Sam, Guin, Tommy, and I attended the Annapolis boat show yesterday. We walked through all the booths and I realized something. Attending a boat show with dreams of cruising can be somewhat overwhelming, especially if your on a tight budget. The last time I attended the show was before I went cruising and I wanted one of everything. This time, there were only a handful of things. These are all the things I plan on carrying in the new store. I got to have a little chat with Jimmy Cornell which was really cool and say ‘hi’ to some of my product supporters. Can anyone loan me 2 million dollars? I wouldn’t mind buying the new Tayana 67,or was it 65? It has my name all over it.
All I was really looking for was a good deal on an EPIRB and no one had the one I wanted in stock. I think I’m going to go with the ACR 406 without the GPS. Some of the smaller personal EPIRBS are cool but only have a 24 hour transmit time as opposed to a 48 hour time. I learned something cool about the smaller EPIRBS though. You can turn them off, so what people do is transmit for 6 hours, and turn it off for 3. This not only extends the battery life, but gives you a small device that easily fits in a ditch bag. All this being said our life-raft and EPIRB will most likely never see the light of day or ever get turned on. It’s all just insurance. We will also have a satellite phone, SPOT, SSB, and Magellan communicator on board. We have all the latest & greatest safety gear.
I need to be at the boat I’m delivering on the 14th, we’ll be shoving off for the keys on the 15th. I’ll have the SPOT running again which is always fun.
I’m going to chill for the next few days with my girls. I CANT WAIT TO SHOVE OFF SOON. I’ve pretty much made the decision to do the Bahamas. It’s a good cruising ground to break the girls in on. George Town is like kid central and a good place for Guin to make some friends.
Peace everyone.
Sail far and live slowly.
– Alex