All,
It it that time of year again, the Annapolis Sailboat Show... Is anyone attending? I will be at the show on Friday and would like to meet with anyone that will be a the show at the same time.
Garner
Garner, I am driving up from Norfolk. Will be there on Friday.
Is anyone going to be there on Thursday? We will be representing 2 P365 ketchs for the day.
We're planning to be at the boat show tomorrow, Thursday.
Dirk
Sunday for us...
Dale
Assuming rain on Saturday, we will be there....otherwise, sanding :(
We will be there Friday and saturday. Would like to meet some P365 owners if possble.
Jim & Randy,
I suggest we and anyone else at the show meet at the "Good Old Boat" Tent (AB3) at 11:00 on Friday... I will send a personal message to you with my cell phone number.
Garner
Sorry I missed you. I did not get to leave early enough on Thursday to read my e-mail. That's what I get for leaving in a hurry!
I'm sure I was around the Good Old Boat display about 11 on Friday too!
Maybe some other time.
Ohana will love her her new AC unit! I'm sure the First mate will too.
Would it be possible to try and get together maybe sometime this winter? Maybe some other local Pearson owners would participate also?
Jim
I stopped by the Good Old Boat stand several times Friday, but no luck with meeting any P365 folks. Good idea about a get-together sometime this off-season for us Chesapeake P365 folks. I defintatly would show up.
Jack
We went Sunday as planned. It was a beautiful day, nice and sunny. I must say we have seen more people on a Monday at 5:00pm when the show is closing. The place was very lean. No lines for anything, boats, booths or food.
We set a new record. We seldom go on many boats but this year zero. Even the sidewalk around the show was walkable, no walking in the street. The busses were even empty.
We spent more money for parking and admission then stuff that we bought. Sixty plus dollars for a family of four is becoming a bit much and in retrospect been better spent on boat or house supplies.
I was specifically looking for an inflatable, handheld VHF holder for the roll bar and a tricolor. If you wanted an inflatable with a teak deck that was there, or twin outboards that was there, but something for a tightwad like me that is only going to use it a half a dozen times a season, that was nowhere to be found. As for a radio holder, I guess I will have to build my own unless someone knows off a nice one. And... $435 for a LED tricolor made out of $5 of plastic is just plain stupid.
If I had the money to buy new, I would buy the Outbound 46. I did however like the Cheoy Lee 36 that was lovingly restored. If nothing else, the show once again reinforced that the 365 as the boat for us. We even saw a 25 ft go fast sport boat for ... wait for it... $63k plus trailer, plus sails. Yeks!
Lots of vendors we talked to kept saying it was a buyer's market but I didn't see any buyers, even for stuff that people could carry. We have been there for the hay days when you could board Swans, Baltic's, Hans Christians, Pandas, Masion and on and on. We endured the onslaught of cats to the point where you wondered if you were at the right show, they have come and gone as well. We are down to the cookie cutter Catalina's and Hunters and a $5.9 million dollar, couldn't even recall the name, boat that didn't even have a line to board.
Next year I will think twice....
Good Sailing, Dale Tanski
Dale,
Did you look at the Delphin Classic from Advanced Marine Inflatables:
http://www.amiboats.com/boats/delphin.html
They offered free shipping though the show -- and Jeffrey Reynolds told me he'd work something out if I called them in the next week or so.
A tricolor/anchor/strobe I've been looking at is the Optolamp Amazonia:
http://www.svendsensmarine.com/Optolamp_Amazonia_5_in_1_LED_p/olp-1015.htm
They make just a tricolor as well:
http://www.svendsensmarine.com/Optolamp_NavXXI_Tri_Color_LED_Navigation_Light_p/olp-15.htm
I spent some time talking with all the refrigeration people -- I'd like to make a spillover freezer/refrigerator set-up. You got your parts from rparts.com, didn't you? What plate/s did you use? Any suggestions if you had to do it over?
Sorry our schedules didn't mesh. All my best,
Dirk
There's a guy on eBay that makes teak cell phone holders... usually in the boat parts area, might have a larger holder for you?
I wonder if the vendors are all looking for the few big sales?
I'm a building contractor and a lot of my business is remodel, yet the local vendors still give better breaks to new construction, even though it is the smaller market...
Translates in this case to: many existing boat owners that need stuff v/s hypothetical market for high end boats and/or parts...
Dale,
I do no know if you have ever looked at Thai Teak Marine...
http://www.thaiteakmarine.com/
Over the years I have purchased teak products from these guys... Great service and products... However the shipping can be a bit much.. In the past I have pooled orders with others and gotten some great deals...
I was a the show on Friday and the crowd was lighter than I remember... My sense was there were fewer boats at this year's show than ever. Prices were higher than last year on the things I checked... Even the line at Defender was managable. I spoke with several vendors I have gotten to know over the year and their comment was, "If it is not needed to KEEP you sailing -- nobody is even looking".
I sat on board the Eko Mini 6.5 for about 45 minutes talking the builder and no one stopped.
Maybe Saturday was better.
Garner
Wow! I got more information from this post than I did at the show.
Dirk - I like the light. Now I think I am going the anchor and strobe route, might as well at this point. The existing anchor light and the new tri color are competing for space. I also looked at the Davis unit online today and liked what I saw there as well. Thanks for the info. There was a new Rohnstan model on E-bay for $89 and I missed it.
Inflatable - No I did not talk to those people although I believe they were across from Good old boat. I did look at the boat. I got discouraged real early and glazed over. I also noticed that the Newfound Metals people have a inflatable that they are selling as well. If it is as good as their ports it should be a good value. While we are talking ports here, this is the year at least for the V-berth.
Radio holder – I started sketching today, and am gonna make my own. I want something perfect for the application and I love the challenge. Pictures for all when finished.
By the way, we did buy T-shirts from that place that has all of the over runs as we do every year and two magazine subscriptions. I noticed the lack of activity at Defender as well. Normally you can't get near the booth. This is the first year in a while that we haven't left with lots of goodies. My son subscribed to Sailing World again, he is the racer. I used to read Soundings all of the time while looking for boats. For the past 8 to 10 years or so I haven't even picked one up because the net and sites like Yacht World have taken over that duty. As of late, I picked up a few copies at my local chandlery and I was very impressed with the quality of articles. I still like looking at the boats, but the articles are great. So... I picked up a subscription for that one. Good old Boat is still my favorite but after that there isn't much for typical sailor to read. I was surprised to see Sail there, I thought they went belly up. I stopped subscribing to them after reading the twelfth article about sailing to the ice caps or the review of a multi-million dollar 68 footer for day sailing. I believed the last magazine I got from them was the one with the article on a teak deck inflatable.
Thanks much... Dale Tanski
We have the Optolamp Amazonia on Abracadabra. The strobe function is not a true strobe- it flashes the LED anchor light. Also, the instructions say that you need 3 wires up the mast. You need 4 with the strobe function. I did not see "USCG Approved" anywhere on the light or instructions. Optolamp is located in Brazil.
I am not trying to deter anybody from buying the light, It is bright and seems to work well except for the strobe. If I had it to do over, I would still buy the light, but without the strobe function. I was expecting a real, high powered strobe light.