Selby Bay Marina

Selby Bay Marina is a tired little marina tucked into a bay on Chesapeake's west bank near Annapolis, MD.  We usually communicate via VHF when we approach a marina.  They have no VHF and Tom, the friendly guy who lives on his boat there and who also oversees the marina told me on the phone that Moses would be on the dock to help us tie up.  We arrived at 4:30 p.m. after experiencing 4-5 ft. waves crashing over the bow most of the day.  This is our third day of travel and we're exhausted.  We pull up to our assigned dock but no Moses in sight.  O.K. no big deal.  Lee eases Shangri-La up to the dock and I toss the midship spring line over a cleat on the dock.  Pull it tight enough so we don't drift and jump off the boat onto the dock to tie up the bow and stern lines.  Meanwhile, Lee leaves the helm and comes out to help.  We've done this routine dozens of times when there isn't a dock hand around to throw our lines to.  We're pretty darn good at it!

After celebrating our safe arrival with docktails, we go for a walk and find Moses in the boat yard hands full of grease and working on an old fishing trawler.  Their yard is jam packed with relics and it was fun to stroll around.  

The nights have been too cold up till now to turn on the dock water, but Moses promised he'd turn it on tomorrow for us.  We are the only transients here.  The folks who are doing the Loop are much farther south so we're kind of blazing the trail for them.  Since Lee still works every day, we can only travel on weekends and sometimes do 3 days, unlike most other Loopers who are able to "make hay" every day the sun shines.

Shangri-La is caked with salt and, as promised, Moses turned the water on the next day.  We hooked up our hose and Lee got into his head to foot rain gear (knowing that because I was in charge of the hose, he was gonna get soaked!)  Takes about an hour to soap her down, rinse and dry.

Every marina is different from the next.  Some have more conveniences than others.  Basically, we can expect to have showers and bathrooms available, laundry facilities, fuel, electricity and water on the docks.  Here are some photos of the facilities we had at Selby Bay Marina.

Coin operated washer and dryer in a shed behind the bathrooms.  Good thing it wasn't raining that day.  

The eclectic look for the common area and a nice view

We'd been out of luck if we had needed fuel

I'm sure this is jumping with activity in the summer time.  Two seasonal boaters operate this interesting little bar area.  Various pennants and thongs hanging about.  Don't look too close.  I don't take pics of thongs. 

Blowing your horn 3 times on the water literally means utter confusion.  1 toot means I'm passing an oncoming vessel on the port side.  2 toots means I'm passing on the starboard side.  I guess 3 toots at the dock means, "Hey! Anybody around?"

We'll be here for 5 days while Lee works before leaving for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which connects the 2 bodies of water.  We'll wait longer if the weather, especially the winds, look to be too risky to travel.

Even when some of the marinas we visit are "shabby chic", we make the best of the situation and enjoy whatever the area has to offer.  In the 2 years since we moved on board we have never looked backed or second guessed our decision to live out our lives together on Shangri-La.  

We are blessed to be able to continue to Eat Life every day!