There is much work to be done to “back out of the boat” and get her set for winter and Oxford, MD is a lovely place to do the work. Yes, there are many lists so we don’t forget anything important. Brian is busy cleaning the boat and putting all the systems to bed. I’m taking inventory and packing things away in vacuumed bags. Mechanically, the idea is to have everything serviced while in storage so in the spring we will be ready to go; engine oil and filter changed, antifreeze added to the motor cooling system, water system and air conditioning. Since have we never winterized a boat before, we are having the yard do that for us. We have anchored at least 75 times so we payed out the anchor and chain on the dock for a wash down. There was 3 inches of mud in the bottom of the anchor locker.
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There is also a fair amount of down time as we wait for our haul out and then our flights. We’ve been biking and checking out the homes. Did I mention the Chesapeake is just beautiful? 
We have a new neighbor, a 60′ completely solar yacht. Quite impressive, the first Silent Yacht in the US.
Then, overnight the weather changed and fall arrived. We took a break from cleaning and jumped on the bikes when we heard a state trooper siren. We looked out and there was a parade of classic cars going through town. We had seen a car club last week having lunch at Capsize. This group was so large, they spread out from Cutts & Case to the Robert Morris Inn.
It was a special thrill to see this little British Racing Green TR6.
I remember ours even though I was very young.
And then there’s #Ian headed straight for our beloved Captiva. Our thoughts are with our friends, old and new, who will be impacted this week by this storm.
It was also our one-year anniversary since starting the Loop. We biked back to Doc’s Grill.
We were able to catch a ride back to Cambridge to get our rental car. We went to Easton, another beautiful town. The oldest Quaker meeting house is a really beautiful place.
Then, things started moving very quickly. We moved the rental car and the boat from Oxford to Trappe Creek to Dickerson’s Boatyard. The staff were able to haul us out immediately. Working around the tasks that the yard needed to get done, we packed up and were on our way to a hotel in Easton by 5pm.
From Easton, we drove the next day to Annapolis to be close to the Airport. See you all in Leg 4 in Spring of 2023 as we head North.