Not much to report, thankfully. We walked down to "downtown" Oxford. There is one store there that seems to sell everything: groceries, deli meats, custom sandwiches, liquor, wine, frozen precooked meats and so on. Did I mention that they sell liquor? We loaded up two back backs, got a couple of sandwiches and drinks, stumbled over to the beautiful waterfront park across the way and had a picnic. We trudged back to the boat, stopping by a local boat shop to buy a couple of anchor shackles. There I learned that Easton onLine is setting up a free wireless network for this area.
On a related matter I got a call from Newport News that my powerbook was now fixed. In the meantime I purchased the cheapest Mac iBook I could find to tide me over. I assumed that it did not come with wifi. I was wrong. I am sitting in a hot spot and have been all along. Now I need to figure out how to become a registered user.
Kay says that she would like to live here. We would have a better chance of affording San Francisco. An ancient one bedroom house (NOT ON THE WATER) IS $425,000. The house we really like was 4.5 million. Anyone for a donation?
We plan to leave Friday for points up the river. Then who knows?
6/17/05
3:45
Trippe Creek
Tred Avon River
Lat 38 42.568
Lon 76 07.336
This is the track of the boat at anchor in Trippe Creek as recorder on our GPS. It shows that we swung through 360 degrees several times.
Given the wind, length of the slip, and lack of backing space, I can't speak for Kay , but I thought we had zero chance of getting out of our slip this morning without disaster. We did without a problem. We motored up river to Trippe Creek which according to the Waterway Guide can anchor 100 boats. We are waiting for the other 99 boats to arrive. Meanwhile the predicted 5 to 10 knot winds are chirping in at 20 to 25. But we are anchored!
Boat names that tempt fate:
"Beautifully Done"
6/18/05
Same place
I asked Kay last night when she started worrying about getting out of the slip. She said 30 seconds after we got into the slip four days ago. Sounds about right.
We are still waiting for the 95 other boats, but are very happy here. My internal anchor alarm went off at 3:00 AM this morning and checked the GPS. We definitely were drifting around, but checking the anchor I realized what the problem was, there was no wind at all. The anchor rope was limp. Went back to bed.
We miss 101.7 FM, it is the only radio station I know of that plays Chris deBerg. Almost everyone has heard a little of him in a TV commercial: "Lady in Red". Last night we listened to Daniel Lanois and also danced the Watusi to "America". I actually tried to do a poll dance. I have no idea what a poll dance is but I think it has something to do with square dancing or something like that.
6/19/05
11:45
Trippe Creek
Lat 38 42.568
Lon 76 07.336
Yesterday we had a pleasant surprise. I was doing what I do best on the boat which is to say napping. The phone rang. I heard Kay answer it. and say "Hi Tom. I see you. We will get the bumpers out." That woke me up. We were visited by Tom Dove. Who rafted with us for several hours before setting "Crescendo" loose and anchoring nearby for the night. Kay is working on a giant crossword puzzle with almost 900 clues. I am reading my third book of the trip a Stuart Woods novel.
6/20/05
9:00 AM
Trippe Creek
All day on the 19th was marked by a lot of wind and a lot of anxiety over dragging the anchor. The good news we did not drag the anchor. The bad news was we did not drag the anchor which means getting it up today will be a challenge. We will head to a marina today as we are in dire need of ice. So far we have used 19.5 gallons of Diesel (@2.00/gallon) and 215 pounds of ice (@0.20/pound). Pretty much an even break. More later.
6/20/05
4:00 PM
Knapp Narrow Marina
Knapp Narrows
Tilghman Island MD
Lat 38 43.170
Lon 76 20.058
The bridge at Knapp Narrows.
Knapp Narrows is, well how can put this, narrow. We got in without a problem. Small miracle there. We got through the Bascule bridge without a problem. That's all there is to worry about. Right? Wrong! Getting into the floating dock at the Marina looked easy Little did we know. The current was so strong that the boat refused to move towards the dock. Kay informing me in no uncertain terms that she knew what she was doing and proceeded to use a serious of complex back and forth moves to crab walk the boat unto the dock, Her skill plus the help of the most skilled dock hand we have yet to encounter any place got us safely and securely tied up. Now all we have to do is get out.
I hasten to add that were not the only ones having problems. Every sailboat had the same result without in many cases a happy ending.We saw a Hunter 31 try to dock four times before giving up and going on its way.
