Boat Show Gatherings 2014

Our Boat Show Dock....

We moved onto the boat Monday, provisioned and prepared Mon/Tue, then departed Wed AM for the Annapolis Boat Show. We arrived at 2pm, picked up our good friends Craig and Liana from the fuel dock and turned around for an afternoon of sailing out on the Severn River. We were lazy and just used a jib to run downwind and then we sailed close hauled back upwind. It was a nice afternoon of sailing, one of our first sails of the entire summer. Wednesday afternoon around 5 pm, we docked at the Annapolis Yacht Basin, our home during the boat show from Thursday to Monday.

Boat Buddies IP38 MOONDANCE and IP38 TATOO II

Each day of the boat show, the Island Packet Fleet of owners gather on the roof of the Navy Fleet Reserve at noon. There the Island Packet Owners find each other via our IPY stickers and gear, then we all enjoy the great Pit Beef Sandwiches together. What a well connected fleet we have. Thursday we had 15 people attend, Friday 19 people attended and Saturday 28 people attended, along with the VP of Island Packet, Bill Bolin. Sunday, 7 people gathered and Monday we plan to sail on. Thanks go out to our IPY dealer, WHITEAKER YACHT SALES for hosting the Saturday Pit Beef day. Ed and Debbie Whiteaker sponsored our gathering and bought Pit Beef sandwiches for the first 30 people to register. WOW, that was very generous. Thank you, Ed and Debbie! We really appreciate this support.

Dave and Joyce, IP44 Knee Deep, with IPY VP Bill

So, our boat show time was filled with meeting and connecting with Island Packet Yacht Owners every day from noon til 2 p.m. Then we would tour the show, attend parties, and board new yachts. Radeen and I represented Whiteaker Yacht Sales as their broker at the Island Packet Dealer meeting and enjoyed the presentation of the IPY Dealer of the year: Island Yachting in the Virgin Islands, congrats to Skip and Andrea. The Blue Jacket Dealer of the year was Springline Yacht Sales, congrats to Rick and Kimberly. What a fun night to attend this Island Packet Yachts event on the docks after the show closed on Thursday. Thank you Bill Bolin for including us.

The Island Packet Yachts Display

Now, it is time to review the weather, and plan our run Monday from Annapolis to Solomons, MD. This is a 44+ mile run, which will take 7+ hours. The winds are expected to build Tue and Wed and be near Gale Force, so we plan to stay on anchor in Solomons Island until that dies down. We may not be able to move on until Thur. Solomons is not a bad place to be stuck, plus we have great friends there, IP380 CAVU, Ron and MA. So we may be able to see them again.

Here are some of the best photos of the times here....

Radeen and Michele, our good friend and yacht broker

Hayden with Michele of S & J Yachts, what a dear friend!

The IPY Blue Jacket and the IP 370

IPY Dealer of the year, Island Yachting, USVI

Blue Jacket Dealer of the Year, Springline Yacht Sales

The IPY Team, Bob, Karsten and Bill

Buddy Boat IP460 Cutter Loose, Patricia with Radeen

A Breakfast Gathering on Island Spirit
Craig IP440 Charmed, Eric and Pat IP460 Cutter Loose, Radeen and Liana

IP350 Reverie Jim with  IP380 & 420 Amehaya Linda and Maris 

Hayden with Terry, IP35 Maribelle

IP 380 CAVU, Mary Ann and Ron

IP460 Cutter Loose, Patricia and Eric

Radeen with the room set for the Whiteaker Yacht Sales Pit Beef Day

30 seats, 30 IP owners

Radeen and good friend Sharon, IP35 LUCILE

The colorful dinghy dock at the boat show

Let the tun to Miami, Florida begin! It takes 25 days of 8+ hours per day to make daylight legs to Florida. If we go offshore, we can cut down on that time. Our Goal: Get the boat to Florida to store it, so we can fly to family in AZ for Thanksgiving week.