The small front that brought us a few showers yesterday gave us a bright and sunny morning today with a brisk northwest breeze. Cambridge and Oxford were both within easy reach from last nights anchorage and we had been to both on our last trip. Originally we planned to go to Cambridge with the lure of a crab dinner at the Odyssey restaurant again. However we decided to head to Oxford as it put us in a bit better position for the next day's sail to the Little Choptank River and Oxford provides better protection from the northwest winds that were to blow until well into the evening. Oxford was also appealing as it is the start of the Tred Avon River that we would like to explore. Unfortunately, the Tred Avon will have to wait for our next trip as we need to keep moving south.
We sailed on our jib alone from Leadenham Creek as most of the distance to be covered to Oxford was downwind and the wind was blowing 15-20. Along the way we passed a large relatively shallow area off Holland Point that was under assault from a fleet of oyster dredgers from nearby Neavitt MD. There were a dozen boats circling around the flats hauling in their catch. We first noticed them as we had to veer off our course to avoid colliding with one of the boats that must have been racing to the processing plant. Maybe they weren't keeping watch and busy getting their catch ready, or maybe they weren't about to move out of the way for a pesky sailboat.
We dropped anchor in Oxford's inner harbor, had a quick lunch, then hopped in the dinghy to go ashore. Today's objectives were 1) find the post office to mail a cap Sarah had knit for our grandchild that is expected in three weeks; 2) stop in a coffee shop and catch up on more blogs with their wifi; 3) play a little tennis; and 4) stroll along the quiet streets on a beautiful fall day.
A few blocks from where we landed the dinghy we discovered Cutts & Case Shipyard. They had beautiful boats in various stages of restoration. One worker was putting new frames onto what looked like a Herreshoff Fish. Another boat on display was called Foto, the boat used by Morris Rosenfeld for many of his stunning photographs of yachts under sail. On our way out we noticed they had a wind mobile that consisted of four small sailboats driven in a circle by the wind, each with a tacking sail to make them go 'round.
We easily found the post office and dispatched the package back to Winchester. We were about to head to coffee shop when one of Harry's contacts went missing, unfortunately still somewhere in his eye. He would have been okay without it except that it varied on the scale between annoying and painful. This was going to make blog editing and tennis a bit of a challenge for Harry. We found the Social Cafe coffee shop only to discover that it's grand reopening post covid was scheduled for the following weekend. So scratch wifi and blogging from our list. Harry took the opportunity to sit at an outside table and poke at his eye while Sarah visited a small shop she had discovered on our first trip. We were about to head back when most of the troubling contact popped out, leaving Harry comfortable enough to play tennis. Enroute to the courts we met a man working in his front yard. Sarah commented on his nice display of pumpkins and gourds on the front step. He told us that two had floated away during the exceptionally high tides of the previous few days.
After tennis we finished the excursion with a walk down to the ferry landing and the Robert Morris Inn. It is touted as the oldest continually operating inn in the US but the restaurant was closed until Thursday so apparently, their claim only applies to the inn, not their restaurant. Walking back to the dinghy we passed the Water's Edge Museum. It "proudly presents Black farmers, professional sailmakers, military figures, musicians, watermen, and crab pickers—The Founding Black Families of America who harnessed knowledge and power, and placed it firmly and confidently into the hands of their descendants." Unfortunately, it too was closed for the season but we look forward to visiting it on a future trip.
We finished off the day with dinner in the cockpit. Something that is becoming more and more rare as the days grow shorter and colder.
Maintenance item: Defrosted the freezer.
Cutts & Case sailboat whirligig
No comments:
Post a Comment