Whoot!! Annapolis Boat Show 2019! The mecca for all boaters, large or small, power or sail, lake or ocean. Were people gather to take one more step closer to achieving their dreams of…spending mad amounts of cash and drinking rum ;P

The boat show is nuts here. Greg and I went 2 years ago to check out (and sail on) a new Allures 45.9 back when we were considering an aluminum hull (feels like a lifetime ago now). At that time we were SUPER preoccupied with this massive decision about what type of boat would be best for the family, and be within our budget. It was scary, stressful and overwhelming.

This year was different. Easier. We had the boat. We had the plan. We didn’t have to travel for 10 hours to get here (more like 30 minutes). The idea we were just getting our heads around 2 years ago was a mere 2 weeks away.

2 EFFING WEEKS AWAY.

We went on Thursday and again today (Sunday); both times we were armed with a list and really tried to focus. We read the kids the riot act about boat shaming us after they stepped on a 50 foot catamaran (dinks) and came away with a new life raft, tethers for the kids, dinghy anchor (MANTUS BABY!!), snubber and headlamps…and 8 painkillers over 4 adults but 3 were consumed by my very lightweight father-in-law (hehehe).

Buying stuff is (relatively) easy…we knew what we needed and bought it. Other than the reeeeeally painful pricing for all things boating…it was fine.

The real highlight wasn’t the purchasing / knocking off to-do’s. It was this morning when we went to a panel with very accomplished sailors and over the course of 2 hours had so many of the things we have been thinking about, struggling with and planning for but completely validated for the first time. These sailors included:

Pete Goss - “a British yachtsman who has sailed more than 250,000 nautical miles. A former Royal Marine, he is famous for his pioneering project Team Philips. He was invested in the Legion d'Honneur for saving fellow sailor Raphaël Dinelli in the 1996 Vendée Globe solo around the world yacht race” (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Brian Trautman - the captain of S/V Delos, a very famous boat and crew going now for over 7 years covering over 70,000 nautical miles with an amazing YouTube channel and a huge following

John Harries - the captain of Morgan’s Cloud and co-creator along with Phyllis Nickel of the incredible well-stocked Attainable Adventure Cruising reference site

Meg Reilly and Morgen Watson - the co-captains of Hermes, a Pogo 12.50, and co-creators of Ocean Racers, a company that trains and brings together crews for ocean races and are really cool and competitive

And was moderated by Andy Schell and Mia Karlsson of 59 North who have two beautiful Swan Boats, a charter company and a really interesting podcast called On The Wind

Greg and I get a lot of advice. And we get a lot of horror stories. And we get questioned, a lot. So many people start out conversations with us questioning our decision making about which anchor we have, our offshore route, the running rigging we choose, our decision to have carpet, you name it. Have you thought of X? Have you considered Y? Are you sure about Z? YES THANK YOU. Greg and I do NOT know everything, so so so so so far from it that even saying so is ridic. However, when we do make a decision for us, it is after deep, thorough and well-researched consideration of our system, our family, our goals and our needs. Today at the panel - “what we think about sailing” - one of the main themes from these very seasoned sailors was that you have to do what is right for you. Do your work, do your thinking, then make the best decision you can FOR YOU (and eff what everyone else thinks).

Other key take-aways for us were:

• Co-skippering can be a thing and totally 100% depends on your relationship with the co-skipper (I cannot tell you how many men have told me that you can’t co-skipper…basically all of them except Greg up to today). The Ocean Racers Co-Skippers of Hermes, Morgan and Meg talked a bit about how it works for them and I gotta say it was validating for both Greg and I. We both have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to running this ship and crew and together we are smarter and faster than when one of us is the sole lead. It’s just how we work and we’ve been living our life together like that since we were 13. Back off haters!

• Boat choice is driven by what you plan to do with it (duh but still - don’t buy a new bending lake boat if you plan to go offshore) and bigger isn’t better. A key point here is when Brian from S/V Delos said that if he had a do-over he wouldn’t have gotten his 53 foot Amel but would have chosen something smaller. We really agonized over the 46 vs 53 Hallberg Rassy (Greg more than me but still). Brian is one of the first people we’ve heard say this who has a 50+ boat. So many people make the “ewww is that enough space for all of you” face when we say we have an HR46. For context, the S/V Delos crew have 4 liveaboards and usually another few crew per season. Our purpose was a safe, comfortable, ocean worthy boat that we could afford without being boat-poor or compromising our futures. There are many reasons a boat under 50 is desirable for cruising and it was neat to hear someone so famous in the sailing community, with a new very famous boat, say that he would have made a different choice if he had a do-over to something smaller.

• How to manage, and expect, seasickness. Time at anchor or a sail the day before you go with crew might help but basically plan on feeling somewhere between tired and garbage for the first 3 days. Yikes. Ok well we knew this but I really was hoping for something more optimistic. We will have drugs, and easy to eat options and will do our best to avoid bad, or even uncomfortable weather. The captain of Morgan’s Cloud said that every time he pukes, the first thing he does is shove in food because having an empty stomach can make you feel more seasick than you already are. It seems counter intuitive but it was good to hear because if people (or me) are sick, I can really push people to eat, even if they puke it up again 5 minutes later. Meg and Morgan also mentioned they had crew once that didn’t tell them they weren’t eating and actually fainted during an ocean race (very very dangerous).

Also really really really encouraging today was that everyone we talked to at this panel, including the panelists said something like “that sounds like a lot of fun” or “yes that will be a great route" or “we are headed there ourselves and we look forward to seeing you down there”…which is a welcome change to the eyebrow raise we get when we correct people that assume we are going down the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) to Florida and then to the Bahamas…don’t get me wrong we want to go to the Bahamas but we have an offshore boat which is too tall for the ICW (65’ from the deck is several feet too high for the lowest bridge) and most people we have talked with at this marina look at you like you are courting danger by not going down the ICW. It’s kind and fine but not exactly a confidence builder.

So we definitely got more than we anticipated at the Annapolis Boat Show…Greg and I were so pumped after that talk, we felt so high, and honestly for the first time, a little bit confident that we’ve been, and continue to be, doing well in terms of research, decision-making and planning. We were met with excitement, not fear, when we told our tale and were included in the fold in a way that make us feel like “ya, we can do this”. This panel couldn’t have come at a better time for us as we feel beat down, tired, stress, scared and all the rest.

Gonna ride this wave all the way out of Herrington Harbour North in a few short weeks!

Much love,

M