Chesapeake Bay Boat Tours: The Captain Barry Experience

If you ever have a few hours to spend near Chincoteague Bay on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, check out one of Captain Barry’s sunset boat cruises. The Sunset Cruise I took a year ago was more than a boat ride, it was an experience.

Daylight closes on the Eastern Shore. You’re itchin’ to let loose on the water, see the sights, feel the vibe, get to know the back-alleys of Chincoteague Bay. So you book a voyage with Captain Barry and his Back-Bay Cruises. You hear he’s legend, a caricature-in-motion, a cool cat with an overactive funny bone.

He welcomes you on board his 34-foot Catamaran with “Relax! You’re on vacation. We’ve got aaaaall the time in the world.” You sit down and soak in the scene as you drift past historic lighthouses and pilings topped with long-necked cormorants.

Captain Barry sets sail to the theme from Indiana Jones and blares his foghorn at passing sailors. His loud “Ahoy, Matey!” is met with shouts and Pacino-like “hoo-ahhs” from gritty comrades across the bay. When the little Irish ditty called ‘Drunken Sailor,’ plays, he passes you a Budweiser and points out American oystercatchers feeding on the mud flat.

He pulls up a blue crab pot and delivers witticisms at break-neck speed while he points out its little-boy parts. Somebody inquires about the burned house on shore and he explains, “That guy stole somebody’s crab traps. You NEVER steal somebody’s crab traps, yannowhatImsaying?”

Sinatra picks up where the Irish ditty left off.

The sky darkens, the pressure drops, a frenetic energy overwhelms the bay. You’re surrounded by a mounting cacophony of squawks, hisses, screams, and caws. You look up: thousand of gulls, terns, and willets are battling overhead, each jockeying for a nighttime roost. A great egret catches a fish and is harassed by three bullish gulls. The egret, three times their size, drops the fish and skulks away.

“This time of night, it’s every man for itself,” says your captain. You guess he knows all about going it alone, but then he tells you about his off-season humanitarian efforts in third-world countries.

As you clutch your brew, your Captain talks in intimate detail about the Bay—how the only thing constant is change. How the tidal mud flats are constantly eroding, depositing, and dissolving again. How everybody knows everybody out here, and how “this town loves a party!” You feel part of the scene, part of something totally unique, something a boutique vintner might call “site expressive.”

You dock at the pier and gingerly step out. You try to hang on to all you saw, heard, and touched in the Bay before it foams up and washes away. You shuffle down the pier, thinking, “Man, I gotta get more of this…”

Captain Barry’s Back Bay Cruises includes the Birding & Nature Tour ($25/person), Champagne Sunset Cruise ($35), Sea Life Expedition ($25) and half-day Coastal Encounters ($45). For reservations, call 757-336-6508 or visit http://captainbarry.net.