Not Bad: Three out of Four Tasks Completed in Oxford, MD Nov. 1st

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.

 

New frames and planking underway at Cutts & Case

 

A charming Oxford house with the ubiquitous picket fence

Mural of watermen on the Oxford Market and Deli

 

 Enjoying the late afternoon

 Cutts & Case sailboat whirligig

True Blue Football Fans Listen to Game en route to Leadenham Creek off the Broad River Oct 30-31

Anxious to be on the move after having sat on anchor for the past 36 hours, we hauled anchor and headed out by 8 am Saturday Oct. 30th dodging the trot lines the crab fisherman were laying throughout our anchorage. With a good 15-20 knots out of the SW, we sailed about 40 miles south to Leadenham Creek off the Broad River. As it was Saturday, and as we are both U of M grads, we listened to the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game while sailing.  With long sails, any distraction can help pass the time. The first half of the game was going so well for the Michigan team, but State came back strong in the second half and pulled ahead of our team.With minutes left to tie the score, Michigan threw an interception ending all hopes and our team ended up losing to MSU 37 to 33. Our team had the stats over Michigan State but never seemed to be able to get the touchdowns when needed. Instead, they relied too heavily on Jake Moody, their great place kicker for about half of their 33 points - not good enough to win these games. Moving on, Leadenham Creek was a great choice in which to anchor as it was up the Choptank and Broad Rivers and was nice and quiet. We passed five other sailboats that had rafted up in Boby Owl Creek on our way in but we continued on a little further up the creek to a spot where we were all alone. 

Weighing our options for our next port of call with travel times and future weather forecasts, we decided to stay put and spend Sunday Oct. 31st on anchor in Leadenham Creek since it was so nice and quiet. Sarah used the morning to clean the dirty dorade vents and to do laundry, and because the forecast was for cooler weather approaching, we both snuck in a stern shower while the sun was out and it wasn’t too cold (65 degrees). After lunch we set out to explore by dinghy but a pop up shower sent us back to the boat to keep dry. Being Sunday we caught up by phone with our kids. Sally & Luis shared a cute photo of the two of them as Pooh and Tigger.  Our evening was very quiet with no trick or treaters rowing by, but we enjoyed a little candy treat for dessert and made great progress on catching up on our blog such that the first installment is almost ready to post when we find a good Internet signal.

 

 

After the rain

Before and after Dorade cleaning

 

Chores done, a little quiet time for reading

Sally with a rumbly in her tumbly and bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy Luis

 

A Stormy Day on Anchor Drum Point Wye River

As forecast, a storm blew with winds over 20 knots out of the east for the better part of the day Friday Oct. 29th.    Local schools were closed and for us it was a day on board - our first day of staying put. We used the morning to clean, tend to boat repairs, write postcards and knit, and make plans for marina stays in Savannah, GA, and general trip planning.  You’d be surprised how much time we devote to reading about anchorages and weather forecasts as well as estimating travel distances and shore services.  An hour or two can easily be consumed, often with confusion or indecision being the outcome of ones’ efforts.  Anyway, around 3 pm the rains let up and we used the break to go topsides and to wash Juno’s decks and cockpit. Each time we pull up the anchor, we pull up gobs of grey clay that stick to the chain and anchor and soil our decks, so it was good to clean off some of the grime. Many boats cruising in this area have “wash down pumps” to blast the mud off before the chain and anchor come aboard.  We lean over the rail and do our best with a stiff brush on a long handle, combined with some buckets of water.  Our cleanup was timely as the rains resumed around 5 pm forcing us back inside giving Juno a good rinsing.  In inspecting Juno, we found some nasty moldy water that had accumulated in the bilge (low part of the boat under the cabin floor). We also noticed some very dirty screens in our dorade vents that provide us with fresh air down below when the cabin is closed up.  This was added to our  “to do” list for the next sunny day.

 

An Unusually High Tide and a 20 mile Bike Ride from St. Michael’s to Michael’s in Easton, MD

Upon arriving in St. Michaels Thursday morning Oct. 28th by dinghy from Long Haul Creek, we noticed many docks and even a waterfront restaurant’s seating area were under water. In fact we had to take our shoes off and wade to shore from the dinghy dock because the water was so high. We had heard reports of tides four feet above normal caused by high winds pushing water up the Chesapeake but hadn’t seen such direct evidence.  Four feet of extra tide is a lot when normally tides are only 2-3 feet between high and low. In fact it is noticeable how vulnerable the entire Chesapeake Bay Area is to sea level rise and yet we found it quite surprising that the new construction we observed didn’t take sea level rise into account. One local recounted how this was the highest since Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

Today’s goal was to get from St. Michaels to Michael’s craft store in Easton, MD in order to purchase some knitting needles. As we had also wanted to bike while visiting the Eastern shore, we killed two birds with one stone and rented bikes to ride the 10 miles to Easton and then back. Our ride took us along a major road, a little unnerving as the speed limit was 50 mph, but it had a wide shoulder and was touted as part of one of the premier bike rides in the USA. Suffice to say, we got the knitting needles, some fishing lures. Harry tried for a Covid vaccine and flu shot but no appointments were available, perhaps due to the recent approval for younger kids.  

On the way back from Easton, we stopped for lunch at an engineering college and ate our picnic lunch on a bench before a memorial to the merchant marines. Before returning the rental bikes we found some local back roads near St. Michaels that were quite pretty and more what we expected of an eastern shore bike ride. All that riding worked up a thirst which Harry quenched with a beer at the St. Michael’s Eastern Shore Brewing brewery (perhaps lucky for us the micro distillery tasting room was closed for remodeling).  Sarah chose to use the time to do a little browsing in the shops and heard the local pharmacy had Covid and flu shots. Again there were no appointments for Covid vaccines but Harry did mange to get his flu vaccine.  We were back on Juno by 4 pm so as to move her to a more protected anchorage for the big winds out of the east that are forecast to arrive on Friday. We ended up back in the Wye River for the night but in the North branch and anchored in Drum Point along with three other boats who also chose this spot to seek shelter from the approaching storm.

 Our first glimpse of the extreme high tides

A lunch break on our bike ride

Beautiful fall colors of a different sort on the back roads outside St Michaels

A screw-pile lighthouse and an oyster buy boat at the museum

Remote Days in Dividing and Pickering Creek, Wye East River Oct 25 - Oct 27

Maryland’s Eastern shore is amazing to explore by boat as it has numerous creeks to investigate, with little development save some mini mansions, farms galore, an abundance of geese, turkey vultures and the occasional bald eagle, and itfeels very remote even though it is within 1.5 hours of Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis. We chose the Wye East River as our destination largely because a large island (Wye) lies in the middle of the creek and is almost completely undeveloped. We arrived here from Galesville on Monday Oct 25 around 2 pm and dropped the hook in Dividing Creek with woods on three sides just 200 yards away us and the sun shining. For 30 minutes we had the place completely to ourselves as we ate lunch and then took advantage of the warmth to grab a quick shower on the stern. Then Ginger, a Sabre 42 sailboat arrived and well, we were no longer alone, but it was none-the-less extremely peaceful. We set off by dinghy to the end of Dividing Creek around 4 pm in search of hiking trails but had to turn back as we weren’t prepared for the mosquitoes. Walking back along a field of soybeans, we stood about 20 yards from what appeared to be an injured seagull with several turkey vultures and a hawk that were hovering overhead hoping for an easy meal. Lucky for the seagull as the birds of prey were wary of us. The gull wasn’t injured and flew away escaping death this time around.

On Tuesday Oct 26, we got an early start to the School House, Holly Tree, and Osage Loop hiking trails on Wye Island that are clearly marked by the State DNR. It turns out that much of the woods and trees here are old growth forests  It was reminiscent of being among the redwoods in California as the oak and white pine trees were easily as tall and as old. The Holly Tree trail ended with a 250 year old holly tree where we picked up another Osage Orange tree path. The Osage Orange trees forming an arbor with branches that defy gravity and large green fruits littering the forest floor.  Having walked over 10,000 steps in our morning walk, we headed further up the East Wye Creek on Juno to the end and decided it was too windy to anchor and launch the dinghy in order to explore Schnaitman's -a crab fishing supply located at Wye Landing.  So we turned around and headed back down the creek taking cover for the night close to the entrance to Pickering Creek while winds blew 15-25 with higher gusts all night as a result of a storm that would later bring 90 mph winds to New England. It was a little creepy as all night the winds blew but not a single light on shore nor masthead light could be seen to help gauge our position in the dark while we swung on our anchor. We felt very removed from civilization that night.

On Wednesday morning the 27th, we dinghied a mile up Pickering Creek to the Audubon Sanctuary, and enjoyed a few hours walking through woods, meadows, and a freshwater wetland that the sanctuary had reclaimed and restored from farmlands.  By afternoon, we motor sailed to Long Haul Cove, just north of St. Michaels on the Miles River so as to position ourselves for tomorrow’s adventures. Aside from the annoying landscapers blowing leaves during our cocktail hour, it was a cozy and nice little harbor, but a stark contrast to the remoteness of  the Wye river anchorages.

 Heading to the head of Dividing Creek to find a place to land the dinghy

All about an old growth forest on Wye Island

 

The old growth trees

 

  

Osange Orange trees

 

Harry and Sarah finding as many bright colors as possible with hunting season open

The former ballerina walks out a fallen tree to retrieve the dinghy
 

Pickering Creek Audubon trails

One of many beautiful views at Pickering Creek

Shortly after our first attempt for a land excursion at Dividing Creek
 

 

Galesville, MD Sunday Oct 24

 Our departure from Annapolis looked much the same as our entrance yesterday except today there was wind pushing along the massive number of boats that were racing in the bay. We decided to stay on the western shore and sail 15 miles or so south to Galesville, MD. With the winds out of the SW at 15 knots, we arrived around 1:30 and there was a flurry of activity in the tiny harbor as about 15 boats were awaiting the start of a chase race. Interestingly, anchored right in the middle of all the moving sailboats was an Island Packet sailboat with front row seats of the start. The docks were packed with sailboats and as we later learned, in years past Galesville was a popular stop for the paddleships that would bring shows to the village. Galesville also had roots in tobacco, boat building (Chesapeake 20), crabbing and oystering. Being Sunday, we got a dose of local history from two very friendly docents at the town museum that is only open for 3 hours on Sundays.  The docents explained every exhibit to us in greater detail than desired  but as it was the only thing in town, we listened and left them a little tip upon departing.  Perhaps as interesting as the museum was on the inside, they had a shed outside where we found the boat pictured below.

 

A classic Chesapeake 20 out sailing as we approach Galesville

 

A half model of the Chesapeake 20 at the Galesville Museum

 

The "Pintail" of the Albatross Class in the backyard of the museum

"Pintail" is an appropriate name for this boat

 

 

Annapolis Oct 23

The wind gods didn’t cooperative today on our travels from Bodkin Creek to Annapolis so we fired up the engine, motored under the Bay Bridge around 11:00 am and into familiar and the sailor friendly waters of Annapolis Bay. About four fleets of boats were visible on the horizon - from the littlest Optis, to intercollegiate lasers and 420’s, and finally to larger keel boats.  We also passed astern of eight tankers anchored in the bay on our way into Spa Creek. It was exciting to see all the boats out even if there wasn’t much action due to the lack of wind.  We followed another boat through the Spa Creek draw bridge and spent about an hour trying to find an anchorage that was at least 75 feet from any shore and large enough for Juno,  We finally settled on the eastern most spot, in view of the draw and right in the middle of the creek and dropped anchor to crowd cheers from the Navy football game that could be heard in the distance.  Enjoyed lunch in the cockpit and then we parted ways - Harry to West Marine to retrieve parts for the rigging and me to town for a little shopping. An hour or two later and after a short rain shower, we met up again, changed clothes, and were heading to the Boat Yard in Easton for dinner with Hal and Tammy Whitacre. It was our first time meeting Tammy, Hal’s new wife and she was so friendly and delightful to talk with, it seemed like we were old friends. Hal a former teammate from our days on the Michigan sailing team, filled us in on his latest boat designs, car racing, and on their imminent plans to relocate to Green Bay Wisconsin. We felt fortunate to have caught up with Hal and Tammy before their departure and chatted so long that we ended up closing down the restaurant.

 

Sarah taking us through another little bridge on Spa Creek in downtown Annapolis.

Our view from anchor in Spa Creek

Out to dinner with our friends Hal and Tammy. That should be an M flag above us.

Baltimore, MD

En route to Baltimore the morning of Thursday Oct 21, the coast guard noted that the Francis Scott Key bridge over the bay was closed to marine traffic until 11:00 am as they were doing some electrical wire upgrades. Thankfully we arrived at this bridge shortly thereafter but witnessed workmen being transported to work on the electrical wires by a helicopter high overhead. It was almost like something you'd see in a circus. About 1:00 pm, we pulled into Anchorage Marina in the inner harbor, tied up and started to wash down the boat of the nasty Chesapeake mud that comes up each time we raise the anchor up from the bottom, until our hose burst. Thankfully West Marine and an ACE hardware store were 5 minutes away, the former with a super discount to Marina guests, especially on Thursdays, and the hose was replaced. But as the sun was shining, we set off on the harbor walk and walked through Fells Point - a quaint older section of town with cobblestone streets, row houses and so many restaurants, past the aquarium, and to the Constellation (an old schooner moored in the harbor), sat outside for a drink at the Four Season Hotel Bar and then over to the Lebanese Taverna restaurant - a real bonus as it had been our favorite restaurant in D.C. when we lived there 28 years ago. The food was exceptional and it was such a treat to have a dinner off the boat. Friday morning Harry and I parted ways - Harry set out cleaning and polishing the boat with our new hose while I went grocery shopping. Three hours later and four trips to the grocery store for me, we grabbed a quick sandwich and headed to Federal Hill by Uber. There we found more row houses and restaurants and made a note to return to the American Visionary Art Museum when we had more time, as it looked very interesting but we needed to leave the marina by 4 pm so as to be anchored for the night before dark.  We did just that, dropping our hook at Bodkin Creek about 12 miles south of Baltimore as the sun was setting around 6 pm.

Row houses in Fells Point in Baltimore

 

View of the Baltimore inner harbor from Federal Hill

Swan Creek and Rock Hall

The forecast for today was a good breeze from the south, coming from the direction we wanted to go, so that meant getting to our next destination looked like it might be longer than we had hoped.  We were up and going at 9AM passing back through the bascule bridge and then motoring out to the end of the Sassafras River.  Reaching the end of the river we set both sails and were greeted with a slightly more favorable wind direction. 

During the first part of this leg the US Army’s Aberdeen Proving Grounds were off to our West.  We first saw a couple patrol boats with red flashing lights that were clearly suggesting that changing course away would be a good idea.  Not long after that we began hearing rather large booms in the distance followed by rising plums of smoke from somewhere inland. Thankfully no shells were headed our way.

Along the way we solved a problem that had kept us anxious about returning to Winchester for Christmas and the New Year. This was where to leave Juno.  Most of the marinas Sarah called were either full or at a rate we really hoped not to pay. Finally we both came across the same marina in Titusville Florida (near Cape Canaveral). This was further north than we had planned on but the rate for a month was about what we would have had to pay for a few days in most of the marinas closer to Miami. So with this big obstacle solved and the wind continuing to improve,  we were able to enjoy a lovely day of fall sailing on the Chesapeake headed to Swan Creek and Rock Hall..

Our primary destination was Rock Hall Maryland, but in that harbor there is only space for marina slips - no moorings or anchoring which we prefer. Fortunately, the back side of Rock Hall is easily accessible from Swan Creek just to the north and offers lots of space to anchor.  We found a nice anchorage just inside the creek positioned between two duck blinds with a third not too much further away! We hoped that duck hunting season wasn’t open yet.

Wednesday morning we did a few chores on the boat - hand washing some laundry; fixing one of the electronics (AIS) that wasn’t getting power; and continuing to nail down logistics for our return to Winchester in December.

Sarah had found some town tennis courts in Rock Hall as well as a Waterman’s museum. So after lunch we dinghied to a nearby marina where the Waterman’s museum was located in a small waterside shanty.  To visit the museum, you pick up a key at the marina front desk and let yourself in. The museum had many artifacts of the oystering and crabbing industry that has been so important to the Chesapeake economy. After returning the key we walked 30 minutes down the road to the town center of Rock Hall where we found the tennis courts. We hit around for a while  and played a set (the winner will remain anonymous). It felt good to do something a little different yet familiar.

We concluded this full day with a walk back through town and a short dinghy ride back to Juno for G&Ts and dinner.

 Sarah meets a hardy waterman at the Waterman's Museum in Rock Hall

Captions wanted

Rum O'Clock with G&Ts while Sarah works on her diary

Mount Harmon House, Earleville MD (Sassafras River)

 On Sunday Oct 17th, we launched the dinghy about 10:45 am and tied it up to the dock at the Mt. Harmon House 5 minutes later and were on time for the 11:00 tour of the stately home that is now a museum, overlooking the Sassafras River. The home was in the DuPont family and Mrs. Dupont didn't skimp on costs to restore to her ancestoral home to how it would have appeared in the mid 1700's when it was the site of a 300 acre tobacco plantation. We received a private tour of the home that had a period grandfather clock from Newbury Port, MA, the kitchen (situated in a separate building from the house), the enslaved quarters, and a shed for smoking of meats, and were left on our own to explore the woods, the tobacco barn where the newly harvested tobacco was drying, the prize house where they'd pack the tobacco into hogshead barrels for shipping to England, and vistas of the river from high above. It was a hidden gem to have stumbled upon the Mt. Harmon House - our cruising guide book served us well, and I shared photos from our visit with my french friend Tiphaine Lastennet who happens to be assembling a display about tobacco growing for her museum in France and she was most appreciative. It turns out that this location on the Sassafras River was one of the busiest ports on the Chesapeake for shipping of goods (tobacco) to England.  The rest of the day we spent relaxing on Juno and Harry successfully fixed an essential electronic device for exploring the shallow Cheseapeake - our depth sounder that quit working yesterday as we were anchoring. With a newly working depth sounder, we felt confident exploring up the Sassafras River to the east of the drawbridge at Fredericktown where we dropped our anchor Monday Oct 18 and took a few hours to explore even further up river by dinghy. We ate a picnic lunch in a very secluded spot as a heron called out. In general, the north side of the Sassafras River was undeveloped while several large homes and docks dotted the southern shoreline.

Mount Harmon House

A bit of the tobacco history of Maryland

Inside a tobacco barn

A beautifully oyster buy boat, the Nellie Crockett

Juno on anchor on the Sassafras River

Sunset on the Sassafras River

 

Sarah take Juno through the bascule bridge. Notice that the bridge does not go completely vertical so the boat needs to stay to the right side of the channel.

Sandy Hook, NJ - Sassafras River, Chesapeake Bay, MD

 

 Oct 14 - Oct 16

As it happened, the optimal time to leave Sandy Hook so as to make the most of winds and currents was at 11:30 pm Oct 13th so we headed out of New York Harbor in the dark, dodging an active dredge but we didn't see any tankers or container ships in contrast to our last journey when six to eight could easily be spotted. We managed to sail about 9 of the 20 hours it took us to reach Cape May, NJ and while the sun shone, we saw two humpback [a YouTube viewer said they were humpback, not fin whales] whales close to our boat. Other than this, a sparrow and a little yellow Cape May warbler entertained us as they'd catch a free ride, fly off only to return minutes later and upon reaching Cape May as the sun was setting, dolphins were frolicking and feeding in the inlet channel. Oct 15th was more laid back as we had only 10 miles to cover to reach Henlopen, DE at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, where we dropped anchor and took a swim, scraping the bottom of the boat of the growth that we had neglected to have removed before our departure. Again we found the best time to move was going to be through the night so we took a short nap, watched a little of the Red Sox vs. Houston Astros and headed north at 11:00 pm up the Delaware River to cover about 50 miles to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The southerly winds held through the night and the favorable currents helped push us northward but in the wee morning hours, we had a near miss with an unlit tower marking a shoal as well as a moment of panic when we lost our GPS positioning momentarily.We continued our push west through the C &  D canal in the morning of Oct 16th as we wanted to get anchored in a secure location before a front bringing 30-40 mile an hour winds was forecast to arrive.  In the canal we spotted numerous turkey vultures and two bald eagles, one of which swooped down and carried off a seagull which he than devoured. We had to motor into the Sassafras River upon exiting the canal as a stiff SW wind was blowing right on our nose but once in the Sassafras River we found a nice quiet spot to drop the hook around 2 pm and as forecast, the bright sunshine gave way to clouds and torrential rains and high winds around 3:30  pm. We were relieved to be in the Chesapeake at last, stationary and dry.

 

     One of our visitors en route off the New Jersey coast

Cape May warbler? catching a ride on Harry's shoulder

Thar she blows! - whale sightings off New Jersey shore

Anchored and settled with another boat before the front ripped through

Storm approaches