Navigational Hazard

Hello all fellow boaters on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  This is Capt. Adam with Tow Jamm Marine, TowBoatU.S Kent Narrows/Knapps Narrows.  I am coming to you today with a navigational hazard that last season caused damage to some vessels out on the water.   We wanted to bring this to your attention in order to help inform our fellow boaters of this hazard.

Poplar Island through the countless millennia of erosion had nearly disappeared.   An effort is being made to restore this island to its former glory. By using the dredge material from Baltimore Harbour and surrounding areas, they are recreating Poplar Island’s original size and structure.   The hazard that we are discussing today lies on the north end of the island. As the cranes and barges work, they create a rock retaining wall that outlines the shape and size of the final island. Once this retaining wall is built they backfill the lagoon that has been created  and an island is formed.

Due to the depth of the water, the retaining wall will be very wide and tall, coming out of the water almost 20ft.  Currently the retaining wall is only about 6ft out of the water. Last season the wall was less then 3 ft out of the water and at extreme high tides it was just at or below water line.   This season it is much higher but at night due to the rocks dark color it becomes almost impossible to see.


Today we put together a Geo-Perimeter Fence of GPS coordinates around Poplar Island north end.   I have overlaid this GEO-Fence onto a Google Earth Satellite image in order to help you understand how large this island protrudes to the North.   This image and these numbers are not to be used for navigational purposes, but are here to give you an idea of the hazard that exist. We recommend that you go to this area in good light and a calm day to see the amazing work they are doing out there.  This will allow you to enter your own GPS coordinates for a safe route around the island. Again we stress to never use the coordinates we are providing for navigational purposes. The coordinates we have given are only to show you the potential danger that exist. 

If you ever have a question about navigation, weather or hazards on the Eastern Shore of Maryland please give us a call at 410-745-3000 or call “TowBoatU.S.” on VHF channel 16 for help. And always remember: “The prudent navigator never relies solely on one form of navigation”      

• Waypoint 1    38° 47.023'N 76° 21.390'W
• Waypoint 2    38° 47.387'N 76° 21.366'W
• Waypoint 3    38° 47.712'N 76° 21.515'W
• Waypoint 4    38° 47.921'N 76° 21.882'W
• Waypoint 5    38° 47.887'N 76° 22.128'W
• Waypoint 6    38° 47.695'N 76° 22.292'W

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