Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholers Guide, 4th Edition

This is the most detailed cruising guide I have seen. Even though it is a bit dated, the information provided is amazing.

A guide is what it is. Only a guide. Things change. Use caution when navigating shallow anchorages and creeks. It's an ok book but there may be better with newer info. If you can get it cheap you can kill some hours with it on a rainy night.

Great product. Only giving it four start because it's not giving clear directions on how to download the pages you need for your trip using the barcode system. If anyone can help with that, it would be appreciated. I scanned the barcode and it took me to the website of the book.

Folksy friendly: Almost like a conversation over a couple beers, only without the errors. WONDERFUL info. The Kindle edition makes it so easy to get where you need to be. The linked index whisks you right there, rather than riffling through pages, then dropping the book and having to start over.Buy it! Put it on your waterproof tablet, keep it charged and never be at a loss on where to go. Keep a chart (or your chartplotter!)handy though, so you can see exactly what William is telling you.

We love this book so much we are buying copies for friends! We were fortunate to have our copy signed by the author, along with a note from the great sailor who sold us his beloved Beneteau of 27 years. Our own copy has been put to use already, navigating the shallow entry to Jackson Creek at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. We hope to mine the solid information in this book as we get to know the Chesapeake and our new sailboat.

Very decent local knowledge, especially of the shallower areas. Thoughtfully organized.Good info on the Bay's history and ecology. The black and white chartlets are not easy to read though. Color NOAA excerpts would have been a better approach. We are using this book as a reference for our gunkholing from South to North Bay this summer.

This is a pretty good guide book, but the pages have light grey ink on a white page which is hard to read, and the included chart close-ups are tiny and not too easy to use. I've used a lot of other cruising guides that are much more readable, which is important given that when you're out boating, you often need a quick answer and sometimes have a lot going on with driving, sail trim, traffic, weather, etc.

Excellent. Highly recommended. A true cruiser’s guide with ratings / rankings on where to go and what do and see. Covers areas by beauty & interest, weather & wave protection, and facilities. Includes a nice to have reliable recommendation on bad weather hold-up locations. If you are a traveler who has found value in Frommer’s or Rich Steves’ guides, you will like this book. A boaters guide from an experienced and knowledgeable Chesapeake Bay (and beyond) sailor.