The circus comes to town

We spent several weeks docked at lovely Woodsback in Annapolis. It was nice to watch autumn set in. For me, nothing says autumn like the US boat shows. We were pretty busy with them this year, taking part in the two shows along with their setup, changeover, and take down. It continues to amaze me how the waterfront is transformed for the shows.

It truly is a circus atmosphere as the large tents are hoisted in the waterfront parks and parking lots. I’m sure the land crew resembles clowns as we zip around in gangs with forklifts and golf carts, descending on different areas and transforming them into hubs of marine gear shopping paradise. The water crew brings in the floating docks that connect all of the land areas and create the largest in-water shows. We met lots of folks with whom we worked in 2006-08. It was wonderful seeing them and spending time with them again, and we made lots of new friends as well. Hopefully, we’ll see them further south this winter and spring.

It gets pretty hectic during the shows and we don’t have time for much other than working, eating, and sleeping, so it was very nice to have a couple of visits from the DC contingent. Esther and Bob came over during the show to check out Rockhopper and take us to dinner. Cara came down during the sail show and we had a great time as she watched us work one of our more cushy assignments of line-handling for the classroom boats. She returned once we were finished working to take us up to DC and see Mt. Vernon for the first time. We had perfect weather and it was great to take a scenic drive again.

We spent a few extra days at the dock installing all of the gadgets we acquired during the shows, but we finally got around to leaving on Monday. We are currently anchored in quaint St. Michaels while Reinhart fixes our seized windlass. If you’ve ever heard anyone describe cruising as performing boat repairs in beautiful locations, that is pretty accurate. Still, it is nice to be on our way again.

Rockhopper Anchorages: 

37°57.985N 076°29.015W; Woodsback Marina, Eastport; 28Sep15-25Oct15

38°46.343N 076°13.827W; St. Michaels, MD, San Domingo Creek; 26Oct15

The calm before the storm

The September Nor’easters just kept coming, so we stayed at our anchorage and enjoyed our time in Deltaville, and let the near gale winds and high choppy water rage out in the bay. A calm period between systems was finally forecasted, so we made a break for it and headed straight to Annapolis for an overnight sail. The winds were forecasted to be pretty light, so we weren’t expecting much, but we ended up having a dreamy sail. We kept up 4.5-6 knots of boat speed all night long under a full moon – what a treat! 

Thomas Point Light welcomes us to Annapolis

We came into our slip at the tiny Woodsback Marina on Tuesday morning. It was the same slip we had the first time we worked the show back in 2006. Woodsback isn’t a marina in a traditional sense.  It is a 10 slip dock behind a home in Eastport. It was originally the home of the Annapolis Sailing Center owned by Kathy and Jerry Woods, the founders of the Annapolis boat shows. Now, it is owned by our friend John, former Caliber owner and photographer/businessman/professor extraordinaire, who generously allowed us to tie up for the show.

Now our nor’easters have returned with oodles of rain and cool temps, so we are happy to be snug in this little cove off Back Creek. Those storms appear to be here for several days whether or not Joaquin shows up. We are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast though, for news of Joaquin and other tropical disturbances. We are spending a few days getting caught up with laundry/groceries/cleaning/maintenance before we are too busy with the boat shows – we start work on Sunday, Oct 4. 

Rockhopper Anchorages: 

37°32.722N 076°20.306W; Deltaville, VA, Jackson Creek south; 23-27Sep15

37°57.985N 076°29.015W; Woodsback Marina, Eastport; 28Sep15-present