We had a great time at the Annapolis Boat Show from October 11-14 and are now ready to head south. We’ve been in Annapolis since late September, enjoying our front row seats in the mooring field. It was fun to watch the show get put together as docks were built and boats brought in for the show.
We went to the show each of the 4 days. While we weren’t looking for a new boat, we enjoyed boarding a variety of boats to get ideas about living aboard, and honestly, seeing other boats reinforced how happy we are to call Tilia home. We DID buy some needed equipment: better headsets for communicating when we are docking and anchoring (much better than shouting at each other along the length of the boat), new ropes to replace some worn lines, and inflatable chairs to enjoy the bow at anchor, among other purchases. The boat show always has deals, which makes it fun to shop.
In addition to shopping and exploring boats, we had time to explore some of Annapolis, enjoy friends old and new, and family. Our nephew, Tyler, joined us for a night, we hosted our new Annapolis friends Pete and Marlys for dinner one night, and our good sailing friends Bobby and Katie, and their daughter Addison, spent a couple of nights and took in the show with us.
One highlight was the time we spent with other Antares owners. One big influence that led us to choose Antares is the community of owners who learn from each other. Of the 70 or so Antares in use, 10 of us were in Annapolis this week! The owners group shares information about all sorts of things — ways to improve sailing, tips on fixes for common boat problems, and cruising routes and locations. We also have fun together as like minded people! We had an owner’s party during the show on the new hybrid boat that was featured in the show. Better yet, on each of the two days immediately following the show, we took an Antares out for some sailing practice. We got a chance to fly a low wind sail, called a parasail. We don’t have one (yet) but certainly are more tempted now that we had a chance to see one in action. We also got good ideas about how to get more performance from our existing sails.
Once again, after spending some weeks in one location, we are eager to be underway again and will head south tomorrow.
