We stayed in Crisfield for a couple of extra days because of the wind. It was out of the north and that is the direction we are traveling in. There would have been no protection and going directly into 4′ waves would not be fun.
One of the boats in Crisfield was a trawlers, High Cotton. We met them in the Dismal Swamp at the north lock. We rafted off them while waiting for the lock. They are traveling up and down the East Coast and enjoying themselves. They have a young Yorkshire Terrier that is a little afraid of Candy. I think the size is intimidating.
We have been emailing with Humbug and Off Leash about meeting in Delaware City and traveling from there to New York City. There is a 3rd boat Carol Anne. They are Loopers but we have not traveled with them. We have seen them at several ports. Anyway, all 3 boats will be crossing their wake and completing the Loop in NYC. It will be neat to celebrate with them on this special occasion.
The traffic on the water today was not as bad as I had anticipated. Being the holiday weekend there was a lot of traffic but there was more than enough water and space for everyone.
Todays route went thru several pages of the chart kit book so I really had not done a good job of estimating the distance to Oxford. Once we were underway I checked it more carefully and it is about 80 miles so this is a pretty long day. After a couple of hours we went on plane to cut the time.
I called the marina on the phone and left a message. In their message there was a cell number but the message was also from March 10th. When we did not get and answer back and we were about 15 miles from the marina I called the cell number. John, the owner, answered the phone and said he had room for us and would meet us at the dock.
As we got closer the holiday weekend was in full swing with lots of boaters on the water. Oxford is a popular area and where we were staying was all the way at the end of the river. I felt this would limit the amount of boat wake we would feel.
Once we were tied up John said to bring my charts and he would go over the best routes for the remainder of our trip on the Chesapeake. He said he could limit the time we spent back tracking by going thru some of the narrows between the islands. We spent about an hour and he made copies of the chart areas and gave me detailed navigation data that will help. Boy local knowledge is really great.
Candy and I did our local walking and we were pretty well located at the south end of Oxford and walked past some of the stores and other marinas. The Town was originally settled in the 1600’s and the homes are well kept. Lots of brick pavers used on the sidewalks although the roads are black top. Very nice area and from the flyers in the window at the real estate office the price are quite substantial for nice property.
We went to the Oxford Inn for dinner. It is an Inn with Room upstairs from the restaurant. The menu was limited with maybe 6 or 7 entrees but it was really great. The building is an old, old structure with sagging floors and an old wood bar. It was named Popes Tavern and out front Mr. Pope had an old English Taxi parked complete with right hand drive.
Tomorrow on to St Michaels.