This year Lisa and I decided to drive up to Annapolis for the Spring Sail boat show since we now live within a 5 to 6 hour driving distance. When we had attended the October show in Annapolis we were overwhelmed with all the vendors. We knew going in that the Spring show was going to be much smaller than the October venue but we weren't ready for how much smaller it was. In October we attended 3 days and a few seminars and still didn't really see everything they had to offer. We purchased two days of tickets thinking we would be able to get everything in within the two days. It turns out we only needed one day. They had about 50-75 vendors and about 30 boats to inlcude used boats for sale and new models from the major suppliers. This is a good sized show but compared to the couple hundred vendors and a multitude of new boats this one seemed small in comparison.
We toured the Lagoon 390 and 450 and also were able to make it onto a Fountaine Pajot 44. We are mostly sold on a FP 41 Lipari but it's always good to get on as many similar boats as you can to get ideas on what to finally have on your boat. We did look into a foam mattress topper for our Hunter 326. We have a foam mattress at home and now we're too spoiled to sleep on anything else. That might be a future upgrade for the 326 and our retirement boat. We were also looking for a dingy for the 326 and got a few ideas and brochures to find something that will work. We have to look into where to keep it; do we want to install an arch, davits, or just haul it up on the foredeck. We were also wanting to snag a good primary anchor as the 326 came with only a light duty fortress anchor. We will be anchoring out and need to get some good ground gear. Surprisingly, there wasn't any anchor dealers at the show. So now I guess I'll be looking at West Marine or Defender.com.
We ended up leaving early and not attending the second day even though we had a pre-purchased ticket. Overall it was still worth the trip now that we are much closer to Annapolis. On our way home we stopped by REI outfitters so Lisa could buy some fancy new outerwear and I could look into some climbing gear. I'm wanting to get a rig put together with some ascenders so I can scale the mast. This way Lisa won't need to man a wench everytime I go up.
All and all the trip was a success...we came away with some great ideas and also found a doggie life vest for Sophia (our black lab mix). We almost missed the vest and only spotted it on the way to the cash register, good tip... always keep your eyes peeled.
We toured the Lagoon 390 and 450 and also were able to make it onto a Fountaine Pajot 44. We are mostly sold on a FP 41 Lipari but it's always good to get on as many similar boats as you can to get ideas on what to finally have on your boat. We did look into a foam mattress topper for our Hunter 326. We have a foam mattress at home and now we're too spoiled to sleep on anything else. That might be a future upgrade for the 326 and our retirement boat. We were also looking for a dingy for the 326 and got a few ideas and brochures to find something that will work. We have to look into where to keep it; do we want to install an arch, davits, or just haul it up on the foredeck. We were also wanting to snag a good primary anchor as the 326 came with only a light duty fortress anchor. We will be anchoring out and need to get some good ground gear. Surprisingly, there wasn't any anchor dealers at the show. So now I guess I'll be looking at West Marine or Defender.com.
We ended up leaving early and not attending the second day even though we had a pre-purchased ticket. Overall it was still worth the trip now that we are much closer to Annapolis. On our way home we stopped by REI outfitters so Lisa could buy some fancy new outerwear and I could look into some climbing gear. I'm wanting to get a rig put together with some ascenders so I can scale the mast. This way Lisa won't need to man a wench everytime I go up.
All and all the trip was a success...we came away with some great ideas and also found a doggie life vest for Sophia (our black lab mix). We almost missed the vest and only spotted it on the way to the cash register, good tip... always keep your eyes peeled.
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