the porch of Shirley's Bay View Inn, built in 1904 (doubles, $75; 757-891-2396). The Inn of Silent Music in Tylerton, one of three villages on Smith Island, provides bicycles gratis (doubles, $75; 410-425-3541).

GETTING OUTFITTED: For the Bay islands, Survival Products in Salisbury (410-543-1244) rents kayaks for $40 a day. To kayak the Virginia islands, you can rent your vessel at SoutheastExpeditions (877-225-2925; www.sekayak.com) out of nearby Cape Charles for $45 a day.

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