How big for the Chesapeak?
 

I am new to the East cost. Just moved to Maryland from Utah two months ago. I am looking at moving up from my current 22' Advantage to a larger boat. What is a good size boat to be able to take out any day I want in the summer? I have had my boat in 6-8 footers once and that wasn't fun. My old man has a 31' scarab thunder that I have driven quite a bit so twins are a must. I plan on trips to the ocean about once a month or so. I've been looking at Gun's, Bullets, and some 38' Scarabs and 35&38' Formulas.

You can't go wrong with any that you listed. Any of those can take more than the passengers can, for the most part. You didn't give any other requirements except seaworthiness, so I'll throw out some suggestions. If you have a family and kids, and your wife/gf wants more wind protection, the Formula would be a better choice with the glass windshield. Also, an enclosed head may be important. My boat offers very little wind protection, but that's what shades are for :)
The others are more sporty and will probably be a little faster, depending on power. Of course, I'm more partial to the Cigs. Mine's a wave crusher! However, ANY boat on plane running at speed in 8' waves will be taking a beating. Rarely are the waves that big in the bay unless there's some bad weather nearby.

North end of the bay usually isn't quite as rough as the mouth of the bay, but the waves are typically more choppy and closely spaced. seems to me I can run better in 4' in the ocean vice 4' in the bay.

I agree with Hollowpoint. The waves are closer together. It can make for a long ride if you are not prepared. I will run my 26' on the bay if I check the conditions. When I was younger, I did not care as much about the weather, learned the hard way after stuffing it hard, in the middle of the bay on a 22' Velocity. I also leave the wife at home, she is not much on "rough" water. I think any of the ones you have listed will be fine. It will take you a couple of times to get used to the "chop" but then you can roll. Try to find "oldschool" on here, he has a TG that runs the bay........

Hi Run Em, welcome to our slice of paradise :D First, let me pimp www.cbpba.com to you. We have a huge Dena contingent and they will take over your life with parties, small center console chatter, and strip clubs, what a life :D Come on over and see what we have going on. Now, Hollowpoint is on the money, the Bay will leave you with a snotty chop, usually no more than 5-6 foot, but spaced much closer together than ocean waves. The ideal boat for comfort is a 38-42 because it normally can span 3 waves and remain basically level at any planing speed. If you want to actually "drive" the boat a 30-33 will require more work throttling and trimming, but will do quite nicely in most any conditions you want to be out in. I will add that I used to run a 34 Silverton Convertible and have had waves over the bow in the Bay also, so no boat is "big enough" under some conditions. I have owned a 40 Formula that was the most comfortable ride I have experienced, but required no "driving". I now run a 31 Formula and have been able to go anywhere I wanted, whenever I wanted, and come back safely-it just requires more driving and a little less speed.

Having boated on the middle bay my whole life, I can agree that the waves are spaced much closer together than in the ocean. When you get 4-5 footers in the bay, which happens often, it can be a VERY rough ride. I have had my 38' Top Gun out in many situations where I wish I had more boat. So if your really looking to be able to go out in ANY conditions, I would say a heavy 38' should be the smallest boat choice. If your willing to give up a few bad days then maybe a 35'. Just my .02.

Its great to get such quick responses. Some more requirements...we do plan on doing some overnights and such so a good cabin is always a plus. But we do spend weeks at a time on our 22' and are happy:D

I am not looking for awesome speed...my 22' runs into the low-mid 80's and I don't need that . Figure I would be happy with 70, to start:p

insptech-I have looked into your organization and will join this spring:cool-smiley-026:

what blew me away was the avg depth on the bay I had heard was only 18-20 feet, I have been out in many size boats, my last ones were 25 donzi, did ok till waves got to 4 ft, my 31 ft handled it all but like ted says need to drive more, my 42 tiger loves it rough, but last year heading to cambridge for the races was the roughest I have ever been in and my daughter looked at me and said " can the boat take it?", I said yes it can then the storage hatch door in the cabin opened and snapped off..I got the dirtiest look...it can also blow up ugly real quick.

I was extremely suprized when I seen the depth too. I will definetly be investing in a plotter no matter which boat I buy. Even in the middle its only like 50 ft at the deapest. I come from Lake Powell and others that are comparable in depth.

Welcome to Maryland. Especially Pasadena. I too live in Pasadena. It's a great place to boat. Send me a PM and I'll hook up with you this spring. I hail out of the Magothy River.
You will definitely enjoy the Chesapeake.

I will be coming out of the Magothy as well. :cool-smiley-026:

There is a 31' Cig Bullet on this site that's been refurbished and has motors that get it to the mid 70's. Priced around 50K. Check it out. Bullets have pretty nice cabins. I've attached a couple pics of my cabin. Also, the earlier, straight bottom Cafe's and Top Guns had nice cabins.

And finally, ALL Formula's have nice cabins.

I live in Va. Beach. Last summer the wind was blowing from the North a lot. Often had four to five foot swells. Bigger won't hurt.

Uh-Oh, is the new F4 going to be our new poker run king around here? Cigs and one semi-enclosed Fountain seem to be the top dogs on the runs that include the ocean around here.

This summer is going to be great. I am so excited to get out on the water. So many new places to see and people to meet.:evilb:

You know what would be great. All the local clubs getting together and coordinating a 3 or 4 day Chesapeake Bay Rendezvous and maybe poker run somewhere Mid-Bay to include all rivers, north end into Maryland, and all the way to the mouth of the Bay. It would be interesting how many could make it.

I would be in...after I get a chance to step into a larger boat!

A joint get-together would be great. REH, if you would like a ride on an old big heavy boat let me know. I would enjoy it and give you an idea of something different.

That would be great...:D

The Formula 353 is a tough boat to beat.

I remember my first boat back in 1986 was a Renkin 20' cuddy cabin. The very first time I used it, I took it out from Angler's at Chesapeake Beach into "big" rollers. Scared the sh$t out of myself. That boat used to beat you to death in a 1' chop. I'd have the kids crying and the (first ex) wife yelling at me. The foredeck would be bouncing up and down. Ah, the good old days.

I don't think there's a minimum size boat for the bay, just a minimum size you want to take out in any given conditions. After all, people take their 17' tri-hulls across the bay when it's calm. With that 20' boat, we could go across the bay comfortably, the wind would pick up after lunch and it was n ordeal to get home (see paragraph one).

I always thought a 30' deep vee was a good compromise on the bay. It's small enough to trailer and gunkhole, but large enough to smooth a lot out.

I'll put our two cents in....if you want a great ride and the wife wants a nice cabin, you can't beat the Sonic. OK, so we are partial. We have had 4 Sonics...the 38, 42 or 45 would be great boats. We had our 45 run from Solomons to Chesapeake Beach and back with some members of Molly Hatchet and they had a great time in the rough water. Going back was nicer than the run up but it all depends on the direction of the wind and tide. Look forward to meeting up with you on the Bay or come over to the Potomac River.

Patti and Bill

cant miss an opertunity to drop that name can you ? , :cool-smiley-011:

if i was there for the blessing of the bikes i'd be talkin bout it for years to come to

back to the subject , i'm a baby of the bay too , and anything over 28 feet will get you there and home on 90 % of the days on the bay , on the other hand you will be listening to the weather forcast no matter how big your boat is , the bay is fickle like that and the winds can drive waves over the bow of ocean liners , its all fun tho
as for the depths and sand bars , get a good chart plotter , always remember red right return , and have a great time

hope to share a poker run or 2 in the upcoming boating season

boat size
 

Welcome!!!!!!!! I live right across the patapsco from you in edgemere. Are you on stony creek or rock creek.I have been on the bay boating for 43 years.Any performance boat 22' or longer will work ,but the best size is 28'or longer.The bay has some of the most unpredictable waves,especially around hart miller island on the bay side.A 28' boat seems to puts you on 2 waves instead of in the middle of 1.My son's fountain 32' works great with this type wave action. His 202 stinger is great and fast runs 79 gps but it is no good out in the bay with the way the chop is.It has to be 1 footers or less to run any kind of speed.But some times you do what ya got to do to get to jellyfish joels. Look us up. JOHN

I will be launching out of the Magothy. Right out of Sillery Bay, Grays Creek to be specific.

My new boat will be coming in April. I actually decided to do a little trade with my father. He wanted a smaller boat and I wanted a bigger so it worked out great. It is this boat right here

http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o20907-en.html

Since it is my fathers boat I know it really well and have some time behind the wheel. Also if you haven't read the Thunder on the Bay thread, I will be there in this boat.:cool-smiley-026:

If anyone sees me, wave me down and introduce yourself.

Now that's a Bay boat. Congrats!

Very cool! Congrats!!

I'm looking at a potential house on grays creek, how do you like it there, whats the water like?

I am actually not living there yet. I close on my house next month. From what I have looked at it seems like a good place. The launch ramp looks pleanty deep and the dock is brand new. They have real nice parking after you launch your boat that is locked.

Here is a pick of the ramp. It turned out a little fuzzy but you can still get the idea.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ary2008187.jpg

Here are a couple more pics of the boat that I took this past summer at Lake Powell, Utah...thought that I would share.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/100_0159.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/100_0154.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...d/100_0155.jpg

Some beautiful country to be boating in. Sorry, but it's a little flat here on the east coast.

Still beautiful here...Just a different beauty.:D

Launch
 

Running!!! You should launch on the patapsco river side. On the mag. side you have a good distance to run to get to the harbor or jelly fish joels.Lot more fuel burnning.JOHN

Welcome to Maryland! If you change your mind on the Scarab, this boat will allow you to run the bay nearly any day you would want to be out there. :p http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o14820-en.html My mechanic is out of the Grasonville area so I'll even throw in 20 hours of paid maintenance to take of the oil changes and stuff. Either way, please let me know if you head this way with the boat. You mentioned boating in the ocean and that is about the only place we run here in Ocean City. There are only 10-12 local performance boats here, but we still have a great time!

I will definetly get ahold of you when we hit the ocean. We actually were in Ocean City on Sunday, we went on a little buggy ride. I have a friend that has a house down there so we will definetly get there.

Well my community launch ramp is on the Mag...besides its only money, can't take it with you.:cool-smiley-026:

I'm up the Magothy furthur..just past the 6 mph marker on the right...I'll be looking for you...btw, you'll enjoy Dutchship (Dobbins) Island....good party place...it's right in the Magothy & you might be able to see it from Sillery Bay.

Hey Tommy, how is everything. ready for spring? this cold blast is killin me...Still lookin for some good places, have you gone all the way up to Grays creek? how is the water?

Hey Rob,
Good to here from you. OK water in Grays Creek, just keep an eye on depth gauge near shore. Grays Creek is close to Dutchship Island near the mouth of the Magothy on the Northern shore. Waiting on Spring also. Winter sucks. We have to meet up this summer for sure. Had too many back surgeries & boat downtime to get any good boating in last year. Hope to have a good year ahead of me with the new Konrad's. Hope you are doing well & btw, any luck waterfront shopping.
Tommy

sorry to hear about the back. I just saw Dave doing a few konrads a couple days agp in his shop. My motors are there as well. I have 3 properties in mind, one is a penninsula on grays, another on the magothy and one on the Severn..another potential one on the South River, all relativly close in price, just waitont to tie up some company loose ends...We will be out playing this year. My 20 should be done in June/July....