May 18 – May 25, 2024; 14074 nm and 1892 days after departure from La Rochelle

Luis arrived and La Capitana was again extreeeeemely happy. And this time Luisito even stayed for three weeks! So much time to have fun!!! Originally we wanted to leave Annapolis soon after Luis arrived but it happened to be commissioning week at the Naval academy. That week was THE annual event in Annapolis. For us a good reason to stay and suck in the party vibe . (The Naval Academy is located in the heart of Annapolis and has been training officers for the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps since 1845.) But what was commissioning week? In the official sides it was described like this:” Commissioning Week is a week of events, almost entirely within the Academy grounds, that culminate with the Midshipmen 1st Class graduating and receiving their commissions as Ensigns in the US Navy, or 2nd Lieutenants in the US Marine Corps.” To us it sounded just like a big prom celebration, but it was of course a much bigger event. The whole town was celebrating!

Chatting with locals we figured the real big thing at commissioning week was the performance of the Blue Angels. Just as for the Tuesday rehearsal, on Wednesday many locals (probably took time off work) to get on board a boat and head out onto the water for what was deemed to be the best seat in the house. How lucky we were already being on a boat at the right place! Not exactly knowing what that all would bring, we (and even me) were already flashed by the rehearsal. The aerial formations were crazy! I had never seen anything like that before – live. Six thunderous F/A 18 jets flew in seemingly impossibly close formations and performed brain-numbing maneuvers at maniacal speed. Luis being more of an expert, was not over-overexcited about the performance but he indulged being right in the middle of that fulminating spectacle. To me the scary thrill came from Angels appearing out of the blue just above our mast in a banked turn at full throttle, rattling Altimate’s hull as well as my brain and letting my ears scream in pain. The boys didn’t seem to care about the excruciating loudness – it belonged to the show-they said. Must be the genes🤷‍♀️. Still it was an incredible amazing experience and we all agreed to stay for the next day to follow the main aerial show. But for that we wanted to be at an even better spot. In the morning we moved to the anchorage right in front of the Academy. That actually came in double handy as we wanted to leave Annapolis right after the show. From there it was only a few miles to another anchorage, which would shorten our next day trip a little.

Fortunately we left early to get to the best watching spot in town. It was crazy! Already in the morning the otherwise empty bay was crowded with boats. And those filled with many – in party mood- people having a blast and we right in between! As closer it got to the aerial show the more crowded the anchorage got. I belief everybody who owned a boat in Annapolis and its vicinity invited family and friends and came out to watch the Blue Angels. We loved watching that pre- spectacle almost more than the show itself. Taxi boat captains managed in a magical way to find their target boats in that crowd to either deliver or pick up spectators. Very impressive! The spectacle itself was shorter than the rehearsal but just as impressive. Every time the Angels passed, the crowd was screaming in delight and depicting their support with flags. Of course the screaming was only possible to hear before the earsplitting thunder from the Angels arrived.
After the show we had to wait for quite a while to be able to free our anchor. The boats which came later and who were literally sitting on our anchor had of course to move first. But then our dilemma started. El Capitano had difficulties to lift the anchor. The top notch screw cover did not hold anymore and therefore couldn’t lift the chain properly. That was bummer! Without a working anchor winch we couldn’t leave. Clusterfuck! Excuse my language. But it was annoying! The winch was only a year old and already broken. Well hell, shit happens. Thankfully we found a free mooring ball which was really luckiness as due to the commissioning week all the moorings were usually occupied. Then the usual process began. Finding out what exactly was broken and then where and if to get a replacement. Annapolis was not the worst place to get stuck but we had been there already for more than two weeks and Luis holidays – even though three weeks – were already counting down.

A small goody to compensate our frustration about the broken winch part was a worth seeing regatta in the harbour where we were moored at that evening. It was another crazy performance only this time from very skilled sailors (and fortunately not deafening at all). The captain’s and crew were outstanding relaxed while sailing through the harbour and through the packed mooring field. We couldn’t believe it and certainly wouldn’t even have lost one little thought about joining such a regatta. So many boats meandering through the field, squeezing past each other and still trying to win. Absolutely amazing and so much fun to watch!
The next morning before noon after a long research and a few phone calls Norbert had managed to order the part we needed. Generously spending money he paid for an overnight delivery to hopefully make sure we would get the part the next day. Luis and I took the bus to get some more groceries while El Capitano cleaned and prepared the winch for an easy fix once the part was delivered. Friday was waiting day. As we hoped but didn’t expect the part to arrive in the morning we did some more city seeing to let the time pass. We visited again the free and nearby Navy Academy, then strolled further through the city where we had a rest in nice bookstore cafe. By noon still no relieving phone call so we headed further over the bridge to Eastport neighbourhood. The quarter in which the chandler was located where we had to pick up the awaited parcel. After lunch somewhere, waiting being hacked off at a park we finally got the call!!!! Yeah the package had arrived!!!

What a relief!!! Back to the boat the part was mounted within a minute and we were good to go!! Next morning Saturday 25th of May we left Annapolis to head to NYC.