Another Labor Day, another race week!

Flew in on Friday and ended up sitting in first class for most of the flight because Cheryl (from Double Trouble) was up there and invited me. The flight attendants didn't seem to mind. Spent the time showing Cheryl some of my Abaco pix of her and Don from last summer.

Race 1
We had a great start and looked like we were in 2nd or 3rd place for the whole race, until the R/C decided to shorten the course. We couldn't figure out what they were up to, as there was a big committee boat as well as a small inflatable boat, and both had orange flags flying. At first it looked as though the flags were only on the big boat so we were headed there, then we saw the flags on the small boat with the RC and decided the finish must be between the 2 boats…then the big boat moved and we realized the finish must be between the little boat and the weather mark. By the time we figured all that out, 2 boats got past us and we ended up with a 5th.

We never did figure out why they shortened that race only to start another. They did the same thing the next day....shortened a perfectly good race and then ran another very short one after. The problem with that, is that if you don't have a great start, you don't get much opportunity to recover.

It was all downhill from there, as far as the race results.

We just didn't have a very good regatta. BearAway seemed slow for some reason that we never figured out and we ended up 8th in the fleet of 13 boats for the week.

Race results aside, I had a great time! Lance was unable to sail, so I took his position at the mast and gave the pit over to Cathy. It was a nice change of scenery for the first two days and nice to have the pit back for the last day. Being up in 'Adventure Land' I didn't get to take many pictures, so my appologies for that.

The weather was sunny and warm with good breezes every day…unusual for Annapolis!!!!

We went out to dinner each night, including the night after the races when we went to Lewnes steakhouse….awesome food! Did a little shopping and walking around Annapolis, and just generally enjoyed spending time with Bonnie and crew. Cynthia and Eduardo came up from Miami to race with us and I really enjoyed having them aboard.

On Tuesday, Bonnie and I stopped at the library so I could use their computer and printer to get my seat assignment and print my boarding pass. The seat selection chart made it look like the flight was mostly empty so I took 11D which is near the front in coach, on an aisle with 2 empty seats next to me. When I got to the airport to check in…they first said the flight was mostly empty but also said the 2 seats next to me had been filled. I had them change me to an aisle seat in row 23 with an empty next to me rather than be crowded in. So then once at the gate, they started asking if anyone wanted to upgrade to Business class for an extra $50. I decided it wasn't worth it but the elderly couple sitting next to me at the gate, went for it. When I asked them which seats they gave up….they said 10 aisle and window. So I promptly went to the counter and asked if I could have the one they gave up and now here I am in row 10 (bulkhead) with an empty next to me and lots of leg room! I used the time to write this... until the battery went dead on the Laptop! And this time, they didn't even lose my luggage!