July 05, 2000 -- Oxford Bound

July 5, 2000 -- Oxford Bound Today, we made the trip from the Magothy River to Oxford, on Town Creek, just off the Tred Avon River. Actually, we didn't start out with Oxford as our destination. Since Tink is having problems with an injector and we did not have a spare on board (we had been meaning to do this but kept forgetting), we called around to see who was an authorized repair center for Northern Lights so we could get the part. As it turns out, one of the yards we have been considering for work is one, and it is located in Oxford. So, we headed there. After we left the anchorage, while still in the Magothy, we swung our compass. We have a fluxgate compass on our boat. We were informed by Simrad, that in order for our compass to act properly, we would need to swing it anytime we went more than 200 miles north or south! This is required for all compasses, to deal with magnetic differences as you move up and down the coast. This helped some with our autopilot woes, but the boat still wanders an unacceptable amount. The trip was uneventful, without enough wind to even put our main out, so we motored (big surprise there huh?). Once we arrived, we talked with Braxton, the yard manager. We ordered new injectors for tink and got the estimate process underway. After talking with our insurance adjuster, she gave the OK to split the work between 2 yards. Oxford Boat Yard's haul out slip is located at the end of a very long, very narrow fairway. We did not feel comfortable moving the boat that far down and the insurance adjuster agreed. So, when we head south again, we will get the repair work below the water line completed. Anyway, Braxton came down and checked out the damage as well as the other work we wanted done and told us that she would be sending down a couple of people to check the damage more closely and put together an estimate for us and the insurance company. At the end of the day, we received a call from our insurance adjuster to let us know that there would be no surveyor available, but that she would authorize the work to be completed provided that we submitted photos, and filled out the ship owner/masters protest, which she would fax us. All in all, a very productive day