Mid Chesapeake

The next front arrived with cooler weather and cloudy skies. We left Reedville as the rain fell and the vultures and ospreys awoke. Heading north, we passed the mouth of the great Potomac River but have decided not to visit Washington. Instead, we shall continue and try to reach New York before the end of the month.

Flying the spinnaker doesn't always got to plan...

The land here is slightly higher than further south. The coast is interspersed with low orange cliffs which are filled with marine fossils from when this whole area was a shallow sea. We stopped as a vicious thunderstorm passed in Solomon’s Isle on the Patuxent River. The museum here has a fossil excavation exhibit where the children dug for genuine relics. Matthew found a snaggle-toothed shark tooth whilst Elizabeth kept a sand tiger tooth and a ray’s dental plate. The museum had other fossils including an extinct megadontal shark skeleton and a touch tank with more horse-shoe crabs, starfish, skates and terrapins. James admired the boats in the historic small craft section – both on display and still in commission on the water. Then we all climbed the wooden light house and explored the rooms where the lighthouse keeper lived with his wife and children.

Continuing north, we crossed to Maryland’s eastern shore and the Choptank River that leads past Oxford and into Cambridge.