Friday 15 Oct, re-launch 2021, HHN day 16: Attended Annapolis Boat Show, too crowded and hot. Inside jobs on dinghy and thru-hulls in the evening.
By 9:30am we are in Annapolis and parked. It’s already busy and the queue to get in takes us about 40 mins. Despite it being the middle of October, the day is forecast to be baking hot. After queuing in the bright sunshine, we first head into the tents to cool off. The show seems pretty much the same layout as the 2 previous shows we have been to, right down to vendors being in exactly the same positions. For once, we are at a boat show with no agenda to buy anything. But in the tents, we do spot a few interesting items. One is an over-sized windex, and second is an IridiumGo external antenna. We come back and buy them later, to get the show deal. We previously had an antenna for our Iridium, but it did nothing to enhance the signal versus simply having the base unit in the cockpit (in fact, it made the reception even worse!). But I have decided to have another go, with a different brand this time.
After a stroll through the stands in the tents some clouds come over, so we venture out to the pontoons where the boats are. Already there are 10-20m long queues to get onto each yacht. We don’t really have a desire to go aboard any, but the new Hylas 57 does catch our eye and we queue for 15-20 minutes to get aboard. Having seen the HR57 in Ellos back in August, we are keen to compare. Price-wise the Hylas is about 20% cheaper than the HR57. It’s layout is similar to an Oyster, with a raised saloon and steps down to the galley and fore cabins. It’s all very plush, but somehow following the trend and fashion rather than practical sea sense. It’s also interesting to see that the Selden rig and furling systems are exactly the same as Cloudy Bay’s, even though Cloudy is 13 years old now. Good to see we are still in-date with the latest boats.
Along the way around the pontoons, we bump into a few people we know, and also several people who know us from our social media. Some wanting a photo with us. Feels a bit odd that people should think we are celebrities! But still, we enjoy their company and chatting to them. And happy that in some small way we have managed to inspire others to follow an adventure like ours.
By midday, the show is getting seriously crowded and it’s getting difficult to walk along the pontoon anything more than a snail’s pace. Hence we decide to leave. We feel we have seen what we need to and being in such close proximity to hordes of people just doesn’t feel comfortable these days. So we head for the exit and back to the car. Relieved by the peace again once away from the show area.
On our way home to stop at Starbucks and also Giant supermarket. Oana has managed to make our initial food shopping last 2 whole weeks. She has been on a determined mission to use up all the slightly out-of-date food that we have on the boat. Buts it’s nice to get some fresh fruit and veg again (as tasteless as they are).
So, unplanned, we are back at the boat by midafternoon. Good! I can continue jobs, on a day which I had written-off for boat work. I decide to leave the mast until the weekend and instead finish some inside jobs. As it has been a warm day, the bugs will be biting very soon outside.
Firstly, I get some epoxy fairing into the holes on the rudder, then fit some new webbing strap guides onto the dinghy, where the fuel tank is held in place. And for the rest of the evening, I am determined to finish adding grease nipples to the rest of the seacocks and pumping them full of grease. The last few are in the bow area. And while playing around in the bilge there, we also sort through some of our stowed items and have a bit of a clear out. By bedtime the job is complete. 14 thru-hulls greased, opening & closing smoothly, all ready for another season emersed in sea water.
Tomorrow will be a mast day.