Trippe and Plain Dealing Creeks near Oxford MD USA

After our laundry and shopping session at Harness Creek, the plan was to sail over to Oxford, MD.  We had been told several times that Oxford is very pretty, so we wanted to see the place but we also hoped to meet up with Jonathan and Dorothy Goldweitz whom we had met on the OCC Chesapeake cruise in company both in 2018 and this year and who had offered to lend us charts of Newfoundland.  The OCC Port Officers there, Jim and Margy Robfogel, are also super company and we wanted to touch base with them too.

It all started well with a 0715 departure from Harness Creek and, once we were out in the main body of the Bay, we set off sailing south with a pleasant 12 knot wind.  By late morning, however, it had started to rain and by midday it was raining really heavily.

Oxford MD (photo taken the following day because the weather was so miserable on the Wednesday)

It stayed that way all afternoon (hence no photos!) and so it was 2 drowned rats that brought BV into the anchorage off Oxford.  Active Captain and the local sailing guides warn of very poor holding in the Oxford anchorage because of thin mud sitting over a harder surface below it.  That was a slight concern for us because all afternoon we had been listening to Coastguard warnings of an imminent gale.  We really didn’t want the faff of dragging our anchor overnight and so, when it failed to bite in firmly, we cut our losses and continued on around the corner into Trippe Creek which looked like it would provide some reasonable shelter overnight.

Trippe Creek when the rain finally eased off around sunset

Our decision had also been partly influenced by replies to our emails.  Neither of our planned rendezvous in Oxford would come to pass because both couples were off on a Cruising Club of America (CCA) mini-cruise in company.

Trippe Creek

We discovered that Trippe Creek suffers from the same soft mud issue as Oxford and we found ourselves dragging backwards when we tried to dig the anchor in with reverse power set.  Not to be deterred, we followed a local Cheapeake Bay anchoring trick passed on to us by Bill Strickland – lay out the anchor chain and then leave it for half an hour before trying to dig in.  We, of course, applied the British addition of having a cup of tea whilst we waited for the anchor to sink in under its weight.  Sure enough, a couple of cups of tea later and the anchor dug in properly rather than ploughing when we put the engine in reverse power.

Trippe Creek in the morning – what a difference a day makes

By morning the rain clouds had passed but it was still very windy.  One of the many emails we had exchanged with Jonathan had invited us to join CCA cruise for an oyster roast the following day, so we hatched a plan to avoid the near-gale and remain pretty much at anchor for the day.  However, as the day progressed the forecast was that Trippe Creek would become more exposed as the wind veered.  It also has terrible mobile phone coverage so we found it difficult to get an up to date weather forecast, plus Nicky needed to submit an article and some photos for the next OCC newsletter [Ed:  deadline imminent!].  Our pilot book suggested that Plain Dealing Creek, close to the northwest of us, would offer good shelter and better phone coverage and so, at just gone midday, we upped anchor and headed off in that direction.

One advantage of the rain clouds moving on was that we could actually enjoy the scenery as we moved anchorages.  We had gusts across the deck of over 35kts [Ed: ie true wind gusts of around 29kts, and steady winds of about 25kts true] as we motored the 3 miles to get us into Plain Dealing Creek.  All the while we passed larger and larger houses on the shore.

The Oxford area waterfront is just covered in huge mansions.

Anchored in Plain Dealing Creek

Plain Dealing Creek

On the north side of the Tred Avon River, Plain Dealing Creek is a little more reserved when it comes to housing.  We scouted around and got ourselves about as far up the creek as we could without risking running aground at low tide (and as the extra rise of tide due to the recent storm surges dissipated) and then set the anchor with a bit of extra chain out because of the wind.  Here too, though, ‘Oxford soft mud’ is an issue.  After focussing on our computers for a few hours we found that we had actually dragged down the Creek a bit, despite having dug the anchor in well and having felt that it was holding well too.  Second time around we applied the “leave it alone and have a cup of tea” technique and found that to work.  We actually put out 30 metres of chain because of the strong overnight wind even though we were only sitting in 3 metres of water.

The anchor held beautifully overnight and the wind came around to the north as expected; perfect for making some mileage to the south.  However, Jonathan and Dorothy Goldweitz’s invitation to a drinks party and oyster roast on board one of the last of the historic Chesapeake Bay Buy Boats was an opportunity not to be missed, so we set course only a short distance south for Hudson Creek on the Little Choptank River.

Trippe and Plain Dealing Creeks near Oxford, Maryland, USA