Here’s some good news for cruising powerboat owners: The third annual Salty Dawg rally from the Chesapeake and then on to Nova Scotia and the gorgeous Bras d’Or Lakes is now open to powerboats. In the past the Salty Dawg rallies, organized by the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, have concentrated, as the name states, on sailboats, with the major effort being a fall rally to the Caribbean. But now as the ranks of cruising powerboat owners are growing, the Salty Dawg rallies have become interdenominational.
This summer the Salty Dawgs are organizing two rallies – A Downeast Adventure, from the Chesapeake to Maine, and then a later Maritime Magic rally, from Maine up to the top of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. You can participate in either one or both; you also can join them along the way.
The Maine rally leaves the Chesapeake on July 8, from both Annapolis, with the route through the C&D Canal and down Delaware Bay to the Atlantic, and from Kilmarnock, Virginia, where the fleet will exit the Chesapeake at Cape Charles and head directly to New England. The schedule calls for a stop at Dutch Harbor, outside Jamestown, Rhode Island, on July 10, and at Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, on Buzzards Bay, on July 14 before ending up in Rockland, Maine, on July 18.
The Nova Scotia rally leaves Rockland on Aug. 8 and has an overnight run to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, with subsequent stops in Halifax, St Peters, and the Bras d’Or. That rally ends on Aug. 20.
The fee for each rally is $125 for members of the Salty Dawn Sailing Association, and $225 for nonmembers. Since the association was founded in 2011, more than 650 boats and 2,500 cruisers have participated in its rallies. The main point is to get together with like-minded people on an adventure to great cruising destinations, with lots of time for social events and gatherings along the way.
This summer’s rallies have more than 40 sponsors and include dozens of experienced volunteers. You can follow the fleet with a web app hosted by OCENS, and there will be a radio net for communication among the fleet and shoreside personnel. Chris Parker of the Marine Weather Center will provide pre-departure briefings and routing. For more:
