After a couple days in Solomons Island, we were itching to make more progress. Solomons was OK. It wasn’t amazing. The amenities were close-ish, but there really wasn’t any downtown to explore and it kind of just felt like everywhere else in the USA. So we didn’t want to hang out much more than a few days. Plus we were all stocked up now on fuel, water and food for a few more days. Figured lets make some more progress south.

One afternoon, Jake ran into a gentleman who mentioned that he had a boat stored in Crisfield, MD. He spoke very highly of the town and we decided that would be our next destination. A good 40 miles south-east would take us JUST before the border of MD and VA.

So we packed up and left on Monday morning (July 13), right as the sun was rising. The weather promised us some afternoon storms and very strong wind so we thought that we should get a very early jump to ensure we were safely in our next anchorage before storms broke. The first part of our morning was easy enough.

The sky was very beautiful but it did start to turn darker than we liked. The wind was coming straight from the direction we needed to go (and only at 3 knots), so we motor-sailed the entire way to Crisfield.

We arrived at our anchorage, which was just outside of a huge marina (Somers Cove) at 1:30PM that afternoon. It was perfect timing because within another 30 minutes, the showers and thunderstorms started up. Whew! what great timing we made.

We ended up spending 3 days in Crisfield. Initially we planned on getting a slip at the marina, to maybe get some work done on our engine(s). Yes I say engine(s) plural because our outboard is broke (As you know already if you keep up with these blogs) and our inboard is starting to show some issues. The oil leak is getting worse and now our tachometer (gauge that shows RPMs) is acting all wonky. Probably a simple enough fix, but still not a great sign.

However when we went into town, we learned that there isn’t much of any kind of diesel repair on this little chunk of land that sticks out of the Eastern Shore. So we ex-nayed the slip and just hung out for a few days, waiting for the VERY crummy weather to pass. This is becoming the norm for us. The weather actually dictates what, when, where we go.

We had a few good times in Crisfield. Because we have no outboard, we had to row ourselves to shore, which normally wouldn’t be so terrible except the wind and current ran super strong through our anchorage. One day we couldn’t really row at all, so we were stuck on our island. No biggie – we read and tried to relax. It wasn’t the best time ever but it wasn’t terrible either.

The showers were AM-A-ZING. Beautiful, granite walls, clean, and water was so so nice. Even though it was a hot and humid, it felt so nice taking hot showers! I hadn’t had a proper shower in WEEKS so I relished taking two delicious showers back-to-back days!

On the third day (July 15) was the 35th Annual Crab and Clam Bake – A HUGE tradition for this small town. It happened to be right at Somers Cove Marina too. It is an all-you-can-eat & drink festivity that brings neighboring towns and out-of-towners to this tiny town. It was PACKED. We weren’t planning to go since tickets were pricey ($50/person) and I don’t eat shellfish.

Instead we took advantage of laundry (finally not in use) and walked around town. We wanted to get some lunch and get some cash at an ATM. First lunch. Our number one pick was Waterman Inn, boasting great seafood (of course) but it happened to be closed on Wednesdays. Then we wanted to do the brewery, but that was closed until 5PM. So we just started walking down the street eyeing places. We passed a very cool looking mexican restaurant, but it was ALSO closed on Wednesdays. What’s with this place? Everything is closed Wednesdays?!?

We finally found a place close to the pier and water that was actually open. It looked kind of like a diner. We weren’t picky so we gave it a whirl. It was actually perfect. I got a salad (taco-style) and Jake got a reuben. It was all so good!!! Mostly because it had a lot of yummy different and fresh ingredients that we rarely get to enjoy these days on the boat.

After lunch we had to walk 2 miles to the bank and back. Very uneventful other than it was hot and humid and there were about a million dragonflies all over the place. I guess that’s what Crisfield is known for…dragonflies. Better than mosquitos!

All in all it was an okay stop. We didn’t accomplish everything we hoped to accomplish, but it was nice enough and we made southward progress…always happy about that.