Rhode Creek to Oxford
Day 5, Sunday, October
2, 2016.
We had a wonderful
night’s rest on the anchor in Canning House Cove. The wind had fallen off and the water was
calm so we both slept well.
We prepared a sausage
gravy on toast breakfast before we weighed anchor and headed for the town of
Oxford, located on the Eastern Shore. We assumed that this would be a day of
motoring as we traveled on glassy waters out into the main bay.
In the open waters of
the bay, we were greeted with a nice north easterly breeze which carried us
most of the way towards Knapps Narrows, a passage way that separates Tilghman
Island from the mainland. This peninsula
projects deeply into the opening of the Choptank River and the Narrows cuts off
about 5 miles of a trip heading into the northern reaches of the river. About ½ way through the Narrows we
encountered a drawbridge which responded quickly to our radio call. The bridge tender had the bridge open in time
for us to pass without having to wait.
Leaving the Narrows, we
encountered glassy water so we set our autopilot on a waypoint 5 miles up the
river and allowed the motor to take us there.
Also, at about the same time, we welcomed the first sunshine that we had
seen since our first day on this strip.
We took all of our rain gear, wet socks, and wet towels and hung them along the lifelines where the
intense October sun dried them quickly.
We did look like a boat of traveling gypsies as we motored along.
Partway up the river we
passed a skipjack oyster dredge boat. An
1865 Maryland law prohibits power boat dredging for oysters. This spawned a large sail-powered fleet which
has dwindled to about a half dozen of the beautiful traditional wooden
boats. In 1967, the law was amended to
allow gasoline-powered “push boats to be used on Mondays and Tuesdays and the
law is strictly enforced to this day.
The town of Oxford is
located a short distance up the Tred Avon River which is one of the many
tributaries of the Choptank. We entered
the town by way of a narrow inlet that is lined on both sides with marinas,
boat yards and private residences. As we
passed the first marina, we saw our friend Jim Philpott standing on the dock
waving us in. They had arrived quite a
while before us and had secured a space for both boats for the night.
We spent the rest of
the afternoon sprucing up the boat. For dinner, Jim joined us for a dinghy ride
to an eating establishment called Schooners.
Upon arrival at schooners, we were greeted by an out of business sign so
we motored to the end of the inlet where we saw a neat little catboat with two
couples enjoying the evening. We motored
up to them and inquired as to eating placed in Oxford and they recommended a
place called Popes Tavern. We tied Damn Dink Too up to the town wharf and
walked to what turned out to be a really nice old home that had been converted
to a fine restaurant. Although their
menu was somewhat limited, the made up for it by having a wine list that must
have had 100 different wines for your pleasure.
I must admit that their prices were a bit higher than I was willing to
pay for their interesting entrees, so Janine and I both ordered a
hamburger. Jim followed suit. We enjoyed a nice glass of Merlot and a fabulous
gourmet burger.
By the time we finished
our meal, it was completely dark so we wandered back to the dink, turned on our
bicolor bow light (which Janine held out front) and we slowly motored on glassy
waters back to Second Wind. It was a pleasant ride.
We invited our three
friends onto Second Wind for an after
dinner drink and spent until our eyes grew heavy spinning yarns about days
past. Bed came along at about 9:30.
Oxford to Shaw Bay
Day 6, Monday, October
3, 2016.
I awoke at around 4:00
and was unable to sleep so I got up, collected a bag of dirty cloths and with
my computer under my arm, I headed to the most beautiful club house facility
that I have ever seen at a marina. Their shower rooms would make anyone
envious. The shower stalls were
sandstone tile and the bathroom was all marble and teak with paintings hanging
on the wall. I threw my cloths into
their washer and headed to the lounge where I used their Wi-Fi to write and prepare
my blog.
Back at the boat,
Janine was up and ready for the day. We
fixed cheesy eggs, bacon and toast for our first meal. I was adding a bit of salt to my portion when
the top of the shaker came off and dumped all of the salt on the top my eggs. I scraped as much as I could off, not wasting
my fine breakfast and finished the saltiest eggs I have ever encountered.
We left the marina at
around 9:00 and headed for Shaw Bay located on the Wye River. We retraced our route back to Knapps
Narrows. Not far along the way, we
picked up a nice northeasterly breeze so we raised the sails and enjoyed about
a 6 mile sail. The wind increased making
it a very spirited ride. Our path took us about two miles south of the Narrows
so we needed to tack to complete the first leg.
Just as we were preparing to make our turn, we hooked a crab line of a
local waterman working the area. He was
not a happy person. I saw the float but
it was in the middle of the line and there was no way I could get by without
catching it on our keel. After about 5
minutes of trying to maneuver around with the sails flapping, we final[y broke
free and sailed away.
Past the narrows we passed between the
mainland and man-made extension to Poplar Island. The channel was narrow and winding with
numerous crap pots arranged like bumper posts on a pinball machine. We were able to navigate without scoring any
more hits on our way to Eastern Bay and the Wye River. Our final destination was in a beautiful wide
open bay from the opening to the river.
We dropped our hook in about 7 feet of water and climbed into the Dink
for a short ride to Little Star and a
glass of wine with hors d’oeuvres. At around dinner time, we headed back to Second Wind where we prepared a fine
dinner of beef cubes on noodles. We
relaxed for a while after dinner before returning to share a night cap with our
friends. As usual, we ended the day at
around 9:00
Shaw Bay to St. Michael
Day 7, Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Shaw Bay was a
wonderful anchorage. We awoke to a thick
fog that burned off by around 8:30. We
enjoyed pancakes and bacon for our breakfast.
At around 9:00, we took
the dink over to Little Star and
joined our friends for a cup of coffee. Our
plan for the day was to go for a tour of the Wye River aboard Little Star and then head for the lovely
town of St. Michaels.
As we motored along, we
passed beautiful homes situated on large tracks of land to our south and
pristine undeveloped land of Wye Island to the north. The Island is a wildlife reserve and has no
development on it, however, our guide book indicated that they are beginning to
open it up for folks to build. There is
a bridge out to the island so, in time, it will change.
As like everywhere we
travel, the watermen are running their crab lines and crab buoys are
abundant. The sea gulls follow the crab
boats fighting over the morsels cast off by the crews.
We were fortunate to
see a soaring bald eagle. This one was
not close enough to get a good picture.
Back at Second Wind, we prepared our typical
lunch of soft taco with chips and a pudding cup. While Janine was setting the
meal up, I pulled the anchor and we headed south towards St. Michaels. We had a nice following breeze so I unfurled
the jib and motor sailed the 8 miles to our destination.
The
wind continued to build as we approached the harbor. Little
Star had arrived awhile before us and had secured a slip next to them for
us. The fresh wind was still at our back
and we had a tricky straight in landing to maneuver. Our goal was to get the boat stopped before
we crashed into the dock. We pulled it
off without a hitch.
After
checking in and filling one of our 6 gallon fuel tanks, Jim, Janine and I ventured
into town. All of the homes and
businesses are old and beautifully maintained.
We wandered into a couple of shops and finally settled down in a
wonderful little ice cream parlor. I had
a really good scoop of a caramel ice cream with a lot of different sweet chunky
stuff, the name of which I have forgotten.
I do, however, remember how very good it was.
As
we ventured on down the street, Janine noticed a store with curio type merchandise
throughout and the sign on the window announcing that it was also a pharmacy
that gave immunizations. I had been
somewhat concerned that I was not going to be able to get my flu shot this year
so I decided to go in and see if that service was offered. The interesting pharmacist was more than
happy to provide me with the injection and at no fee since I am old and have
medicare.
We
continued our walk about until around 4:00 back at the boat with a promise to
meet again at 6:00 for dinner. I took a
short nap and read while Janine did the same.
At
6:30, Jim came to our boat and invited us over to Little Star for a glass of wine and some cheese before we headed to
the restaurant that is attached to our dock. We both enjoyed crab dishes:
Janine a crab sandwich (hold the bread) and I crab supreme with salad and
fries. Like all other meals, the food
was really good.
We
returned back to the boat by 9:00 and settled into bed in to a boat that was
bouncing about on her lines from the waves blowing into the dock. It promised to be a noisy and bouncy night.
No comments:
Post a Comment