THE Boat Show
Annapolis - what a great town! The whole town core is totally
"walk-around-able" and we thoroughly enjoyed being in one place for a
period of time and getting to know our way around. We were even able
to give directions to other visitors and new cruisers. Our typical day
involved dinghying to the town docks in the morning for a shower at
the harbour office (free with the mooring), having breakfast and then
off exploring. On Sunday we went to St. Anne's Episcopalian Church.
St. Anne's is the first church built in Annapolis and forms one of the
two circles of the town core (the other circle is around State House).
The service was very Anglican so we felt at home. Next we were off to
get water for our water tanks. For this we dinghyed up Ego Alley
(named because it runs through the heart of Annapolis and this is
where you parade your boat when you want to show it off) into the town
dinghy dock at the end of the alley. Karen had to ask tourists to move
as she filled our water jugs from taps on pylons by the dock. We made
three trips to load 30 gallons of water back onto Vagus. She made a
few squeaks that this was third world women's work in the heart of a
big American tourist town and she felt like one of the attractions.
On Monday, we motored by dinghy over to Back Creek. Back Creek has
more sailboats per foot of shoreline than we have ever seen. The shore
is a forest of masts. At the end of Back Creek was a dinghy dock from
which we could walk to West Marine, another must stop if you are a
boater. On Tuesday, we went with Jean-Pierre and Colette from Safina
on a tour of the Annapolis Naval Academy. The facility was impressive
with all 4200 cadets marching in parade into lunch. The cadets obtain
a Bachelor of Science degree during their 4 year term and serve 5
years in either the Navy or Marines on graduation. We had a great tour
that included an excellent museum of naval memorabilia.
During the week, we watched the show organizers prepare for the boat
show. The harbour was transformed with temporary pylons being driven
into place and floating docks then attached. What was once open
harbour was, in the space of a couple of days, changed into a marina
full of all the manufacturers' latest offerings. The boats ranged in
size from 10 to over 60 feet, with price tags to match. After spending
a provisioning day on Thursday (note it takes a full day to go grocery
shopping by foot and bus), we were ready to see the show with our
friends from Ontario who were driving down on Friday.
We met Daryl and Ann, and Bob and Sue on Saturday morning and went off
by car (they do move faster than sailboats) to tour St. Michael's. We
had our traditional crab cakes for lunch which were delicious. Crab
cakes are a Chesapeake specialty and are like hamburgers only with
crab meat. St Michael's is one of the oldest towns in Maryland and a
must stop for cruisers. We just did it at 60 mph instead of 6. After
St. Michael's, it was back to Vagus for a dinghy tour and happy hour.
We had a great visit catching up on all the news and just enjoying
being together.
On Sunday, we all went to the boat show. The sun was out, flags were
flying, the boats were clean and polished, and life was good. We
toured boats that few people can afford, saw suppliers, and, the
highlight of the show, we got to hear Eileen Quinn perform at one of
the seminars. Eileen is from Ottawa, is out cruising full time, and
writes and sings songs about the cruising life. She manages to catch
the essence of cruising in a fun way and is a great performer. After
the show we went on a walking tour of Annapolis, seeing as how Karen
and I were now experts, and then off to dinner. We finally had to part
as they had to make the final bus back to the parking lot to pick up
their car. We really enjoyed the visit and saying goodbye is always
the hardest part.