Cambridge, Oxford & St Michaels

No, we are not cruising the canals of England, we are still in Chesapeake Bay.  We departed Onancock early Wednesday with long awaited lighter winds and planned to get to Solomons Island, which would be a 55 mile, 7 hour run.  The first 20 miles up Tangier sound were smooth, but going out into the Bay brought slightly stronger north winds and lumpy seas to punch into for a while.  As we neared Solomons after noon, the wind shifted to the West and eased significantly so we decided to push on to Cambridge.  Judy was ready for a nap after a few nights of disturbed sleep from the wind.  This marked our longest day of this trip so far at 88 nm and 10.5 hours. 

Cambridge is about 12 miles up the Choptank river.  Those who have read Michener's book Chesapeake may recall that the opening of the book starts in the Choptank area.  Cambridge is the largest of the three towns, with the most services.  Not a first rate boaters destination, but there is a very nice residential area surrounding the marina area and an active small boat harbor. 

We visited the Harriet Tubman museum, which is dedicated to a freed slave woman who played a significant role in the Underground Railroad in the 1800's, guiding escaping slaves to freedom in the north.  

A farmer and artisans market popped up in the park next to the marina so we took advantage of that to buy some great focacia bread, and some rum tastings.  Dinner that night was at a local seafood place overlooking the harbour. 

A key reason for visiting Cambridge was to get delivery of the parts required for the seacock / strainer unit that failed the week before on our day trip to Tangier.  This is a story of great service. I sent an email to the Groco service desk on a Saturday to confirm what unit model number we had, expecting to hear from them Monday.  Got an email back from the Technical Services Manager Saturday night, saying he would confirm Monday morning.  He confirmed Monday morning the unit and offered to order parts.

I said I needed a couple of days to figure out when we would be in Cambridge.  When he heard that, he said he would personally deliver as he lived nearby.  Groco are located just an hour north.  He came with parts Thursday and we found that the cap was for the next size smaller unit, and he lamented that their parts numbering system is not fully up to snuff. So he came back Friday, after we had moved on to Oxford, with the right size cap and had updated their website early in the day to correct the parts numbering.  Great service. 

We moved to Oxford, which is about 1.5 hours down the Choptank and up the Tred Avon river, and arrived about noon.  We rode our bikes around the small town, which has a beautiful residential area and a number of boat yards / marinas around a very protected creek.  The town doesnt offer much else, but certainly a good stop.  The highlight of the visit was while on our bike ride, we discovered a boatyard that specializes in restoring wood boats.  We were allowed to walk around inside their work sheds seeing active projects, and also their "museum" shed, shown here.

Our original plan was to take the ferry across the river from Oxford and ride our bikes the 5 miles to St Michael’s.  The ferry is out of service early this year though and the drive is 20 miles so we thought why not Uber?  Much cheaper than the fuel to run the boat around the 4 hours required. 

Enjoyed the day.  GREAT maritime museum, covering about 30 acres with numerous buildings and boats to see.  

The museum is mainly about the waterman of the Chesapeake, their boats and how they made a living harvesting oysters and crabs.  And here I am trying an example of an oyster rake.

Also an interesting building on the waterfowl of the bay, and the current  morning and evening honks of great flocks of Canada geese on their migration are bringing it to life. This is an example of the big guns that market hunters used in the 1800's to bring down multiple birds at a time.

At 330 we decided to head home and fired up the UBER app. No cars available for over an hour trying, and none in sight.  No cabs service St Mikes either.  We were starting to get a bit stressed about what we were going to do. But after some discussion with the museum staff, one offered to drive us at 5 when she got off work, as it wasn’t far from where she was going. Turned out it was, but a great example of the hospitality and friendliness of the south. 

We departed Oxford this morning to head south, with an easy 4 hour run to Solomons Island.  The marina was hosting a members social for the afternoon, and we were invited to attend.  Two of the highlights were stuffed ham, which is a Southern Maryland unique dish, and fresh oysters.  Looks like a great spot to spend some time.  

And here we will sit for at least 3 days.  After battling northerly winds for the past 3 weeks while trying to make our way north, what does the wind do?  Yes, shifts around to the South.  Forecast is for 20+ knots tomorrow, Gale force Tuesday, and easing a bit Wednesday but still may be too strong for comfortable travel.  So I have my list of maintenance items to attend to, as well as visit another local maritime museum.