8' Dinghy sailing on upper Chesapeake - Brand new here

[sealover]

Hi, I just bought this yesterday: http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/barquito%20folding%20boat%20l.htm

Is there anywhere on the northern Chesapeake that would be safe for a beginner to explore with an 8' dinghy with a sailing setup?

I've read every sailing book I can get my hands on, but I have only a few minutes of hands-on experience (on a 38' Hunter, no less)

I'm in south central PA, 5 minutes from the Susquehanna and 30 minutes from the MD line.

Thank you in advance for your replies. This is my first post here.

[Brian Palmer]

There is pretty good sailing on the Susquehanna near a place called Long Level. The river is about a mile wide and forms a large pool about 8 miles long, called Lake Clarke, behind one of the dams.

The power company that owns the dam has built some launch ramps on the west side of the river at Long Level. Here's more info:

http://www.shwpc.com/recreation.html

We've sailed there several times. Avoid times when the wind is strongly out of the East, however, because it will make it hard to launch from the West shore of the river.

Brian

[Brian Palmer]

We've also gone sailing at Codorus State Park and Pinchot State Park. Both might be pretty close to you, and they have don't have the unlimited horsepower motor boats.

Brian

[Thorne]

Welcome to the Forum!

Looks like a fun little boat. I'm sure someone here will have good suggestions, but based on my experience, you'll want to do a lot of messing around in a very sheltered location until you get the hang of the sailing rig.

http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/images/barquito%20Bill.jpg

[Thad Van Gilder]

I restored a century in Long level once.

I like sailing little boats on the Sassafras river. I am up by the 213 brindge, and its a fairly protected area with decent wind (usually).

There is also good sailing for little boats up near northeast, md.

-Thad

[sealover]

Thank you for the replies. I never thought about Pinchot park. I'm 10 minutes from Long Level. Not sure about currents there. I'll do my learning on Redman and then once I've figured out how to get it to go where I want it to I'll venture out.

Thorne, the boat in your picture looks very similar to mine. The man who built mine used some plans he bought off the Internet.

Thanks again for all the replies.

RS

[Brian Palmer]

There is no discernible current at Long Level on Lake Clarke to worry about because the lake is so deep there.

Mostly need to look out for the powerboats. There are some big ones.

Brian

[sealover]

That makes me feel better. I was imagining my itsy bitsy little boat going over the dam! If my sailing skills don't pan out -- the thing did come with two paddles.

Thanks!

[sealover]

I like this group! As far as local lakes and maybe Long Level, is 5-10 mph winds (according to the TV news or weather.gov) what I should be hoping for? 15-20 would be too much, right? I've been watching sailing videos on youtube and most of the videos that say "25 knot winds" involve pitchpoling a Hobie Cat or a dozen dudes hanging 5' over the side of Ted Turner's yacht to keep the sail dry.

Amazing videos, but I'm as novice as they come.

And I know I should be saying knots rather than mph, but nobody seems to refer to it that way when the body of water is so small you can skip stones clear across it.
:)

[Brian Palmer]

5 to 10 mph is good for that size boat around here. One thing to consider is that the larger lakes, like Lake Clarke or Codorus State Park, have more consistent and steadier wind as you get farther from shore. The smaller lakes, Like Pinchot and Redman, can be quite "gusty" all over because of the hills around them, even when the forcecast is only for 5 to 10 mph. For a beginner in a small boat, the steadier wind will be easier to deal with.

Brian

[FSS172]

Codorus (near Hanover) is also attractive because it has narrow arms branching off the main body of the lake so you can pick the level of protection that you're comfortable with. The ramp is located in one of these sheltered areas. As your skill and experience grows you can venture farther out into the 'big water' where there's an island waiting to be explored. I agree with Brian about Pinchot being gusty. It's also narrow and prone to dead air close to the tree lined shores.

[sealover]

Exploring the island sounds fun. I'm modifying the leeboard now so I can pull it up when I get into the shallows, instead of relying on the shallow stuff to put it up for me.

I'm excited for some warmer weather! I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the water is decently warm to go though -- in case I'm not as good of a sailer as I think I should be.