Another Boat Show day ...

Our first day at the boat show was great fun, and today promises to be as well.  We stopped and Chick and Ruth's Delly again for breakfast, chatted with a couple in the adjacent booth about sailing, and headed on down.  The show was about a minute from opening its doors when we had our tickets scanned and got the required wrist-bands, so when the gates opened we were ten feet from the entrance and slipped right in, probably at the chagrin of the couple of hundred people who had been waiting in a cordoned off line.  But, not feeling the least bit guilty, I guided Penelope into the first tent and we went down to a nautical jewelry booth we'd stopped at on our first day.  Now she has a lovely gold sailboat on a chain!

We strolled by the Fatty Knees dinghies and the Melonseed Skiff displays again, debated over whether we should get the Breeze Booster wind-scooper, and made our way down to pick up our Alizee sailing caps.  Oops, they weren't quite ready, so we slipped into another tent and started spending our boat dollars.  At Henri Lloyd, makers of foul weather and other sailing clothing, I picked up a new breeze jacket.  Then we went by the Cape Hatteras Marine booth.  Whoa!  I looked at the fender cover they had on display and recognized it instantly.  Several years before, when I was partners in Spindrift, a 1980 Cal 39 II on San Francisco Bay, I'd ordered a set of fender covers with the burgee of my yacht club at the time, the Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda.  Cape Hatteras had delivered them with the wrong colors on the yacht club burgee, so I'd returned them and they'd sent new ones with the correct colors.  Here, at the front our their booth, was one of the fender covers that I had returned.  The owner remembered the incident well, and said he's been using the incorrectly embroidered fenders at boat show displays ever since, and we snapped a photo together with the fender cover.  Since I was there, I ordered two more fender covers for Alizee, as the ones I have are getting pretty worn.

The next stop along the way was the West Marine booth.  Their sales folks at the electronics display were a bit at loose ends, so I asked if I could get an updated Gold Navionics chip for North America.  The Navionics chip that I have for my C-80 Raymarine chart plotter covers the whole of the Bahamas and eastern seaboard, but as we discovered when sailing north from St. Petersburg toward Pensacola last May, it doesn't cover the gulf coast starting at about 80 miles north of St. Pete.  We have paper charts, of course, and we could navigate well enough with just the GPS, but we vowed to update our chip.  Since there was a boat show discount, I forked out another boat buck ($100) for a new one, which arrived by mail the day after week got home.

We also were pulled into a booth run by Sea Tech & Fun USA.  They represent Matt Chem SAS in France, which makes a wide array of environmental friendly cleaners, sealers and such for maintaining stainless, plastic, teak, hold tanks, engines and hull and decks.  With the help of Jeff Grant at our marina, we finally got all the Cetol off our teak toe-rails, eyebrows, dorades and the cockpit coaming.  I put eight coats of varnish on the cockpit coaming just before the hot summer weather, and following the lead of another boat owner in our marina, I was going to apply Semco Teak Sealer, which I purchased from Jamestown Distributors.  When I got the product and finally called Jeff to see if he could give me a hand putting it on, he told me that the sealer on the other boat in the marina had turned an orange tint after two months and the owner had had Jeff remove it.  I decided to hold off with the sealer and just keep the teak clean through the summer and into October, when I figured I could get a couple of weeks to varnish it all.  Then we saw Matt Chem's product, STOPO, and decided to get it and give it a try later this month.

Sea Tech also carries the Spade Anchor, which has tested very well in two out of three trials by Practical Sailor ... actually in the third in also test very well except with a 3:1 scope (and who uses that???).  Anyway, Penelope loves the idea of the Spade, particularly that its ballasted tip means it lands in the right position every time, digs in quickly, and penetrates even in grass.  We've used a CQR very successfully for the past few years, and have a Delta second anchor we've never had to use, but we've decided we're going to get a Spade anchor as a wedding anniversary gift for each other.  Romantic, eh what?  Well, since Penelope handles dropping the anchor while I'm at the helm (because she doesn't want to be at the helm), if she wants an anchor for our anniversary, that's romantic enough for me.  Yes, indeed!

Our next stop took us by Bottomsiders.  Alizee's Bottomsider cockpit cushions have cracked and been repaired and cracked more, so I thought I'd ask about re-coated them.  Their representative Lori advised that, if I sent her some photos of the cracks in my cockpit cushions, she would be able to determine if we could simple have them re-coated rather than having new ones made.  So, that's another task that is to be done by the end of the month.

By this time we were thirsty and hungry, so we swung by and picked up our Alizee caps and then tried to nab a couple of chairs or a spot at one of the bars for a beer and maybe some food.  This was not like Thursday.  It was a madhouse, crowded to the point of insanity, so we walked out through one of the kitchens, into a parking lot and caught our breath.  We decided to breeze by the last of the booths before we walked into town to find a food.  We stopped by Bob Bitchin's Cruising Outpost booth, just to say hello, and then headed into a little sushi spot near the foot of Main Street called Cafe Sakura.  Almost as good as the Joss Cafe, we enjoyed a nice lunch, and just as we finished and were walking through the nearby town museum, I got a call from Simon Edward: "Come meet me at City Dock Coffee."  Just two blocks away on Market Space, we were there in a jiffy.  Simon had been the delivery captain who brought Alizee up from Florida to the brokerage in Annapolis from whom I bought the boat.  He'd also done some boat work for me (and the previous owners) after the survey was finished and then showed me the ropes on my new boat.  An all around great guy and sailor, it was a treat to see him again.

We were done with the show and the crowds, so after some time with Simon, we got ready for our next engagement at 1730.  We were meeting some other Cabo Rico owners at the Federal House, just next door to City Dock Coffee.  There are three or four Cabo Rico owners in the Annapolis area, and at each boat show on Friday they traditionally gather here.  We expected about six owners, but in the end only four arrived: (left to right) Duane and June Ruby (s/v SeaClearly, a CR 42), Penelope and me, Thierry Danz (s/v Curlew, a CR 42) and Mickey Panayiotakis.  We had a great time at the bar and then adjourned for dinner, all in all spending a splendid evening together.  We missed Breck Caine (a CR 38) and Richard and Robyn Joyner (a CR 42), who all had something come up at the last minute that prevented their coming. 

On Saturday morning we slept in, went down to the French restaurant for breakfast around 1000, and then got our car and escaped the crowds.  I took Penelope over to Back Bay and Bert Jabins Boat Yard, where I had kept Alizee for the couple of months in the summer of 2008 before moving south to Oriental, North Carolina, and then we drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the eastern shore.  We'd hoped to have dinner with old friends Bob and Dian Post that night, but alas, they were a bit under the weather and we had to pass on it.  We did have a fun encounter in Easton, though.  
The local airport was having an open house with a bunch of working historic planes.  We pulled into the parking lot and got on the runway just in time for the big passing over of the planes, got to see a Stearman, which Penelope's Bill had trained in during War Two, and some other historic planes.  It was a wonderfully serendipitous moment on our trip.  

Two more motels and two more days of travel, and we arrived safely home in Deland.  A great road trip, a great boat show!

Hooray! Annapolis! Boat Show! ...

Day One ...

Wednesday afternoon, checked into the Maryland Inn, one of the three historic inns in Annapolis, we began our boat show with a stroll down Main Street to the venue and a cocktail and oyster shooters at McGarvey's on Dock Street.  Bartender Tom made it clear why this is the best bar and best oyster house in Annapolis!  We could hardly tear ourselves away, but we had plans for a first-rate sushi dinner at the Joss Cafe and Sushi Bar, without doubt the best in town.  What a treat!  And afterwards, we were eager to watch the first presidential debate, but no comments on that here.

We had purchased boat show tickets on line for Thursday and Friday, and it looked like the rains and drizzles we'd been experiencing since the beginning of the week we gone for the two days we'd actually be at the show.  Unfortunately, we awakened to drizzle in the morning, but after coffee at Starbucks (in the basement of the hotel) and with an umbrella in case we needed it, we set out for breakfast at Chick and Ruth's Delly, the best breakfasts in downtown Annapolis.  By 10:30, we had arrived at the boat show and began tackling the displays in some of the tents, because the drizzle had arrived outside.  The humidity in the tents didn't help things, but it was better than being drizzled upon, and we made the best of it.  The Moorings charter company provided us with a lovely large tote bag, and we set out to do half the show on the first day.

By far the biggest sailboat show in the country, even on the first day with fewer visitors than were certain to be there on the weekend, this was daunting.  Thankfully the drizzle soon let up, and we escaped the tents to visit displays and booths outside.  The day before the show started, I discovered via Facebook that my old friend Fuu Miyatani French (Zen, to me) was there with a Japanese day sailer, the Zen 24, made by Aoki Yachts Corporation.  Zen is the American representative of the company as well as a USCG licensed captain and ASA sailing instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area.  In a month or so, he's setting forth with his wife on their 30-foot catamaran on a transpacific sail from San Francisco south to Los Angeles, thence to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands and finally working his way north to Japan.  What an adventure!  And how good to see Zen again!

The Zen 24 was judged at the show by Sail Magazine as one of the best boats for 2013. They were filming a spot for the Sail Magazine website when we were there, and if you look closely at the very beginning, you'll see Penelope and I talking with Zen.  It's the boat used by the Aoki Yacht Club's sailing school in Japan, and I know Zen would not represent any boat that wasn't top rate.  Well priced and with a choice of an electric outboard or electric inboard, solar panels for keeping a charge, and a 3.5-foot draft, the Zen 24 seems a good choice for day sailors on the Atlantic coast and for inland lake sailors.  Check out their brochure.  I don't know if the sold the one they trucked from California for the boat show, but I'm pretty sure, if they did, the buyer got a hell of a good deal.  Damn/spit!  Could have been me.

Another exhibitor I wanted especially to be sure to see was Karen Larson at Good Old Boat Magazine.  They bill themselves as the boat magazine for the rest of us, and after looking at the plethora of new boats the show - very few of them under 30 feet long and most between 40 feet and up - it's plain that their slogan is appropriate.  I've written several book reviews for Karen over the past four years, and we've come to know each other without ever meeting, so I was looking forward to dropping by her booth.  Each year the Good Old Boat crew that mans the booth has a great time, usually with Tom Wells, the Good Old Boat Troubadour.  Tom was there singing comedian Golf Brooks' song "Senior Moments," which seemed to hit the mark with this old sailor.  And, of course, you can't visit without walking away with something, in my case a Good Old Boat sailing cap and a T-shirt.

Constantly removing one's sandals to clamber off and on boats becomes tiresome after a while, so our next stop was for a refreshing drink.  Of course, this meant fighting crowds and hoping to find a seat at a bar somewhere.  On this first day we were lucky and two seats opened up at the end of Pusser's outdoor bar.  There we met a couple who were starting a move from riding Harley's to sailing.  They had just finished the basic ASA course near Annapolis, and this was their first show.  So they were filled with questions, happy to hear our stories, and naturally great fun to have a beer with.  We gave them our boat card, and while it would be fun to hear from them, I suspect we never will.

After our pick-me-up, we made our way around the quay toward the main entrance to the show.  Along the way we ordered two sailing caps with our boat name Alizee sewn on the front (which we would pick up the next day), considered buying a new wind chute, the Breeze Booster, for our front hatch (we'll probably have to order it on-line now), and Penelope got the scoop on a very nice looking rail mounted barbecue that comes from Australia.  

We also spotted a couple of small boats that drew me in.  The first was the Melonseed Skiff, by Crawford Boat Building in Marshfield, Massachusetts (base price $11,900).  Howard Chapelle in American Small Sailing Craft showed a set of 1888 plans for the Melonseed, "a remarkably handsome gunning skiff ... built at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey."  Probably built no earlier than 1882, it was an improvement on the Barnegat Bay sneak box, a local market-hunters gunning skiff, which was first built in 1836 and gradually modified into a common configuration by 1855.  It was "well know to American sportsmen through Forest & Stream magazine." Versions of the garvey, a New Jersey centerboard working boat from about 1880-1905, was also an improvement on the the sneak box, and its plans are quite similar to those of the Melonseed.  Roger Crawford told me that a half-built, rotting old Melonseed made from Chapelle's plans became his "prototype."  "I added just a tiny bit of fullness in the bow section to give the boat a bit more buoyancy and life as it punches through small chop.  It has never ever seemed that it wanted to broach and rides high up and over each wave rather than burying its nose." 

Another classic small boat we saw is the Doughdish, introduced in 1973 and an exact replica in fiberglass of the wooden Herreschoff 12.5, first built in 1914.  Today's H-Class is based on Herreschoff's 1914 gaff-rigged design, and the Doughdish is the only fibreglass boat accepted in the class.  With a fixed keel, teak trim, seats and sole plus varnished spruce spars, she really keeps the classic look of her wooden predecessors.  She is built today by Ballentine's Boat Shop in Catuamet, Massachusetts.  You can have one starting at $44,500, but when you add extras and a trailer you'll certainly spend more.  Nevertheless, this is a gorgeous boat, and with the almost full keel she's a seaworthy craft.  With a draft of 2' 6", she'd be great to sail the Gulf Coast waters in Florida.  Too many boats, so little time!

In addition to these classic boats, we were drawn to Stuart Marine Corporation's version of the Rhodes 19.  Designed by Philip Rhodes in 1958 for George O'Day's boat-building company, this fast little keel boat draws 3' 3" (or 10"/4' 11" with the centerboard model).  O'Day built the Rhodes for about fifteen years, and discontinued when Bangor Punta acquired the firm.  In 1980, Rebel Industries of Jackson, Michigan acquired the Rhodes production facilities, but produced no boats.  Finally, in December, 1982, Stuart Sharaga, a well-to-do Rhodes 19 owner, bought the molds and inventories, established Stuart Marine in Maine, and two years later began producing both centerboard and keel models again.  Rhodes are sailed and raced in one-design competition on San Francisco Bay, Lake Michigan, the Gulf Coast, as well as throughout the north Atlantic seaboard.  A new one with no options runs $24,800, while used Rhodes run from $8,000 to $24,000.  I like these boats, but I am much more drawn to the classic designs of the Doughdish and Melonseed.

Since we have Alizee, what initially led us to look at small boats was our thinking about a hard chine tender.  Our 8' 9" hypalon Walker Bay dinghy is a solid tender that has given us good service for the past four years, but our couple of experiences having to row her were miserable, and wouldn't it be fun to have a little sailing dinghy when at anchor.  I've been looking at build-your own stitch-and-glue boat kits from Glenn-L Marine and Chesapeake Light Craft, but I must admit that I'm not much of a shop guy.  I've even thought of asking  John Tuma, who built the little rowing tender Pup for my Islander Bahama 28 Dog Days, to build me one; he's more than happy to oblige, but he's in California and we're in Florida.

So, while I was agog over the Melon Seed, Penelope struck up a conversation with David Foynes, owner of Fatty Knees Boat Company.  Originally designed (in the 1970s, I believe) by Lyle Hess, famous for his Bristol Channel Cutter 28, the Fatty Knees dinghy was the favorite of the now well-known cruising couple Lin and Larry Pardey.  It's got a hand-laid lapstrake fiberglass hull, with teak and pine highlights.  It has two rowing stations, 50 sq. ft. of sail, and you can get a wood mast rather than aluminum if your in a mind to.  Penelope quite liked the 8 foot version, which weighs 104 lbs. and sells knew for $3,460.  Add the sail package, teak floorboards, oars, boat cover and a few other do-dads that you'll have to have, and the F.O.B. price at Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts is about $6,400.  Oops, not as good a deal as one might think at first glance.  Nevertheless, there are a whole lot of choices in hard chine dinghies, so we're still puzzling over this, and probably comparison shopping.

Finished with our small boat shopping for the day, we started winding our way to the exit gate, when I saw a booth for Martin & Bird, the brokerage firm through whom I bought Alizee, and there was Chet Pawlowicz, my broker.  He recognized me immediately, and we had a lovely little reunion and a bit of reminiscing over Alizee.  I mentioned to him that I'd hoped to see Simon Edwards, the boat delivery captain who had helped familiarize me with Alizee, but my number for him was no good.  So, Chet gave me the right number, and later Simon and I laid plans to meet sometime the next day.


Our first day at the boat show.  Whew!  We sat for a bit on the quay and let the crowds slip by us.  The sun had come out, and we were exhausted.  After regaining our strength, we headed over to McGarvey's for a reprise of oyster shooters, for we were meeting old sailing friends from one of our treks along the ICW for dinner a bit later.  While we don't have a photo of the shooters, you can tell from our smiles along the quay that we were a happy couple.


We got to O'Brien's Oyster Bar and Restaurant around 18:30, and settled in at the bar.   We met Ginger and David Kauppi at anchorage in Antipoison Creek, Virginia, when we were starting our homeward trip to Florida in 2009.  Their anchor dragged during the night, and we exchanged hellos.  The next day we left at about the same time, heading for Norfolk, and we each took pictures of our respective boats.  We eventually exchanged the photos - the one they took was the first I had of Alizee under sail - and later we spent another evening together with another couple at anchor in North Carolina.  We connected again at a marina in Florida when we were headed south to to jump off to the Bahamas in 2010, and they later that year when they came through Daytona Beach.  They've sold their boat and retired to land, recently selling their home in Connecticut and buying a condo just outside Annapolis, which puts them close to their grandchildren.  Such is the life of cruisers; eventually everyone swallows the anchor.  Anyway, we had a great dinner at O'Brien's, did lots of reminiscing as well as enjoying a good political conversation - it helps that we are in agreement on such matters.  A fine ending to our first day at the show.  (Another boat show post coming.)

A road trip to the boat show ...

Two days after my birthday, Penelope and I drove north out of Florida on a road trip through West Virginia and Ohio and finally to the U.S. National Sailboat Show in Annapolis.  Our first stop was just north of Charlotte, North Carolina, for no other particular reason than to get a good night's sleep and have a good meal, which we did at the Outback next to our motel.  The next morning really marked the beginning of our sight-seeing.  We spent the day driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping a overlooks, peeping at the turning leaves, and taking the required photos.

We broke for lunch at a restaurant located adjacent to Mabry Mill.  The local food was great, and we were entertained by our waitress with riddle after riddle.  After lunch we explored the mill, which is run by the park system. It is a water-powered overshot-wheel saw and grist mill, and flumes bring water to the mill race from two different streams so as to ensure a steady supply to turn the wheel.  Although they don't saw timber anymore, they still run the grist mill and producing "stone" ground flour three times a week.  You can buy a bit of the flour, should you wish ... we passed on the opportunity.  On the grounds there are several other sites, including an abandoned whiskey still, a blacksmith shop, and a demonstration of traditional crafts - this day it was building a chair from red oak.  I'm a sucker for old mills and all that goes with it.

At the end of our trek along the parkway, we stayed the night at the historic Roanoke Hotel, which I had stayed at for a history of technology conference some thirty years earlier.  It was an expensive night, but a fun reminiscence for me.

Next day we headed into the Appalachians and West Virginia.  This is Penelope's world and that of her late husband Bill Garnette; he was born in Huntington and had family in various West Virginia communities, and Penelope's family visited the state often.  Among the spots she wanted me to see was the coal mining town of Thurmond.  Built in the canyon created by the New River (the second oldest river in the world, behind the Nile), Thurmond was a railroad/mining town, accessible only by rail for most of its lifetime.  It was the site of chosen to film the 1987 movie Matewan, about the Matewan, West Virginia coal miners strike in the 1920s. We drove the narrow road that goes around the town in drizzling conditions, of which Penelope had only walked on a previous visit some years ago.  Glad we didn't have to walk it.

We spent a night in the town of Beckley, and the next morning, with rain clouds just starting to give way to sun, we visited Tamarack, a large arts and crafts facility run as an economic development project of the West Virginia Parkways Authority.  (This is really worth a stop if you are ever driving through West Virginia on Interstate 77.)

From Tamarack, with the sun shining, we drove over the New River Gorge Bridge, a steel arch bridge 3,030 feet long over the New River Gorge. With an arch 1,700 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge was  the world's longest steel single-span arch bridge for many years, and is now the third longest.  We stopped at the visitor center, and then drove down to the bottom of the gorge, crossed back over the river on a smaller bridge and then up the other side.  At the second bridge, we met two biker couples, and one agreed to take our photos on the bridge with the big arch bridge behind us.  We got the impression that he had studied photography in college, and he took four photos ... alas, he did not depress the shutter button sufficiently, and none were actually taken.  We decided not to embarrass him and point it out, so we just took a photo of the arch bridge ourselves.

Our next stop was Hawk's Nest State Park, where we took a tram down to the river and had lunch.  Next,  we stopped by Bill Garnette's family farm and the small family cemetery where he is buried, and then drove on to Gallipolis, Ohio.  Known to fans of Bob Evans restaurants as the home of the chain's founder, Gallipolis was was settled in 1790 by French aristocrats escaping the guillotine in their homeland.  It is said the men wanted to push on further down the Ohio, but their wives insisted on going no further.  What is seems to be true is that the Scioto Company, owned by American speculators, swindled the French, who in the end appealed for aid to President Washington.  Whether or not it was Washington's doing, the company ultimately sent woodsmen to build a log-cabin settlement for the hapless French on the riverfront land that today boasts the town's park and gazebo. 

From Gallipolis, we drove north and east into Ohio, destination Penelope's home town, Mount Vernon.  Just short of Mount Vernon, we stopped at a little breakfast restaurant for one of the best meals we had anywhere.  We literally just squeaked in before the door was shut a noon, but we along with all the other customers were treated as best friends and family by everybody working there.  This little place knew their business, and if we were better travel guides, we'd remember the name.  Alas, we don't.

We arrived in Mount Vernon shortly after one in the afternoon.  Penelope slowly drove us around her neighborhood, which was a working class community in which most of the residents worked at Pittsburgh Glass Company, within walking distance.  After the windshield tour, we went to Penelope's aunt's home, which is still right there in the neighborhood.  Edna, or Nanny as her family calls her, is 94 years old and full of energy.  She's a bit slow and relies on a walker, but she is a pistol.  We spent the afternoon talking, we got her email working again and downloaded her a word game she likes to play on the computer, we puzzled over the jigsaw puzzle she had spread out on a living room table (she always has one going), and she asked me to play the piano for her, which I did for at least an hour and a half.  Then we took her out to dinner, and she showed us up with her appetite.  This was truly a highlight for our trip!

After we took Nanny home, we checked into our motel for the night, and turned our eyes toward the remainder of our trip.  Although rainy weather was threatening, we decided to continue on our plan to drive south to Franklin, West Virginia.  We had a reservation in the Silver Maple Hubbard Inn, a bed and breakfast, and we hoped we could reach Spruce Knob before the rains came.  Spruce Knob is the highest peak in West Virginia, and in 1946, when Bill was a naval aviator, he caught a ride with another aviator to fly from Virginia to somewhere in West Virginia.  They became socked in by clouds just as they were going over the mountains and crashed on the top of Spruce Knob.  Bill survived, barely, and was found the next day by a couple of locals who were clearing a fire break.  The pilot did not.  Penelope had told me the story, of course, and Bill had written it up for the West Virginia Historical Society's magazine, which I'd read, but one really had to see the spot to get the enormity of the story.  Although we did not get to the top, we both saw the problem of the clouds, for as we drove up the mountain the clouds settled right on us and we became quite socked in ourselves.

The Silver Maple Inn awaited us, and we drove down to it through some of the most beautiful changing leaves ever.  Our host met us at the Inn and we discovered that we had the place to ourselves, the only guests and even our host lived elsewhere.  It was a lovely spot, and after slipping out to the only decent restaurant in town, we spent a really relaxing night.

A drizzle met us again the next day, and we set out for Baltimore, driving over to Harrisonburg, Virginia, thence up the Shenandoah Valley, skirting around D.C., and on to Baltimore.  We spent the night in a downtown hotel, just a little way from Baltimore's famous inner harbor.  Rather than take our car from the hotel to dinner, we caught a taxi to go to Bertha's Mussels in Fells Point, old Baltimore.  I first went there when at history of technology conference in the 1990s, and the dinghy for our cutter Alizee sports a Bertha's Mussels bumper sticker as a nameplate.  Since the nameplate is peeling off, we simply had to go to Bertha's to get a replacement (we got several).  The mussels were good, though not as spectacular as I recall, but that may be because I've learned to do the most amazing mussel dishes.

The next day we checked out or our hotel around ten o'clock, drove through the inner harbor area, parked and went to the National Aquarium.  If you like aquariums, Baltimore's really is about the best in the country, even better than the Monterey Bay Aquarium, in my humble opinion.  Anyway, we spent a good two hours there, ending with a dolphin show, to which we arrived just as it started.  Our good luck. ... After lunch we hit the road to Annapolis, where we checked into the Maryland Inn, one of the historic inns of the city, for a three-night stay and the boat show (our next post).