Solomons to Oxford.

The weather has finally gotten better.  Sunshine and no wind.  It was a great trip today on calm seas and almost warm weather.

LNG Terminal

During our trip up we passed a LNG terminal that they have been building.  A massive structure built out into the water with the large LNG tanks off inland.

You can jus see he "Boards" dragging behind

Along the way we passed through a fleet of about 50 boats fishing.  I can only assume that there was some sort of tournament going on as there were so many boats in a confined space.  It is particular here how they fish.  There are multiple rods used and they pass the lines though "boards" that they drag on either side of the boat.  This apparently spreads out the line to gain maximum coverage.  They are fishing for Rock Fish that can grow to 40 to 50 lb.

We arrived at Oxford, Md around noon and are docked on the pier of the Oxford Yacht Agency.  They used to be a Grand Banks dealer and the dockmaster has apparently sold 300 of them.  There are 6 of them in the slips next to us.  He has another yard nearby and does a lot of repair and remodelling.  While we were here, one of them left to go to the other yard.  They had spent the winter in Florida and were now laying the boat up to go back to Ottawa for the summer.

Oxford is a lovely little town.  There are many boatyards here as well as marinas.

Sailboat at Hinkley yard

There is a sailmaker/boat yard that allows you to go into an area where they are storing their half finished projects.  They certainly know how to get a good finish on the woodwork.

Large Mahogany vessel

"FOTO"

  As we walked through town we were impressed with the level of landscaping, (everyone was mulching) and how pretty the houses were, many with lovely front porches.

A great visit to a lovely town.

Se Marys College to Solomons

 We left St Mary's and proceeded north toward Solomons Island.  The wind was still blowing and we faced 15 - 20 Kt and still 2-3 foot seas.  It was right on the nose so there was not much pitching and the ride was not that uncomfortable.

As we progressed we heard the navy call a few boats asking them to change course to avoid the area where they were doing target practice.  There is a Naval Air Station and also a Naval weapons research facility.  We saw quite a few fighter jets taking off and landing

Arriving at Calvert Marina we filled with fuel as they have an excellent price and proceeded to our space.  This was on long floating concrete docks.  As the boats were salt encrusted, we took the opportunity to give the boat a wash, which it certainly deserved. By the time we finished a few chores, there was no time to see the Museum that day so we elected to stay 2 nights.  The following day Drift Away wanted to replace the rode portion of their anchor and spent time watching U tube videos to learn how to weave a line into a chain.

Seas the Day decided to get the anchor out and re-mark the chain, also taking the opportunity to clean the chain locker.  By noon we were finished and we went off to the Maritime Museum just across the bay in our dinghy.

Drum Point light

It was a very worthwhile visit.  They have done an excellent job,  starting with the former drum Point lighthouse. They took the opportunity when they were building a large bridge here to take a barge, cut the lighthouse off, and transport it to the museum.  

Screws to secure lighthouse

It is one of only 3 left, of the screw jack method of securing the lighthouse to the sea floor.  The lighthouse marked the entrance to Solomons Island and as such was almost on shore.

They have a workshop here staffed by volunteers to re-store boats and they also take on some boat construction contracts.  All of the museum is set up to provide an educational experience for children. In this area they have the children make an "origami" boat which is constructed of plastic coated corrugated poster board.  They make it from one sheet which is folded to make a boat shape and then held together with tie-wraps.  The kids then get to launch it and ride in it.

Skipjack

You can take a cruise on the Wm B Tennyson a skipjack boat famous in the Chesapeake.

Fresnel Lens

Touring the lighthouse we saw the Fresnel Lens that concentrates the light as well as the hand wound fog bell that sounded during a fog.




In the outdoor exhibit, they displayed some of the many types of boats that you would have seen working on the Chesapeake.

Boat modified with gas motor to harvest clams

Oyster Rake

Solomons Island itself is home to many marinas and there is every shape, and size of boat there to serve the large population of boaters.  Washington is only a one hour drive away, so an easy commute.

Crisfield to St Mary's College

Due to the weather, we spent 3 days in Somers Cove Marina.  The day we were supposed to leave the winds were blowing up to 40 kt. and it just did not make sense to leave.  I talked to a 28 ft fishing boat that was going out on a tournament.  I said have fun, and he replied that he was not expecting it to be much!!

They were fishing for Rock Fish or striped bass.  They have a system here with a contraption hung off the side of the boat and the various lines they use are strung through it to give some separation for the lines.

Finally on Sunday, the rain had disappeared and the winds dissipated to a manageable amount.  The wind still blew from between 18 to 25 kt. and the waves were up to 4ft.  On one set of waves we got spray over the top of the flybridge soaking the windows on 4 successive waves.  The waves were mostly on our bow so there was not much rolling motion and with the waves fairly close together the pitching was at at minimum.

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As you can see the worst part was after we left the protection of Tangier Sound and crossed the bay.

1942 LIBERTY SHIP "AMERICAN MARINER"

Along the way we passed a derelict ship that the Navy uses for target practice.  It was a "Liberty Ship" (American Mariner) built on 1942.  It is the Navy's only Live Fire target ship on Chesapeake Bay.  Several times  month various Helicopter, and planes take off from the Patuxent Navy Air Station to use it as target practice using machine guns and missiles.

Our destination was to anchor off St Mary's College where a relation to Jimmy had gone to school.  This is a liberal arts college situated in historic St. Mary's which was the first capital of Maryland.  

This school is known for its sailing program and has an impressive amount of boats,   We saw people out windsurfing and the water temp was about 68 and the air temperature 60.  Oh to be young and hardy!

Just some of the boats

A foil boat

We took the opportunity to walk around the campus.  Attached to it is a historical display of when Maryland was founded.  They have done many archeological digs and constructed framework similar to the style of the day to explain where the buildings were.

Replica of original hotel/eating establishment

After a nice dinner on board we departed Monday am for Solomons Island.

Tangier Island and Crisfield

We left Onancock (Oh Nan Cock) early and travelled to Tangier Island.  The wind was blowing around 15 but the direction meant we only had about 2' seas.

Entering Tangier Island

This Island is a fishing community and is in the middle of Chesapeake bay.  It is not that successful economically and the number of crab and oyster boats plying their trade is diminishing.  On top of that they are losing their island as it gradually sinks.  Impressive upon entering the harbour is to see where the fishermen dock their boats.  After unloading on the shore, they move to their docks which are on pilings and only reachable by boat.

Crabbing is done from very long, open cockpit boats which have their engine mounted under a housing in the middle of the cockpit.  Much of the time the boats are driven from the stern quarter so that one man can handle the boat and the pots at the same time.  Boy can they handle their boats.  When the current and wind is blowing they come into their slip at full throttle then hard into reverse.  Seems to work every time!

The marina we stayed at was Park





s marina run by an 80 something crusty resident.  The docks were in need of repair and he certainly liked to give advice on how to dock?!!?

A walk into town showed that there are a few dominant families judging from the graveyards.  These graveyards are similar to many areas with low lying ground in that they are mostly above ground as the ground water would float a traditional grave.

Of particular interest was the individual grave (s) at specific houses.

I guess if we wanted to move here their is already a business that we would qualify for!

The next morning it was off to Crisfield, MD, but before we left we took delivery of 100 oysters that had been done by aquaculture on the island.  Jim steamed them and we had them for lunch.  Delicious!!

We are now at Somers Cove Marina, a huge state owned facility with many, many docks.  Weather however is horrible,rainy and windy, and after receiving a shipment of oil from the NAPA store 25 miles away it will be an oil change on tap for this afternoon.

Time is getting shorter on this trip!  We will be back in Ontario at the beginning of June so that we can join a group of friends and drive to Maine for lobster.  I like it better than crab!

 

ONANCOCK

We took a nice walk into town.  Unfortunately, almost everything is closed on Monday. 

We did get a chance to walk around the grounds of Ker Place built in 1789.  It is now a museum. While the museum was closed we did view their herb garden and a Log canoe,The Annie C. that was built in 1904 from 5 pine logs.  It was built by hand using an adze.  Apparently they were used for oystering and would stay out 2 or 3 days with a crew of 3.  Not very spacious accommodation.

There are many churches in this town many dating back to the early 1900’s .  A hotbed of Presbyterianism.

Many of the lovely homes had extensive gingerbread and in many of the gardens, the azaleas were out in full bloom.

 

Counter rotating sailboat wind decoration

The weather continued hot but we are expecting cooler weather as a front moves through. 

Great sign in shop window

Deltaville to Carter creek to Onancock, Va

The morning after Deltaville, we moved about 10 miles up the Rappahonick  River to Carter Creek.  Here we found a nice anchorage in Yopps Cove.  A lovely little anchorage surrounded by beautiful houses. 

Jim, Debbie & Abby

We got the dinghy’s into the water and took a tour.  There is a small bay where the local sailing club was conducting a lot of junior races and it was fun to watch the 3 boats in the competition. Dinghying by the Tides Inn, a resort on the bay

Gentle Ben

we saw a large Hattaras “Gentle Ben” that was all decked out in bunting.  We suspect that it was being used for the wedding reception that was being held at the Tides.

There were 3 or 4 small creeks that we investigated, all with beautiful homes.  

One of the many beautiful homes

We also saw 2 or 3 “Duffy” electric boats that go drink cruising in the late afternoon.  

An eagle in the tree

One of the owners came by our boats, in his “Duffy” to welcome us and said that there were 30 or 40 more in the area.

After a very nice dinghy ride it was back to the boat for dinner and an early night again.  It is tiring on a boat!!

 

Which one is the 56 and which one is the 54?

Directly beside where we were anchored, was a house with 3 boats.  All  had been painted in the same colour scheme, a very bright red.  One looked like a Hinkley, down east style, one a Chesapeake cat boat and the third a 34’ sailboat.  What a nice sight.

3 boats with same colour

The following day was a 38 mile cruise down the Rappahonick river to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.  

We anchored just in front of the town dock in Onancock then took the dinghy to shore for a quick tour of the town.  Everything was closed being Sunday so back to the boat for dinner.

This morning we moved from the anchorage to the town dock and will explore the town this afternoon.