June 11

June 11. We were only traveling 15 miles to Annapolis so we hauled anchor at 1000.

Winds were light so it was a 2 hour motor sail. The trip was uneventful through dead calm waters. Once into Annapolis we decided to grab a mooring ball. These moorings are closer together than any we’ve encountered as of yet. All went well but it was weird to be so tightly spaced with everyone else.

Since we were there by noon the mooring field was pretty empty so we had our pick of the field. We took a mooring down near the end of Ego Alley. It made for good boat and people watching as we watched the Ego’s pass by on their way to try and impress the masses.

Ego Alley is a long narrow dead end that runs into the heart of Annapolis. It’s the place for people who want to be seen. Sometimes there’s something special there but mostly it’s the “look what I got crowd”. We were treated to a couple of special examples of boat handling by guys that were in way over their heads. They come to show off and end up looking like the biggest horse’s ass this side of the planet. It’s really special, bring the family.

Jim & Deb on Freedom took a ball a little further from the excitement of Ego Alley. There choice had a really nice view of the United States Naval Academy. Come to find out that for incoming freshmen at the Naval Academy have to spend the summer at the academy being whipped into some kind of shape before the fall semester starts.

We found this out at 0600 the next morning when we were assaulted by the sound of a Drill Instructor putting his young charges through their morning workout. The guy was at least 200 hundred yards from us and I could hear every word he said…..clearly. The Freedom’s were only 60 yards away. 

After the workouts the males plebes were sent out sailing. The Academy has a fleet of 44 foot sailboats called “Navy 44’s”. They’re beautiful to watch, every sailor has a navy polo shirt and tan slacks on these big navy blue boats with spotless, crisp white sails.

The girls seemed to get the short end of the stick, at least today. They were out in 8 man skulls rowing there brains out. Every boat was followed by a small skiff with a couple of instructors bellowing instructions