October 11, 2010.

Enough with the work bullshit. It gets old and can be depressing and since the season is just about over and we’ve got most of our boat chores completed it was time for the crew of the Veranda to have us some fun.

This weekend was the Annapolis sailboat show. We don’t really need anything but we always enjoy doing a little dock shopping. It was even sweeter this year since there was very little chance that we’d be buying anything. Nothing to carry, nothing to pay for, nothing to install, and oh look, it’s not frigging pouring like every other year, perfect.

We look through all the tents and stands to see if there’s anything new and exciting but there rarely ever is anymore. Although we did see a watermaker designed to make 30 gallons of water an hour while running on a Honda generator....brilliant nitch marketing. We still take the long dock stroll to look at all the biggest, newest, fancy ass sailboats that will probably spend more time tied to the dock than ever really going anywhere. We don’t bother to board any of the boats anymore but it is fun to look at this and that newest “trick” setup that some desk bound designer has deemed necessary. They want you to remove your footwear before boarding any of the boats and you really have no idea how many people you can fit on a 30 billion dollar Hylas 70 until you look at the pile o’ shoes.

I think the biggest boat there was a Gunboat catamaran in the 70 foot range. This extravagant “sailing” platform costs about a quarter of a trillion dollars and yet there were dozens of people standing in line waiting for the privilege of leaving their shoes on the dock so they could board this monstrous boat that almost nobody can afford. I just don’t get it. Quick disclaimer…..If I found one under the Christmas tree my opinion might change.

While walking the show is nice, it’s all the people that are rolling into town that we really enjoy. We had cruisers, friends from Jersey and internet friends all converging on Annapolis for these few days. We’d like to see everyone but it’s so difficult with everyone having their own schedules (like waiting for a damn diver) and varying commitments.

We saw a slew of people at the weekly cruisers gathering on Friday night on the Great Lawn. We enjoyed each others company until well after dark. It was a little more special for me as I haven’t had anything to drink for a week because I was on a few different meds while trying to kick the flu. Christy makes an excellent nurse but she has some archaic views on mixing meds and alcohol. I figure that alcohol kills germs and so do the meds so let’s mix em’ and let them fight the good fight to get me healthy again. She keeps repeating some crap about Karen Ann Quinlan, I dunno. So I made the best of it and used the evening to get myself back into shape for what is usually the best gathering of the year, Saturdays EYC Bash.

The Eastport Yacht Club is located out on the point of Eastport and every year during boat show they throw a hell of a party. It’s about a half mile walk for us so we headed down that way at 1800 hours. It’s a charity event so we spent the next 6 hours drinking to better some cause or other. They charge 10 bucks to get in and then they sell beer, wine and a pretty good meal at reasonable prices. There was pulled pork, sausage, burgers and dogs along with all the sides. I had dinner twice to make sure I had enough in me to soak up the evenings alcohol.

We grabbed a beverage and wandered around looking to meet our people. We established a beachhead in a back corner where we ended up with a substantial gathering. The evening couldn’t have been nicer and due to MSU beating Michigan, everyone was in great spirits. The event just got better and better, culminating with the Rovers being the closing band of the evening. We’ve seen the Rovers before and they lived up to their reputation as a terrific Celtic rock and roll band. They kilt…..