Long run to an anchorage off the Choptank River near Oxford, MD -- June 30

We had previously booked a reservation at the Safe Harbor Marina in Oxford, MD for Monday, July 1, as this was one of the places from our last trip to the Chesapeake that we wanted to revisit and it would be convenient for getting to Havre de Grace, MD on Tuesday, where we had to be to meet special guests on Wednesday. We weren't sure where we would spend Sunday night, but we planned to anchor out (we bought the necessary provisions at Food Lion yesterday) so we had flexibility. When we looked at the weather forecast we decided that we needed to get close to Oxford, as it would be blowing hard out of the north on Monday. (Yesterday and today the wind was out of the south but a front was forecast to come through this evening.) That left us needing to make a long run today. Unfortunately it was a sloppy run, as we were running with the waves out of the south (roughly two footers, which were big enough to screw up the hull dynamics) and also against the outgoing tide (for which the Garmin showed 1/2 to 3/4 mph currents). We only averaged about 14 mph in open water running at 3200 rpm, when we'd do 16+ in calm seas with no current at this rpm. Under these sloppy conditions the First Mate decided she would be more comfortable sitting in the cabin, but the Captain decided to stay up top. 

It was a long, lonely run up the Chesapeake. We saw just one or two boats in our six-hour run. The rough seas must have kept the pleasure boats at the dock or close to shore, and the commercial fishing boats were in port because it was Sunday. A big storm front was behind us but we outran it, though occasionally we heard its thunder. 

There are very few photos to document our day. The most arresting, at least for the Captain, is this one of a fish trap off of Upper Hooper Island. It was about three miles offshore in about twenty feet of water. (The eastern shore is very shallow.) The Captain admits to spending some time on his cellphone while at the helm, and to glance up and see one of these fish traps in front of the boat that far from shore was a surprise. We didn't come anywhere close to hitting it, but it was still surprising -- and we encountered a few others after this one.  

The only other photos underway are of the Solomons Lump Light and the Hooper Island Light. We remember them both from our Chesapeake trip two years ago. The former is interesting because the light is off center from the caisson (and maybe also because of its name). The lighthouse and caisson were built in the 1890s but at some point around 1970, after the light had been automated, the house was removed leaving only the tower containing the light. 

The Hooper Island Light is interesting because the federal government put it up for sale by auction in 2022. It was sold for $192,000 to a guy from eastern Pennsylvania who owns an industrial painting and sandblasting business. It's unclear from rummaging around on the web what he plans to do with it after he has sandblasted and painted it (which appears to have already happened, although it is hard to tell from the photo) and he has since bought a second one in the Chesapeake.

It looked like rain was coming as we set anchor in Caulk Cove, which is off of Leadenham Creek, which is off of Broad Creek, which is off of the north side of the Choptank River. (Bonus points to anyone who can find this using Google maps.) We chose this spot because the cruising guide said it was a good anchorage during a thunderstorm and it left us just 12 miles from Oxford with decent protection from a stiff north wind. 

It took us a bit over six hours to cover the 85 miles to get to our anchorage. It started to drizzle not long after we arrived and started raining hard about an hour after that. But by then we were settled in to a nice dinner and TV. Our signal was erratic so we channel surfed between Star Trek, Grit TV and some British show on PBS -- and there were another couple dozen channels we could have watched. Yet we were anchored out all by ourselves listening to the rain. What a world we live in. 

We had a nice sunset after the rain stopped.