Four quiet anchorages within an hour of Pier 6
Where to drop the hook for lunch and a swim on a day boat, and which one to choose for
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We keep a booking sheet for every boat on Pier 6, and this winter we finally read a whole season of it, line by line. It told us more about the club than any survey we have sent.
Here is what members actually did with their hours between April and October, from the people who were on the water before the dock office opened to the crews who stayed out until the last of the light.
The earliest regular booking of the season was 5:45 on a Tuesday, the same member, the same Plover, twenty-two weeks in a row. By the end of June there were eleven boats out before seven on a Tuesday, most of them back at the dock by eight with a coffee in hand.
Sunrise is the quietest water on the creek. The wind is light, the channel is empty and the only other traffic is the watermen heading out. Several members told us it is the only hour of the week that belongs entirely to them.
Seven in the morning on Spa Creek, when the pier still belongs to the early regulars.
Friday evening is a different club. The keelboats go out in threes and fours, the crews are mixed by the racing secretary, and half the people aboard did not know each other at five o'clock. By the time the lines are coiled they are planning next week.
“The boat that does the most work is never the biggest one. It is the one that is easy to say yes to.”
The crews stay because the Friday sail is the easiest social hour of their week. Nobody has to host, nobody has to cook, and everyone goes home a little sunburnt.
Saturday mornings belong to the sailing school and the juniors, so members tend to book the afternoon. The most popular slot of the whole season was Saturday from two to six on a center console, which is a fair description of a summer weekend in Annapolis.
Gull is the smallest boat we rent, six seats and nineteen feet, and it was booked more hours than any other boat on the pier. Members said the same thing in different words: it is easy to take out alone, it fits anywhere at Thomas Point, and nobody worries about it.
Next season we are adding a second sunrise slot on Thursdays. If you are one of the Tuesday regulars, you already know why.
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