Labor Day 2022 Vacation - Days 7 & 8 - Oxford, MD

 

Friday began (back in Solomons, MD) with me reading the newspaper while the light dawned over Back Creek.  After breakfast, filling water and pumping out (we were docked on the pump-out dock so all we had to do was flip the boat so the right waste port was near the dock), we then departed around 9:30 or 10:00.

Reading the early morning paper.

Sunrise over Back Creek

An interesting way to get AC on a boat!

We motored the entire way with the only wind being generated by our forward motion.  Route was from Back Creek to the Patuxent, across the bay and then up the Choptank and Tred Avon rivers to Oxford, MD.

Photos will tell the story but basically it was a nice, if hot, excursion and we encountered a variety of other vessels out for the day.

A last look at Back Creek

A Coastie chopper was out on patrol

This was only identified on AIS as a "Gov't Vessel Engaged in Military Operations".

Passing the town of Oxford

We discovered we were next to a boat sharing a name
with our neighbor's daughter.

During the vacation, Vicky has been enjoying swimming in the marina pools.  Today she asked me to come down and take some photographs of her swimming.  Upon inspection, all were rejected except for these two.

The pool was maybe 25 yards from Seas The Day

All dressed up for dinner.

So it seems like marinas are now competing on amenities... this is their clubhouse and bathhouse/laundry.

After inspecting the facilities, we walked to dinner at Capsize, this was just a short walk around a small section of the northern end of town.  

The restaurant was dog (and duck) friendly

Our section of the docks were new
This is the first time I've seen blue lights lining the docks.

We were only able to book one night here on DockWa (our marina reservation app), but we asked if it might be possible to stay a 2nd night.  We expect to hear later in the morning (it's Labor Day weekend now... most places are booked) if we have a marina for the night or if it's time to start anchoring.

I woke up to wonderful light beginning to filter into the cabin and headed topsides to capture the dawn.

Once they opened, I contacted Oxford Market to confirm they had fresh eggs.  They did, so I quickly headed into town for my morning walk and to get the eggs.  Below are a few captures from that walk.

A more hectic view of our marina

A charming tiny house on The Strand road

Robert Morris Inn & Tavern

North Morris Street

After breakfast, I talked to the dockmaster and he said we could stay but we would have to move since a yacht club was coming in for the holiday weekend.  So somewhere before Noon we moved over to H dock which is much older than the one we were on (but much more closer to "the best ice cream we will ever taste").

The new digs have fixed docks which will be a challenge to tie up to since there is a two-foot tide swing in Oxford today.  We are also in an older section of the marina that I'm guessing used to be a separate working boatyard (the lift crane is labeled "Oxford Boatyard" in faded letters).  

The nice feature is that a simple walk through the boatyard gets us to Capsize restaurant.  This time we were smart and avoided eating too much so we would have room to go around to the other side of the building to the Scottish Highlands Creamery which is said to be one of the top five places in the USA for ice cream.  (I know of at least 7 or 8 "top five" ice cream places personally so I'm not sure how these are determined.)

At Capsize restaurant

Capsize restaurant as viewed from our boat

Right before bed - about 15 minutes before high tide - I went out to check the dock.  Sure enough, we didn't have water overflowing the dock, notice that in the photo below, the water line is 1/2 inch up from the bottom of the H-2 sign.  Notice as well that they seemed to overlay a new dock surface on top of the original to avoid having the docks flood.

One final note, on Sunday morning, after sunrise, Vicky and I got up and walked into town so she could see the area.  We ended up having Sunday brunch at the Robert Morris Inn & Tavern's porch.  

We had "loose" plans (remember, there is no plan) to try and work our way north Saturday so we might be able to join up with some friends at the ABC-W (Wilmington Power Squadron) who are having a raft-up near the horse farm we stayed at last year at this time, but we both realized that we're getting tired and wanted some easy days as well as more time to explore the Choptank river.  So we passed on the raft-up and later today we will have a short hop (hopefully combined with some sailing on the wider part of the Choptank) over to Dun Cove for a night at anchor.

Summary of Costs

Safe Harbor Oxford marina - $296

Capsize restaurant - $130

Oxford General Store (eggs) - $5

Capsize restaurant - $79

Scottish Highland Creamery - $11

Dockhand tips - $20

Robert Morris Inn & Tavern - $64

Total for this section - $605

Fuel (25.2 gal) - $148