Hello,
I am a licensed master captain who has had 12 boats through my life. I have a 2017 M-45 which I really enjoy. I live in St. Petersburg, FL, which has the Gulf of America. My boat takes the waves pretty good for the size of it. I used to live in NAS Pax River Naval air station when I was young and did a lot of sailing on the Chesapeake. Your boat should be fine on those waters. The only thing I don't like about the M-45 is that all the seating is on pretty much one side, so the boat is always listing when you have 6 to 8 people on it. I had to have trim tabs added to the boat to correct listing. Listing is not safe riding.
Tim
