Saturday, June 8: Back to the Eastern Shore at Oxford, MD

Date:                           June 8, 2013

Day on the Cruise:      54

From:                          Solomon's, MD                                                              

To:                              Oxford, MD

Statute Miles:              39.1

Time:                           4.0 Hrs

Cumulative Miles:       1,410.4 SM

On Board:                  Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

We are in Oxford, MD tonight!

Back on the Eastern Shore of Maryland

Oxford is off the Choptank River. Notice how the Bay is much narrower up here!

Tropical Storm Andrea went through the Solomon's area last night. It rained most of the night. This morning it was overcast and spitting rain. Looking at the weather radar, we saw a big front moving Northeast out of North Carolina into Virginia toward Chesapeake Bay. The winds on the Bay were still being forecast to be very low. It looked like the rougher weather associated with the front was going to pass South of Solomon's and we were trying to head North.

So, we made plans to leave at 10 to go 35 miles Northeast across the Bay to the Eastern Shore and Oxford, MD. We got a Pump out at Zahniser's, then filled up with fuel at Calvert Marina. It started raining as we left Solomon's, but the Patuxent River and on out into the Bay was very smooth. Visibility was poor, but we could see several miles around us, and the rain was the only hindrance. At least the autopilot was working as there was no wind to affect it.

We passed a huge LNG offloading facility at Cove Point in the Bay. In the rain it looked eerie, and at first I thought it was a ship. Our AIS worked well and we saw commercial traffic on the screen before we could see it in front of us. Surprisingly, there was a lot of small boat traffic out on the Bay in such crappy weather.

We watched the weather radar on the iPad all the way up the Bay. We could see the front moving Northeast at a high rate of speed. We could also see pop up thunderstorms ahead of us in the front that we eventually ran into. We use a TV station weather app that we picked up on our local NBC TV station in Alabama. It allows you to look at weather and radar for many cities and towns in the US. As long as we have AT&T Service, we are usually good to go.

 We ran in the rain for about 25 miles, then it became just cloudy, then the sun poked out. It was a pretty nice day when we got to Oxford.

We are at an old, small marina in Oxford. It is Mears Yacht Haven. We did get a face dock, but it is fixed with no cleats. You have to tie to pilings, but the spacing of the pilings does not work with our boat cleats so we had to tie one line to a dock joist to secure the stern. Not good! The docks are wood and are old. This is what I think of as an old timely Northeast Marina.

Mear Yacht Haven in Oxford

Mears Yacht Haven in Oxford

Mears Yacht Haven in Oxford. We are docked right behind a Rhodes 19 - the same kind of boat that we used to sail in Alabama while growing up!

Tonight was gorgeous. Beautiful sky and sunset. Not too warm. We walked a half mile to a waterfront restaurant named Schooner's. It was good. The walk took us through some neighborhoods and by some boat yards. Oxford is very quaint and lush and green. Looking forward to going out to explore. So far, this town is exceeding my expectations!

Tomorrow Pam and Clark come down from Wilmington to visit. Looking forward to seeing them!

Thanks for Reading!