BOATING WATERS
![[color photograph of Annapolis waterfront]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/i004486a.jpg)
Spa Creek (near its juncture with the Severn River, which joins Chesapeake Bay), Annapolis, Maryland, May 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Maryland has 23 rivers and bays with more than 400 miles of water tributary to the Chesapeake Bay, and coastal bays with 35 miles of water accessible to and from the Atlantic Ocean. It has 598 marinas; 43,452 wet boat slips (2000 est.); and some 250 public boat ramps and access points. In 1999, Maryland registered 192,661 pleasure boats; 8,393 federally documented vessels principally used in Maryland; 2,620 commercial fishing boats; and 17,154 other kinds of vessels.
![[color photograph of sailboats docked at Nabbs Creek]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/i005539a.jpg)
Sailboats docked at Nabbs Creek,
Anne Arundel County, Maryland,
August 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Annually, in Maryland, recreational boating expenditures total over $1 billion, which provides a net addition of over $980 million each year.
Information about licensing, boat titles, and boat registration is available from the Licensing and Registration Service of the Department of Natural Resources.
© Copyright Maryland State Archives