US Navy Blue Angels Airshow in Annapolis

Blue Angels in Formation!

May 22-23

     Scott, the mechanic from Cummins came over to check the engines.  He hooked up a computer to the engines to run some diagnostic tests.  He said the engine oil looked "thin" and "old."  After several hours of ruling things out, he wanted to take it out for a blow-by test.  We would have to take the boat out in the bay because he wanted to run it full throttle.  It was about 1:30 in the afternoon and the Blue Angels were scheduled to perform at 2:00.  There were thousands of boats in the bay, anchored and anticipating the air show.  We had to maneuver around them to get to an open area to go fast.  The coast guard was directing boat traffic and many areas were blocked because of security and safety of the F/A-18 Hornets that would be performing over the bay.  We  accomplished our task.  We ran the boat full throttle while Scott hooked up a gage to each engine to see if the rings and valves needed to be replaced.  Fortunately, the engines passed the tests!  He concluded that we just had bad oil, and recommended an oil change.

Blue Angels

Contrails

Contrails

Close Encounter

So now, the real fun began!  The Blue Angels began the show, flying with perfect precision.  They are so impressive,  fast and loud!  They fly at about 700 miles per hour but they can go up to 1400 miles per hour!   They also flew 50 feet above the water.The closest distance they get to each other is 18 inches during the diamond 360 maneuver!  It is amazing to watch and we watched it from our boat out in  the bay as well as in our slip the day before.  I know Scott really enjoyed it!  He was working and got the best seat to watch the show!  And we were paying him!