ego alley

A family of ducks, a Scarab muscle boat, a Catalina 47, water taxis, people standing around the tables at Pusser's, J-22s taking a victory lap after racing, Hawaiian shirts in dinghies, several Boston Whalers, a Beneteau 44, a Tartan 35. These are a few of the passers by just within the last hour. We are in a slip at the city dock in Annapolis, where the old city warf canal runs right up into downtown (semi-affectionately known as ego alley). Our stern is sticking out into the canal, so K and I are literally sitting in the middle of the boating scene in Annapolis watching and being totally entertained. Wow, a classic 1960s style runabout with a restored 30 horse Evinrude, complete with wings on the motor cover, just putted by. We love this town. Most coastal cities seem to be partial in favor of power boaters. Not Annapolis. Annapolis celebrates sailing. The restaurants have photos of regattas in the bathrooms. The shops have bags and purses made of used sail material. The hardware stores carry fiddle blocks and sta-set line. When we motored into the harbor two separate fleets of youth 420s were practicing. Last night was race night for the PRHF handicap fleet, and tonight was race night for the J boats. Today we toured the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy and once again heard the stories of some of the craziest bastards that ever sailed (Farragut and J.P. Jones to name two). Yes, big egos. Every racing sailor that competed tonight has an ego that says "I will win today." Now everyone out here is listening to a great singer on the Pusser's dock and enjoying the gorgeous moonlit night. Every town should have an ego alley like this.