The rich history of The Herring Bay Yacht Club began with the founding of the town of Rose Haven, MD.
The town of Rose Haven is on a site that was once occupied by Indians. As time passed, the Herrington Harbour area basically remained unchanged until it was rediscovered in 1946 by Joseph Eugene Rose. Rose, a Brooklyn New York native, had a vision that this was a place where a Maryland shore community could survive. He built his dream home at the corner of Albany and Walnut Avenues; however, he did not stop until 120 more homes were built, along with a marina, restaurant, gas station, and hotel with an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Each homeowner had a membership with the Rose Haven Yacht Club (established in 1955) and the Club became the center of activities for Rose Haven. The Club held many luaus, oyster roasts, hosted swimsuit pageants, Fleet Reviews, and the annual Commodore’s Ball. Joe Rose envisioned his Rose Haven as a miniature style New York Yacht Club, complete with military style uniforms.
In 1974, Joe Rose died and four years later his heirs sold the land to four local businessmen, which included E. Stuart Chaney. Chaney had a vision of creating a boating community and immediately began making improvements to the existing marina property.
The new owners replaced all the slips and expanded the marina to accommodate 620 boats. The marina office, pool, Herrington Harbour Restaurant (then, Mangoes, now Ketch 22), Herrington on the Bay Catering, and the sign (formally the gas station sign) are the only items that remain dating back to the Joe Rose era.
With the new owners, the Rose Haven Yacht Club changed. The Rose Haven community no longer had exclusive use of the “public” marina. The marina became a private facility and the residents were able to purchase slips at a nominal fee. The Clubhouse became the Herrington Harbour Restaurant; however, the marina gave the Rose Haven Yacht Club a room adjacent to the restaurant.
In the early 1990s as membership dwindled, Commodore Dave Adams led the effort to change the Club name from the Rose Haven Yacht Club to the Herring Bay Yacht Club. This expanded the focus to Herring Bay and the greater Chesapeake Bay area. Long-time Club Member Joe Varnadore and JoAnne Adams redesigned the Club burgee to capture the old and new focus. Since the creation of the HBYC, through the leadership of several outstanding Commodores, the Club has grown significantly to its current state.
Through all of this, the focus of the Club has not changed. We are a social Club of fun loving power and sail boaters, dedicated to enjoying the many pleasures of boating on the Chesapeake Bay, and supporting the local community.