By Don
What to say about the googaws, boats and people?
Having arrived safely home and walked along the calm waters of Cocoa Beach, I realize now that my initial thoughts of unrequited anticipation were likely fomented during the drive south through Maryland and DC traffic. I can only conclude the in-dash map programs provide, “Drive to the next bumper!” instructions to over caffeinated drivers with the vocal intensity of Guantanamo hotel guest relations.
Hours passed crawling along Interstate 95 watching hapless young men desperately attempt a game of GTA-Washington 2024 at 3 MPH as lane after lane disappeared behind accidents forcing the real-time community road sharing we all talk about on TV, but American SUV narcissism reveals as lane fiefdoms and road rage.
“I conquered this lane with my bare hands 7 minutes ago and not one inch will yield while blood still flows through these hands!”
Delay
Beach therapy, even in your mind, does wonders in these moments and letting go of the things we cannot control eventually provides an indescribable freedom.
Oh, the sailboat show…
I suppose it comes down to three important things; the googaws, the boats, and the people. (Mr Baker, my English teacher at Peoria Central High School would be so proud of me for using the classic writing technique of simplifying complicated stories into 3 major categories.)
Getting in is easy and the wait is never long. I strongly recommend coming on Thursday and Friday before the weekend crowd turns the place into a circus.
Shannon and I walked through every vendor tent and spent some real time evaluating all the equipment we’ve seen online over the years.
Yes, I really want a sextant, no I didn’t buy one. They are expensive and I don’t currently need one, I don’t own a boat! This theme drove our decision making throughout the days. I love this thing and it’s well made, but I don’t currently have a boat requiring its use so I am not buying it.
That sentence saved us thousands of dollars, but it was very difficult
We looked at all the life jackets for dogs, and this one from First Watch seemed best suited for Henry. The show price was really good, but I don’t need it yet.
We really want this water ramp for dogs that would provide an easy transition back to a little floaty dock and the boat. Again, it seems really well built and comes in at $200 bucks which appears to be the impulse target range for show things.
You know what ISN’T $200?!? The classic Sailrite sewing machine. Oh no, it’s far north of that and deservedly so. Trever quickly demonstrated how it can save us thousands of dollars by creating all of our own ancillary sailing equipment. I asked, but no, Trever is NOT included in the price. Apparently, purchasing a new Sailrite machine and never using it is a tradition for new sailors who eventually discover the rusted carcass in some hidden compartment years later. They will last for generations if used regularly and maintained well. This too fell into the “Yes I want, but not now,” category. We would probably make good use of a tool like this as Shannon is quite the capable seamstress.
Shortly after not getting a sewing machine, she started looking closely at all the knife vendors. I am not sure what this means but none of my life insurance policies have changed since coming home.
So far as I know
New boats – MEH
Frankly, we weren’t even going to look at the new boats but found ourselves with some time on Friday and decided it might be fun. We boarded the Beneteau 46 monohull and the Lagoon 42 catamaran. Both boats revealed certain elements of quality and style that would initially attract some folks but after close inspection one might realize many important elements for long-term sailing were missing.
This is a longer discussion that I’m not going into at this point, but I suspect one photo might make this point.
I don’t know what pink goo that looks like coolant should be pooling in the bilge, nor do I think there should be a loose screw rolling around on a show boat. Minor things really, but it’s the fitting choice, hose routing, and harness design that actually captured my attention.
So the Googaws were cool but we didn’t buy anything, and the boats were ‘meh’ which we anticipated before we arrived.
The people we saw were the real reason for going to the show.
Iain and Brioni from Red Seas have been such an inspiration for so long. Sitting down with them for a chat was a tremendous blessing and they are remarkably charming and engaging in person.
Olivier and his wife Brenda founded inav4u and developed the Zora system for navigation and boat management. It’s a remarkable data collection and analysis tool that is generationally more advanced than other marine systems. ‘Data defeats legend,” and this system really rounds the gauntlet gathering and visualizing onboard data. I’m drooling for the days when I can use this on my sailboat.
Where oh where is my sailboat!
Mads and Ava from Sail Life provide the community such wisdom and life that superlatives fail me. He is the Norm Abram of sailboats and if that means nothing to you, well, you’re on your own.
We learned so much from the people we met and every smile was such a blessing. Sailing people are sincerely charming for so many reasons and it’s a community like no other.
I met some of my heroes and it really thrilled me to have those moments together. I am so thankful for the insight and hard work they share week to week. Very glad I could thank them in person.
There’s so much more that talk about, but this has gone on long enough and my coffee is gone. The sun will be up soon and the shore is calling.
We are so glad we went to the show, but so very thankful to be home
