We made it to the Annapolis Sailboat Show! Yay! Marge and I took our first big trip together as a couple and flew out to the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October 2004. We never expected that it would take us 14 years to get back here, but such is our journey.

 

 

 

Having made it to the Chesapeake Bay and into a marina where we could do some work on the boat, we shucked our responsibilities, rented a car and took off for the Boat Show! We went both Friday and Saturday as there is just too much to see and do. Friday was the better day as it was less crowded and we were able to see a lot of the boats in the water and talk to people about the neat things we were seeing. For a while we just walked and gawked at boats and boat stuff. We went on to many boats and were able to see lots of the new models from many different manufacturers. It was fun to be able to tell people that we were actually live-aboard cruisers now and that we were headed to The Bahamas. We met lots of other people who were on the same path as us and we will probably meet lots of others along the way. We had lunch with Dave and Leslie at Pusser’s and were able to sit and chat about some of the things at the show we were seeing.

Later in the afternoon we found the Sailrite exhibit booth and purchased our new Sailrite sewing machine at the show discount price. It was really good to meet some of the Grant family who owns Sailrite and get to talk to them about sewing stuff. We made our purchase with Seth Grant, the son of the owner, and he had an informal contest going on with his dad about who could make more sales. It was all fun and we really enjoyed meeting them and getting to talk with them about sewing projects and sailing and our plans for sailing and RVing. We decided we would pick up the machine on Saturday as we knew we’d be coming back again.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the boats we went on and saw was the Seawind 1160. We fell in love. Not with catamarans in general, but this one specifically. When we went to the Miami Sailboat Show a couple of years ago we really did begin to think about the possibility of a catamaran someday. While there Marge really liked the Gemini 35 catamaran and I really liked the Nautitech 40 catamaran. I liked the 35 quite a lot, but it didn’t fit me well and was just too cramped for my height. The Nautitech 40 was a better fit for me and although it seemed enormous we began to wonder about how something like this could fit into our lives. Fast-forward to today and all that is gone now as we’ve found the perfect boat for us. The Seawind 1160 is 38 feet long, 22 feet wide, has steering stations on both sides for being able to see the docks easily when maneuvering, and everything is made and kept as simple as possible. It’s a Goldilocks boat for us, not too big, not too small and we think that this would fit us just perfectly. We love everything about it. So that is now our dream boat outshining all others. Who knows if we’ll ever be able to afford one, but you got to have goals!

We wandered our toes through and around every aisle, dock and booth several times and made a few small purchases including a new boat hook with a loop on it to aid in catching pelican poles which are far more common here in marinas as we head south. As we were leaving we ran into Joe Radtke who was representing the Jenneau sailboats and got to talk with him for a bit. Joe had been the manager of Barker’s Island when we were there in the early 2000’s. Running short on time we found Dave and Leslie again, took the shuttle bus back to the rental car and made our way back to the boat.

On Saturday we went back to the boat show and met up with Michel and Malic from Jolie Brise. We walked around some more and saw more boats with them but it was much busier and harder to see stuff. We saw some round-the-world Expedition ready all aluminum sailboats and went aboard a 58 foot Southerly sailboat that was selling for 2.5 million dollars. Honestly, we liked the little catamaran better and couldn’t see ourselves in such a gigantic monstrosity. Even if we had that kind of money we would need to have crew to move the thing. Nope, not us. We picked up our new sewing machine and got it back to the car. Then we found Michel and Malic again and walked around the town some before having dinner out together at Buddy’s Crabs and Ribs overlooking the boat show. Afterwards we walked around Annapolis some more before heading back home. We knew we wouldn’t get to see those guys again for a while and it was really nice to get to spend some time with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our main agenda item at the boatyard was to get our boat hauled out so we could get it soda-blasted. We needed to put new bottom paint on Wandering Toes but first she needed to have the old paint removed. Weather proved to be an issue as the guys from Green Clean Soda Blasting couldn’t do their work until the weather cooled. It had been in the 80’s for weeks and too hot to work. We got the boat hauled out of the water on Tuesday, October 9th just so we’d be ready. The boat was at a bit too much of an angle upwards and was pretty uncomfortable to live and sleep in, but we persevered. It took a week until the following Tuesday to get the soda blasters to come, but they were in and out in one afternoon and Wandering Toes had her old bottom paint removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now our work began. I spent two days sanding the entire bottom of the boat with 60 grit sand paper by hand to get a good scratch coat in the gelcoat so the new barrier coat paint had some tooth to stick to. Then I washed her down and dried the hull bottom to make sure any and all sanding dust was gone. Saturday the 20th was the first nice day we could start the barrier coat process and we got the first barrier coat painted on. She was starting to look nice again! Sunday was a rain day and we painted barrier coat again on Monday. Tuesday we painted on the 3rd coat of barrier coat and the first coat of antifouling bottom paint.

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday we painted on the second coat of antifouling bottom paint and removed the tape. She was looking great! On Thursday the 25th we painted some embellishments onto the keel-bulb and finished up some final details and I spent the afternoon putting a new coat of wax on the sides of the boat and making her all shiny again. Anthony was able to put us back into the water early on Friday morning. We had been out of the water for 2 ½ weeks and were anxious to get back into the water where all of our hard work could pay off. Plus we were very ready to have the boat be level again and moving around with the water and not shaking in the wind on the jack stands.

 

 

 

 

 

Now back in the water we still had a few boat chores to attend to. We changed the oil and cleaned the insides of the boat and got her ready to be a sailboat again.

 

 

 

 

 

We were able to go into Baltimore with Dave and Leslie on Sunday the 28th and visit the inner harbor area. That was really cool and there is a lot to see there. We will definitely have to go back someday and see it again so we can spend some more time.

We enjoyed our time at Young’s Boat Yard and Anthony was a super host. He says that he’s going to update the bathrooms and showers and that will be a great addition. We hope to be back someday. Anthony holds a couple of round-the-world sailing records and there’s a video about some of his exploits on YouTube. Check it out if you are interested.

And now we’re off again! Finally on the move as a functioning sailboat ready for saltwater and off towards the next stage of our adventure. We were able to leave the marina on Monday the 29th just shy of four weeks since we got there. Our first destination was kept intentionally short and we made just about 15 miles south into the Magothy River to Fairwinds Marina. We stayed just the one night and were off again. We are now back in Annapolis, but this time we are on Wandering Toes on a mooring ball in Spa Creek just a few waves away from where the boat show was just four weeks earlier.

It’s funny sometimes how things work out. All those years ago when we first came to Annapolis and saw the greatest show of sailboats we had ever seen. When the idea of getting here in person was a very far away goal and uncertain to ever be achievable. We are now finally here at the end of October 2018. We are the show and the ones who have made it. Two nuts with a crazy dream.

David and Marge Back
s/v Wandering Toes, and RV Verne!