What’s New at the 2026 Bay Bridge Boat Show at Safe Harbor Narrows Point
Date: April 3, 2026
The Bay Bridge Boat Show has long been the place where the boating season starts. You walk the docks, kick some tires, stock up on whatever you forgot to winterize, and head home ready to hit the water. The 2026 show (April 17–19) keeps that tradition intact, but a few new names on this year’s program caught our attention. Here’s what stood out.
Old Dog? New Tricks!
If you’ve been in the boating world for a while, you’ve probably seen a Boston Whaler half-boat. For decades, Whalers have been built with their patented Unibond hull construction; a method of encasing closed-cell foam within two layers of fiberglass. The upshot is that their boats are essentially unsinkable. Since the late 1950s, Whaler has been showcasing that point at boat shows by cutting their boats in half while they’re in the water.
At the 2026 Bay Bridge Boat Show, Chesapeake Whalertowne will be exhibiting the all-new Boston Whaler 330 Outrage—a design that marries the Unibond-unsinkable-sandwich construction with a cutting-edge twin T-stepped hull design (the steps are those saw teeth you see along the waterline in the photo above). The end result is a vessel that has Whaler’s legendary durability along with the efficiency and performance advantages of modern marine architecture. It’s unlikely that they’re going to cut this boat in half, but we wouldn’t put it past them.
A New Boss in Town
We love local businesses and we especially love local boat builders. It’s not every day that a new one crops up, so we’re thrilled to roll out the red carpet for Hull Boss Boats (operating out of Nanjemoy, Maryland). These aren’t pleasure boats; at least they’re not designed to be. They’re precision built to take a serious beating, and their low freeboard paired with flat-bottom stability makes them ideal for watermen and anglers. That said, if it can withstand regular abuse from crab traps and oyster tongs, it can certainly handle whatever you’ll throw at it.
Ahoy! Crew Members
Folks who grew up in Baltimore in the 70s and 80s are likely to remember Channel 45’s Captain Chesapeake. The beloved children’s presenter, portrayed by the late George Lewis, and his companion Mondy the Sea Monster have been off the air for a little over three decades. However, their legacy continues with a new lifestyle apparel brand in their name. Sweaters, mugs, cups, hats, bags, dog collars, and door mats all pay homage to the show while allowing customers to adopt the local legend’s usual sendoff: “Be somebody important, be yourself.”
Don’t Miss This Bus
Chesapeake Bay is a treasure trove for curious minds. Biologists estimate that there are over 3000 species of plants and animals living in and around the estuary, each with its own story to tell. Did you know that an adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in a single day? Or that the gloriously ugly toadfish can crush crabs with their jaws? Or that there is a species of seahorse that lives in the Bay? You can meet these creatures and more at the Phillips Wharf Environmental Center’s Fishmobile, which will be parked at Safe Harbor Narrows Point with 13 live animal tanks full of Chesapeake residents, from blue crabs and American eels to those aforementioned seahorses. Two interactive tanks let you get hands-on, and educational displays connect your daily life to the Bay’s ecosystems. It’s part aquarium, part rolling classroom, and entirely worth a stop.
Crustacean Education
Any way you cut it, recreational fishing doesn’t have a great ROI. Sure, you get a meal at the end of it (assuming you catch anything) but first you have to cover the cost of a license, rod, tackle, bait, etcetera. However, at $300 a bushel, crabbing can make real fiscal sense, and it’s a ton of fun too! New this year, Captain Bill Chesnut’s “Crabbing for Newbies” seminar covers the rules and regulations of recreational crabbing, the difference between a trot line and a trap, and a few tips on where to place them. You can catch it from 1–1:45 p.m. on Sunday, April 19 in the seminar tent. Make sure to check out the full seminar schedule.
New boats, new faces, and a few things you won’t find anywhere else on the Bay this spring. Get your tickets for the 2026 Bay Bridge Boat Show at Safe Harbor Narrows Point and see what everyone will be talking about.