Drawing on his extensive experience as a field guide and education director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the author describes the Bay's intricate waterways in all seasons, and traces the basics of geology, ecology, and human history as they relate to the Bay. Chapters on water safety, boat selection, and seamanship follow. A chapter on natural history gear and maps concludes the first part of the book.In the second section, Williams provides information on a wide range of waterways that can serve as prototypes for each of the varied ecological niches that ring the Bay. Access points, a short historical overview, physical descriptions of each watercourse and its banks, remarks on the flora and fauna to be found there in one season or another -- all these details are presented, and more, in a narrative that at once stimulates and inspires.