annapolis yacht yard

The Vosper 71-foot Motor Torpedo Boat PT-728 in 2015:   In looking at the disposition column in the Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5 above, the only verified existing Annapolis Yacht Yard-built Vosper MTBs are owned by the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, OH.  Both need a lot of restoration work.  From a deck and profile standpoint, PT-728 was restored to resemble an 80-foot Elco.  In my opinion, it is a Vosper, and should be restored as such.  But then, I'm not funding the restoration either.

Vosper 71-foot MTB Engineering Drawings:   Below are several photos of the top outline drawing of PT-723.  This was on one of the tables in the office next to the current restoration.  As of my visit, the restoration staff at the Museum did not have a complete set of drawings.  The photos below provide key information normally not found on the 71-foot Vosper.

PT-728 Walk-Around photos:   The following group of photos is from a return visit I made to the Museum in April 2019.  PT-728 is back in the boat house in the museum and is being completely rebuilt.  The museum has hired a boatwright wooden boat experience to lead the project.  Photos below show details on the rebuild of the boat as of April 2019.  For those interested in PT boats and their construction, I recommend a trip to the museum to personally view the work being done.

PT-724 Walkaround:   The photos below show PT-728 in April 2019.  There is a wooden framework over the entire boat, intended to hold a protective tarp in place.  The tarp blew off during the winter of 2018-19, and had not yet been replaced.

The Annapolis Yacht Yard

From 1937 to 1947, the Annapolis Yacht Yard operated on Spa Creek at what is now 222 Severn Avenue.

In the early 1930s, Chris B. Nelson and N. Erik Almen were partners in the New York firm of Nelson-Reid, Inc. Chris Nelson was a 1921 graduate of MIT in naval architecture and began a career as a draftsman for a New York firm of yacht designers, Tams, LeMoyne and King. He left there and went to work at the Dawn Boat Co. eventually becoming a designer and vice-president. Erik Almen apprenticed at the John Hanson Company in New York and became a knowledgeable yacht broker and gifted salesmen. They became friends and associates, and nurtured a successful relationship in the yacht brokerage business. [1]

Chris and Erik talked about relocating their business to another area on the East Coast, preferably on the Chesapeake Bay. They thought it would be a good idea to have a boatyard to build and sell their own designs. Chris came to Annapolis and saw the dormant Chance Marine Construction Company property on Spa Creek. They saw Annapolis as a growing yachting community, and their business was building yachts; very fine yachts for wealthy people. Chris thought it was a great place. So he came back to New York and told Eric about the yard and Annapolis. They wanted to get out of New York and when they envisioned the opportunity in Annapolis they decided to relocate. [2]

In 1937, Chris B. Nelson, Frederick L. Reid, and N (Nils) Erik Almen purchased Chance Marine Construction from the Reconstruction Finance Corp and founded The Annapolis Yacht Yard at what is now 222 Severn Ave.

What the Nelson-Almen partnership purchased from the RFC was a collection of buildings which dated back to 1913, but the buildings were functional. There was a large boat shed, a machine shop, joiner shop, lumber sheds and offices - all the space needed for Chris Nelson to begin designing the Annapolis Cruiser - a beautiful motoryacht that Erik Almen was a master at selling. [3]

July 1937, An ad was placed in Motorboating magazine announcing the acquisition of the “finest yacht-building plant” on the East Coast. The Annapolis Yacht Yard was open for business after renovations and upgrades. Annapolis Yacht Yard offices were located at 110 East 42nd Street, New York and the plant at Annapolis, Maryland. Officers of the new corporation: Chris B. Nelson- President, Frederick Reid- Vice President, and N. Erik Almen- Secretary-Treasurer.

Repair and yacht maintenance provides cash flow to any boatyard. Nelson and Almen recognized this as a major income stream to augment their new business of yacht design and construction. It kept the men working when orders for new yachts were slow. William T. Morris, president of the American Chain & Cable Company in York, Pennsylvania owned a 99-foot yacht, Sayon . It was a George Lawley design built in 1926, and a classic 1920s houseboat. Morris cruised the waters of the Chesapeake Bay aboard the yacht whenever he had the opportunity. During the late 1930s, Morris frequented Annapolis - he enjoyed the quiet surroundings of the harbor and the Annapolis Yacht Yard was a place that provided a facility to have his yacht maintained. A friendship developed between Morris, Nelson and Almen. On many occasions they spent time together at the Annapolis Yacht Club talking about boats, business and politics. Morris, a wealthy industrialist, was captivated by the entrepreneurial spirit of these two young gifted men. One of the topics they talked about was the war in Europe and the possibility of America’s involvement. Planners in Washington were watching as events began to evolve. The United States Navy was particularly concerned and the Navy began assessing its requirements for the future. [4]

World War II

With the war looming in Europe, business growth and to help with production. The offices in New York were closed and moved to Yard in Annapolis. N. Erik Almen took over general manager of the plant while Chris B. Nelson concentrated on contracts and designs.

Realizing the United States would eventually become involved in the war, Chris Nelson traveled to England in late 1940 to secure the rights to build a 70-foot Vosper PT boat at the Annapolis Yacht Yard for the British Royal Navy. PT boats were a new concept in coastal naval warfare and the British were on the leading edge of design and construction. Nelson went because he won the coin toss with Almen. If it had been tails this story would be about Erik Almen. But, Nelson returned to America on March 12, 1941, with a bundle of plans he believed were detailed drawings of the 70-ft Vosper PT boat designed by Peter DuCane, a naval architect who headed Vosper Limited. Nelson went to the British Purchasing Mission in Washington to secure a contract to replicate the design and build the boats in Annapolis. The reply was surprising: Sorry, but Lend-Lease was passed yesterday by Congress, you will have to negotiate such a contract with your navy. Chris Nelson went to the Bureau of Ships and met with Admiral Ned Cochrane, head of the Bureau. After he told his story and unveiled his plans, the Annapolis Yacht Yard was soon awarded the first of many contracts to build Vosper PT boats in Annapolis for the British Royal Navy and later, the Russian Navy. [5]

One month later, on April 1, 1941, the Annapolis Yacht Yard was awarded its first contract to build two 110-foot subchasers for the U. S. Navy. It later served in the Pacific and the occupation of Guam in 1944. One month before the end of the war the boat foundered in the Solomon Islands. [6]

On July 16, 1941, the Nelson-Almen partnership received its first contract to build a 70-foot Vosper PT boat for the British Royal Navy - the first of 28 PT boats to be built in one year’s time. New facilities would be needed and a larger shed was required. The Annapolis Yacht Yard began an expansion program, thanks to an investment of more than $200,000 from William T. Morris - the mentor to Chris Nelson and Erik Almen. [7]

The first Vosper Torpedo Boat was launched the spring of 1942. At the height of the war, the Annapolis Yacht Yard completed a PT Boat every 5 days.

During the war years, celebrities visited factories, military installations and yes, even boatyards. Hollywood actress Ann Baxter visited the Annapolis Yacht Yard in 1943 to promote a war bond drive. [8] The Yard was very active in raising funds for the war effort - hosting Basketball and Baseball games, War Bond drives, and dinners at Carvel Hall.

By 1943, the Annapolis Yacht Yard had more than 500 men on the payroll. It was the largest single private employer in Annapolis. The paychecks helped to anchor the many small family-owned businesses in the local economy during the war years. In March of that year, the yard received a contract to build 30 Vospers for the Russian Navy. [9]

On May 14, 1943, Annapolis Yacht Yard was awarded the Army-Navy E flag “for meritorious and distinguished service to their country in time of need.” The ceremony took place at Annapolis High School with Rear Admiral John R. Beardall presenting the flag to Chris B. Nelson.

Lt. Col Paul J. McGahan, representing the War Department, presented the employees with an “E” pin.

By the end of the war, The Annapolis Yacht Yard had produced, 10 sub chasers for the US Navy, 28 Vosper P.T. boats for the British Royal Navy and 100 Vosper P.T. boats for the Soviet Navy.

After the conclusion of World War II, the Nelson-Almen partnership returned to designing and building the Annapolis Cruiser. The designs became more sleek and even more graceful and luxurious. [10]

After Chris B. Nelson’s sudden death on July 5, 1947, and a slow down of production, The Annapolis Yacht Yard was sold to John Trumpy, Sr.

• ↑ Mike Miron

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Annapolis Boatyard Slides Into History

By Ben A. Franklin Special to The New York Times

• July 11, 1974

ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 10—Trumpy's, the boat yard where 400 luxuriously handmade versions of “the RollsRoyce” of American motor yachts were built earlier in this century for millionaire owners named Armour, Baruch, du Pont, Firestone and Whitney, slid down history's ways into oblivion Monday, the victim of plastic technology, the cost of craftsmanship and the high‐rise condominium building boom.

In about three hours, A. J. Billig, an impatient, no‐nonsense Baltimore auctioneer, disposed of the last corporate remains of John Trumpy & Sons, Inc., yacht builders since 1903. The auctioneer knocked down to used machinery brokers and junk dealers the dusty band saws, planers and lathes that had given life to an armada of graceful hulls named Aurora, Corsair, Sirus and Sequoia.

Solidly Built Boats

Trumpy boats, like the 48‐year‐old Presidential yacht Sequoia, were solidly built of wood, and all that was not sold here was the smell of sawdust, varnish and tidewater, and the cries of gulls. Their ambience may be displaced soon, too.

The Industrial auction of Trumpy's wood shop, machine works, paint shop and pattern loft—of anvils and forges, welders, dies, clamps, grinders, routers, rusty chain, 50,000 brass and bronze bolts and marine fittings, and even the office filing cabinets and water cooler—ended the hope of some here that another yacht builder might buy the five‐and‐a‐half‐acre yard on Spa Creek, across from the United States Naval Academy.

Trumpy's has by far the largest boat‐hauling machinery in this area, and, although the 75‐ton elevator dock and the 300‐ton marine railway were not in the auction catalogue, their future here remains in doubt, according to a Trumpy official. “They may not stay here,” he said.

The demise of Trumpy's followed the earlier disappearance of wood‐hull boat yards with names like Lawley,. Luders, Herreshoff, Nevins, Jacobs, Consolidated and New York Launch and Engine. The last of the aristocratic, custom ‐ built yachts actually came more than a year ago. Monday's auction was a final formality, awake.

Trumpy's last yacht, a 65‐foot cruiser named for the star Sirus, was delivered a year ago last March, according to John Trumpy Jr., the 68‐year‐old, fourth‐generation patriarch of a family boatbuilding heritage that began in Norway in the 19th century.

“We just had a devil of time maintaining quality,” Mr. Trumpy said. “The art is simply dying, and I am not going to convert to fiber glass.”

As the tall, white‐haired Mr. Trumpy formedthe words of the carefree plastic hull material, of which most boats are made today, he made face and added, “Plugh!”.

For $300,000 to $400,000, a Trumpy yacht was built on white oak ribs, with planking of Honduran mahogany and decking of Burmese teak. With three double staterooms, each with a bath, a lounge and a separate dining salon, galley and crew's quarters, a Trumpy yacht required the care and maintenance of a four‐man or five‐man crew.

For several years it has been increasingly difficult to keep or train quality craftsmen, Mr. Trumpy said, adding that, without them, “it's not worth staying in business.”

‘For Wealthy People’

“For years we built all kinds of yachts—motor and sail—for wealthy people,” he recalled during an interview in his carpeted office. The office is part of a second‐floor loft, full of draftsmen's tables, that, is suspended over the interior, of the yard's great boat shed. A pair of ways — wide ‐ set rails with massive, hull‐carrying cradles —stood empty in the boat shed below, the unused rails leading in four rusty grooves to the far end of the build‐. ing and down into the water of Spa Creek and the Annapolis harbor.

“These days you can't get people to work,” Mr. Trumpy continued. “You pay them for eight hours and they only want to work six, and they sit around smoking the rest of the time. The way they work, you have to watch, watch, watch or the boat would sink when you let it off the railway.”

Some of the Trumpy manpower difficulties, however, may have stemmed from wage increases in skilled crafts that Mr. Trumpy said he had refused to meet.

“You see in the newspapers where a plumber in San Francisco gets $13.75 an hour?” he asked. “Well, it took 125 men in this yard six months to build one of our boats, and I paid them more than $4.50 an hour—more than anyone else in boat building. But they wouldn't work, or they left.”

Wages were enough of an issue so that Trumpy's independent company, union struck the yard in 1971, and one former Trumpy workman said this week that Mr. Trumpy “could have kept good men if he'd paid them.

Charles Chavarria, a Bethesda, Md., official of a real estate development company now allied with Mr. Trumpy in a proposed high‐rise condominium project on the boat yard property, acknowledged in a telephone interview that, while “it is unfortunate that an era is passing in wood‐hull boat building,” it was—as Mr. Chavarria put it—”probably true that Mr.

Trumpy can make more money in real estate than boats.

The real estate opportunity here is in waterfront highriset.

Through the huge, open doors of the boat shed and across 200 yards of smooth Spa Creek waters can be seen the Annapolis Hilton Hotel, modern, red brick, seven‐story structure that many here believe has had as much to do with the end of the Trumpy yacht era as the repeatedly cited death of pride in craftsmanship.

Waterfront High‐Rises

The Annapolis Hilton, which opened six years ago, was the first “high‐rise” on the otherwise one‐and‐two‐story townscape of this colonial city's waterfront. In the intervening years, one high‐rise condominium already has followed just west of Trumpy's boat yard, and a second is under construction to the east of the boat yard.

The height of these new structures was a main argument in support of a proposed third condominium, eight stories high, on Trumpy property, when lawyets for the Ervin Atlantic Company, the real estate developers of the Trumpy project, appeared for planning and zoning approvals last year before the Annapolis City Council.

Ervin Atlantic is a subsidiary of the American Cyanamid Company, a synthetic fiber, drug, chethical, fertilizer, plastic, cosmetics and real estate conglomerate based in Wayne, N. J.

Town resistance to harborfront high‐rise sprawl, in addition to the strain that the 156 ‐ unit Trumpy project would have placed on the Annapolis sewage disposal system, finally led the City Council to reject the $10.5‐million proposal last February, by a vote of 5 to 4. The zoning rejection is now on appeal in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

If the Maryland courts reverse the denial of high‐rise zoning — and Mr. Trumpy seemed confident this week that they might—the new condominium apartment units on the boat yard here, each with docking at a former Trumpy pier, would cost from about one‐tenth to oney‐fifth of a Trumpy yacht. The projected unit prices range from $42,500 to $86,000—a cost that Ervin Atlantic's presentation to the City Council stressed would reflect Trunipy's tradition of precision workmanship.

Annapolis Maritime History: How Naptown Became World’s Sailing Capital

A NNAPOLIS, MD — Boaters flock to Annapolis every summer. Vessels docked downtown last week included a superyacht from Jamaica and a lengthy sailboat from Miami..

Mariners love the nautical traditions in Annapolis, from the Wednesday night sailboat races to the annual Blue Angels air show over the Severn River.

Annapolis wasn't always the sailing capital of the world, however. The city's history is inseparable from the water, but timely changes forced the town to reinvent itself repeatedly.

Annapolis started as a small colonial port and was overshadowed by a larger neighbor. The city transitioned into a seafood hub before a global war ushered in an era of modern shipbuilding. Local development and boat mass production made the town the nautical destination it is today. The focus now turns toward environmental conservation and the future of boating.

This is the story of Annapolis through the years.

Colonial Annapolis

It's easy to imagine Annapolis as a colonial port thanks to its narrow cobblestone streets.

The city still has more original 18th-century structures than any other American town. Construction on the Maryland State House started in 1772 , making it the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use. It's also the only statehouse to serve as the nation's capitol building.

With a heritage like this, City Dock must have a storied shipping history. Right?

That's partially true, but there's more to the story.

Colonial Maryland was a tobacco giant with plantations flanking both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. That assured plenty of exports, but harvest collection ships usually went straight to the plantations and bypassed centralized ports.

Large trading ships rarely visited City Dock, Annapolis historian Jane McWilliams said. McWilliams, author of " Annapolis, City on the Severn: A History ," noted that the Chesapeake did not have any bustling ports at the time.

"I don't think you can call Annapolis a major port at any time," McWilliams told Patch. "There were not major ports on the Chesapeake during the colonial period at all. If you had one, it would probably be Annapolis, but it was so easily eclipsed by Baltimore."

While writing her book, the Annapolis resident found that port activity didn't take off until the French and Indian War ended in 1763. Lawmakers, like Declaration signer William Paca , started building luxurious estates in Annapolis when the economy picked up. This led to more consumer goods flowing into the city.

The trade of enslaved people and indentured servants is also a part of this era. Kunte Kinte, the African sold into slavery — his descendant, author Alex Haley made him famous in the novel "Roots" — arrived at the port of Annapolis on a slave ship in 1767.

Products like knives, clothing and fabrics showed up at City Dock. The town had three tanneries that cured hides along College Creek, so leather products flowed through the port, as well.

McWilliams said 48 vessels entered Annapolis waters to sell enslaved people between 1756 and 1776. Another 317 ships brought white indentured servants during that window.

About 18,000 laborers were sold in Annapolis during that span. Ten percent of them were enslaved, McWilliams said. Most of the imported workers were indentured servants who were owned for a predetermined timeframe and then granted their freedom.

Slave trade did happen in Annapolis, but it was not the predominant use of the port.

Shipbuilding, on the other hand, boomed into a major industry during the 18th century. A ship carpenter's lot opened at City Dock in 1718. In the 1770s, a 200-ton shop was built on College Creek.

A nautical economy was budding in Annapolis, but Baltimore was becoming the preferred trading port.

"As Baltimore rises, Annapolis kind of stays quiet," Annapolis historian David Gendell told Patch.

Gendell, an Eastport resident, wrote " Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: A Chesapeake Bay Icon ." Many associate the 1875 lighthouse with Annapolis because it's located between the South River and Kent Island. Gendell said the lighthouse was actually built to guide ships to the more convenient Baltimore port.

Baltimore offered deeper waters, more room for storage on land and eventually better rail connections when trains debuted. The city also had moving water at Jones Falls to power mills, a luxury that Annapolis lacked. Baltimore was additionally closer to the wheat fields of Western Maryland, notching another advantage for the northern neighbor.

To protect its expanding port, Baltimore built Fort Whetstone out of soil in 1776. The federal government took over the property and erected Fort McHenry there in 1794. Fort McHenry replaced Whetstone's earthen walls with stronger bricks and added more cannons, which proved vital to Baltimore's defense in the War of 1812.

Annapolis was such an insignificant shipping port by the war that the British bypassed it in hopes of capturing the more valuable Baltimore.

Annapolis was at a crossroads, forcing it to turn the page.

Watermen Take Over, Naval Academy Opens

After a slower period, the seafood industry rose to new heights. Work and fishing boats filled the harbor.

Watermen dominated the Chesapeake from the late 19th century through the early 20th century. Fishers hauled in crabs and striped bass and piled them at City Dock. Skipjacks, which are now the state boat, harvested oysters.

The building that's now Annapolis Market House opened in the 1890s as a seafood plant. Catches were processed, cooked and sold on-site. The scraps were thrown back into what's now Ego Alley across the street.

McNasby Seafood & Oyster Company moved from Baltimore to downtown Annapolis and then to Eastport in the early 1900s. Located on Back Creek, this former seafood packing facility is now home to the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park.

"The seafood industry is always an important part of the Chesapeake," McWilliams said.

Just like seafood, the U.S. Naval Academy is another Annapolis symbol born during this period.

Naval officers previously had no standardized training regimen. The Philadelphia Naval Asylum School was the Navy's largest at the time. There were also naval schools in New York City, Norfolk and Boston in the nation's early days.

Leaders for decades had pitched a centralized on-shore naval school. The Navy picked Annapolis for its "healthy and secluded" location to rescue midshipmen from "the temptations and distractions that necessarily connect with a large and populous city," the Naval Academy said .

Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft commissioned the Naval Academy on the Severn River in 1845. The Navy took over the Army's 10-acre Fort Severn and built the current Naval Academy Yard atop the old base.

This sparked an influx of Navy officers who were professors and administrators at the academy. These well-educated leaders came from posts around the nation, bringing a worldly culture to the growing city.

"It makes Annapolis a more cosmopolitan town," McWilliams said, noting that Navy wives in 1902 helped start what's now the Anne Arundel Medical Center.

Post-colonial waters were largely characterized by seafood and naval uses. There wasn't much recreational boating, however. It would be decades before manufacturing changes made boating the sport Annapolis knows today.

Gendell, who co-founded SpinSheet and PropTalk Magazines, said any leisurely boating in the 1800s was done in "very small, humble vessels" like homemade canoes and skiffs.

"Even the Annapolis Yacht Club started as a canoe club in the late 19th century," Gendell said. "The members would launch their canoes into Spa Creek and row them to spots up the river for swimming."

Recreational Boating

World War II was a catalyst for the town's recreational boating.

The Annapolis Yacht Yard, which built wooden boats in Eastport, won a contract to build naval vessels for the Allied powers in the 1940s. The shipyard built over 100 of these warships, including torpedo boats and minesweepers.

Around 400 people worked at the yacht yard, leaving an abundance of skilled boat manufacturers after the war. These workers then applied their skills to build leisure yachts at the property, which became Trumpy Boatyard , until it closed in 1974.

"That was the beginning of our marine industry," Gendell said. "We went from a sleepy town patching holes in your crabbing skiff to being able to build wooden boats of high quality at speed."

Residential development around the city picked up in the 1960s and 70s. The most desirable neighborhoods had a community pier along the water.

Fiberglass boats outpaced wooden vessels. Fiberglass is a cheaper material that was easier to mass produce and maintain.

These factors made boating more accessible to the masses.

"You don't have to be extraordinarily wealthy or born into it," Gendell said. "It opened up yachting now to a bigger community ... It was suddenly more affordable."

The Annapolis Sailing School was founded in 1959 , making it the nation's first adult sailing school.

The school designed its own training vessel, the Rainbow 24, to simplify sailing for beginners. Gendell said the school opened branches in California, Florida and Missouri. It even set up shop in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The school has taught thousands to sail, and Annapolis was an ideal place to learn.

The current isn't overly strong. The wind isn't overpowering. And the shores aren't rocky.

A growing population of experienced boaters made Annapolis a nautical hub.

The U.S. Sailboat Show recognized this blossoming culture and held its first exhibition in the city in 1970. This was the country's first in-water sailboat show.

The Annapolis Boat Shows eventually expanded to have four annual events, with two each year for sailboats and powerboats.

"Now, people come from all over the world to go to those boat shows," Gendell said. "The marine industry all turns up in Annapolis to exhibit at those shows. And those shows also did a lot to advance the popularity of recreational boating and Annapolis' spot within it."

Future Of Boating

Gendell, McWilliams and Marylanders all agree that boating is not going anywhere.

Gendell, a sailor and a powerboater, has noticed a shift toward motorboats in recent years. He attributes that trend to consumer preferences for turn-key vessels ready for quick trips and dock bar visits.

"I always believe Annapolis will deeply be a sailing town .... but what I'm seeing in terms of trends is COVID really accelerated small boats," Gendell said, pointing to pandemic spikes in canoeing and kayaking as well.

Personal vessels like these require public water access. Gendell thinks there is a demand for more launch points where anybody can park their car for a day and paddleboard around local waterways.

Gendell is proud of the Chesapeake Bay conservation efforts in Maryland, but he thinks there is room for improvement in the more distant states of the watershed.

"As a community, that awareness leads to action on the individual level," Gendell said. "Now, we need to work on upstream things."

Annapolis is a waterfront town through and through.

The city is narrated boat tours from Watermark Journeys. It's cruises from nonprofits like Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating and the Valhalla Sailing Project. It's nautical restaurants like the Severn Inn, water taxi rides to Eastport, tugs-of-war over Spa Creek and fireworks in the harbor.

Annapolis is the water, and the water is Annapolis.

"Will it change?" McWilliams wondered. "No, I don't think so. As long as people are willing to buy the boat for enormous amounts of money and go out and sail, ... they're going to do it."

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The article Annapolis Maritime History: How Naptown Became World’s Sailing Capital appeared first on Anne Arundel Patch .

Three Great Boat Yards, One Location

Bert Jabin Yacht Yard

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7310 Edgewood Rd

Annapolis, MD 21403

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About the business.

Bert Jabin Yacht Yard (BJYY) is one of Annapolis' largest complete marine service marinas. Our award-winning marina and boatyard services give our customers a premier marina for boat storage in the Annapolis area. Our boatyard services include boating maintenance and repair, specialist yacht services, and yacht repair and maintenance. BJYY has more than 200 wet slips for power and sail, self-serve boatlift slips, and over 25 independent marine service providers on-site. At BJYY, boat owners enjoy exceptional service, easy access to Chesapeake Bay and great protection from wind and waves. Founded in 1959 by Bert Jabin, BJYY continues to practice environmentally friendly initiatives that make us one of Maryland's Certified Clean Marinas. …

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This place is awesome! My dad is a member at this yacht club and he loves it. I thought the coolest part about this club was the SpeedyDock app. When you download this application you can schedule launches from your phone! All we have to do to get our boat in the water is choose the time we're coming through the app and it's out on the dock. They made it so easy. Bert Jabin's Yacht Yard is organized and clean. The bathhouse near the docks is spotless and has great amenities. They offer laundry facilities, showers, and toilets. Their bathrooms are the cleanest bathrooms I've ever been to. Every time I go, someone is either cleaning them, or has just cleaned them. The only small complaint my father had was he wished they were opened just a little later. The views along the pier are stunning. All the sailboats are so picturesque. It's always a great feeling to walk onto a boat from Bert Jabin's.

Jabin's is a real old fashioned boat yard on a huge scale. The facility includes a large number of slips, some really great service docks that make access by vendors very straightforward, haul-out facilities, dry storage, and significant storage on the hard. There are a number of vendors on-site and all the options that being in Annapolis brings. The staff is extraordinarily professional. It is truly a pleasure to work with a yard that monitors and answers the VHF. The dockhands and dockmaster really know what they are doing which is a pleasure. I now have two marinas (in the world) where I am willing to throw lines ashore without risking having my boat pulled askew. The bathhouse near the service docks is clean and pleasant. Lots of room. Modern laundry facilities are in the common area between the restrooms for men and ladies. It would be nice to have dispensers in the showers for some kind of body and hair wash but then lots of things would be nice; perhaps big fluffy towels straight from the dryer? *grin* In my recent visit Jabin's (properly Bert Jabin Yacht Yard) provided support above and beyond the call of duty. I had a customer who had just completed a repower and we needed to run up the engine hours for the 50 hour initial service before heading offshore to the USVI. The staff at Jabin's understood the issues I was facing and found me a slip where I could pull in gear for two days (DAYS) without disturbing any of their other customers. Their accommodation saved me the pain of motoring from Annapolis to Norfolk and back and saved my customer the costs of doing so. To my mind a yard with staff that understands what a boater is trying to accomplish without painful explanations is a good one, perhaps a great one. Every question I asked was responded to with "let me see what we can do." No one said "No." Dockmaster Keith gave me a lift to pick up my car after I was settled. Greg was extraordinarily patient with a tired and creaky (that's creaky, not cranky) delivery skipper getting tied up to pull against the dock. Joanne in the office was welcoming and made the paperwork simple and go quickly. Aja, the receptionist, greets you with a smile and "How can I help?" Owner Rod Jabin leads a great team with the attitude of "sure, we can do that." There are other places to tie up for work in Annapolis, but nowhere with better service and a finer attitude than Bert Jabin Yacht Yard. Recommended.

Unfortunately I recently had my boat pulled there for transport. I've never been ripped off like I was there ever before. They did everything possible to squeeze me for ever cent they could. A tarp fee even though the boat wasn't washed, my transport company had a trailer that didn't need a lift. When I brought this to their attention their response was we don't allow that here. Why not?.....because we want to rip you off for another $300. The transport driver told me this yard is the only one he's ever been to that doesn't allow him to load. This place is a rip off. There are many other good yards in Annapolis. Go to one of the others unless you want to be screwed.

I am a forty year veteran marina operator in the greater NY metropolitan area and I recently assisted a friend in delivering his 50' motoryacht to Charleston via the Intercoastal Waterway. Going into the Chesapeake Bay above Annapolis, we had the misfortune of hitting a submerged floating log the size of a telephone pole and damaging all 4 Volvo-Penta IPS props and shafts. I called another marina operator in NY who does a lot of high end yacht sales business in Annapolis and he recommended Jabin's as the place to haul for repairs. I have been in many marinas in my forty year tenure in the marina business and I can say from experience that Jabin's is one of the cleanest, most competent and well run marinas I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The staff is and facility is simply top notch and if you need a quality marina with fair prices that performs as they promise in the Annapolis area, hands down you'd be wise to utilize Jabin's....

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