Oxford, MD

Our journey continues north to Oxford, MD where we stayed at Hinckley Yacht Services.  They have certified Volvo Penta technicians to help us diagnose the issues we are having with the starboard engine.  Long story short, we fixed the starboard only to have the port engine act up.  I suppose nothing is ever simple, after a few days of eliminating various scenarios, they came up with a solution.  So we ordered more parts, and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

Oxford is a peaceful quaint town, whose main business is tourism.  If you want to go somewhere quiet, this is the place to be.  You can stroll down the picturesque lanes with their brick sidewalks and admire the old houses.  In 1683 Oxford was the first port-of-entry on the Eastern Shore, a prominent international shipping center, moving tobacco grown in nearby plantations.  A century later, with advances in the  food packing industry and the railroad, Oxford's oysters became a nationwide product. 

Our first night at the marina, we had a little excitement.  There were sirens going off in the town, which turned out to be the siren that summons the volunteer fire dept.  And lo and behold the fire trucks came to the marina.  Turns out in the office they had some flea bombs that went off and set off the smoke detectors.

We stayed in this wonderful small town for a week, due to the engines.  The weather has been in the 90's with 80% or better humidity, so hot is an understatement. The marina does have a pool, so I really can't complain too much, especially after such a cold winter in the south. 

 Our next stop was supposed to be St. Michael's, and I was really looking forward to that.  Due to the fact that we need to be in Kent island by the 30th, we decided to bypass St. Michael's, at least by water. On 6/29/10 we headed to Kent Island and Castle Harbor Marina, where we connected with Jim's cousin Dennis.