The Boat Show
30 April 2019
Allan Gray
As in most parts of the east the spring weather in the Annapolis area has been very volatile to say the least. After Friday's system blew through, Saturday morning dawned clear but breezy. We arrived at the city dock for the 10 a.m. show opening in hopes of getting our research done before things got too busy. Although the show was quiet compared to the fall show we succeeded in getting all our questions answered about various upgrades that we were looking into.
After lunch we met some friends and visited several of the boats on display in the water. By mid afternoon the wind was gusting close to 35 knots creating havoc on the temporary docks. Actually we were surprised they didn't close the show as the staff ran around putting out emergency anchors and the dealers frantically added more fenders and dock lines. We called it a day at 4 p.m. and retreated to a quiet pub to rehash what we had seen and discovered, content in the fact, that our credit cards had survived the day.
Our excitement for the weekend was provided by the crew at Dream Yacht Charters. They had seven boats at the show and Lana(who works there) had asked if we could help move a boat out when the show ended. It is really organized chaos as everyone wants to leave ASAP and the docks have to be dismantled as the boats leave in order. Their display was on the outside and we quickly dismantled everything and prepared to leave as the last visitors were exiting the boats. Bev and I were assigned to move a brand new Dufour 412 with Robert, it was quite a feat getting the boats off the dock as the 30 knot breeze had us pinned against each other. Once safely underway we figured the worst was over, were we ever wrong. By the time the fleet arrived back at the marina the 40 knot gusts had returned creating some very interesting cross wind docking scenarios. With all hands on deck and dock the staff managed to get everyone safely tucked away before heading off to a post show celebration at the Ebb Tide
A couple of weeks ago I had made arrangements to have our dinghy repaired while we were in Annapolis, the plan is to leave it for a few days while we go off exploring the Eastern Shore. Lana and Robert kindly offered to loan us their dingy since they are both back at WORK. I delivered our dinghy to the repair facility Monday morning and after a fuel stop we headed off to Oxford MD for a couple of days. Although we are both starting to look forward to getting home, knowing the we can't enter the Champlain Canal before May 17th. forces us to take our time heading north. The historic town of Oxford has long been on our list of places to visit and we are looking forward to exploring the town where James Michener stayed while writing "Chesapeake".
Today's picture is of a light house that has seen better days, not the leaning Tower of Pisa.