Friday Oct 23: Annapolis to Oxford

     The bascule bridge on the Spa Creek closes from 0730 to 0900, so either you get out before that or you wait for the morning traffic.  We planned to be out at 0700, but when the sun doesn’t rise until just after that, you tend to sleep late.  We hustled to get out during the last opening, and were the last boat out of the creek before the bridge closed down at 0730.

     The water was a bit choppy and the SW winds didn’t help matters, but it was a good cruise across the bay through the picturesque Knapps Narrows to the little town of Oxford. 

     We passed by many different fisherman.  Some were tending their crab pots, some were tonging for oysters, and some were dredging for clams.  We also came across some duck hunters who had deployed a raft of decoys behind their vessel.  Duck season began recently,  and we hear that goose season starts next week.  We gave them a wide berth, though probably not wide enough to their liking, and a short time later heard a couple shots from their guns.  Up until today we had thought duck hunting happened in marshes, or at least close to shore, and we’d seen a few duck blinds although no hunters.  Now we know.  

Crabbers setting their traps.

Clam dredgers.

One of many duck blind.  Didn't get a picture of the duck hunters and their decoys - we were too busy avoiding them!

     We got to Oxford a little after noon.  Oxford is a small, charming but depressed town with cute little houses on narrow streets and not much to offer the transient boaters beyond the marinas.  Still, we enjoyed a walk through, and as always, the people we met were very friendly.  It was our 27th anniversary today, and we celebrated with a pint of moose tracks ice cream purchased from the tiny general store in town.