The crew of Two Fish headed to Miami in mid-February for the Strictly Sail Miami boat show. At the last show I only bought a toy anchor, oh and a 44 foot boat. I am happy to have that agonizing decision behind me. At least it took less time to decide on the boat than it took to decided to get married. Let’s pass on that topic before I get into trouble.
What will I buy this year? This boat show’s agenda is a bit of formal education in the classroom and some ad hoc eduction visiting manufacturers of the sub systems and socializing with the other owners. Anatares has some of the nicest owners on the planet. Real perk to the boat.
The boat may be decided but that is only the tip of the iceberg. A boat, like a house, has many subsystems. We wanted to visit the manufacturer of every installed technology and see if we had the right model.
We both signed up for an all day weather class and a 3 hour radar class. While, I was really looking forward to the radar class, work got in the way, so Gail was our stand-in. Accompanied by the crew of Alberta Crewed, they learned the fundamentals, and like everything else, learned that they still had some education ahead of them.
Vendor List
Next on the list were the two big topics of propellors and electronics.
Convention Center map
Gail meant business as she planned our visit, preparing a list of critical vendors and even prescribed the most efficient path through the aisles. I, of course, forced diversions from the path, much to her chagrine.
First stop: Volvo. We caught up with the rep re their folding propellor. For a 44 foot cat, concerned about reverse while docking, they recommended Max Prop. We had done some research on Max Prop already and it was one of our top choices so we didn’t need to be sold on it much more. Next big stop was the electronics corner. The Simrad rep was very helpful and spent much time with us on both the Simrad and B&G electronics. I am already familiar with B&G from watching the Volvo Ocean Race boats and started leaning in that direction. One of the neat features is the ability at the helm to view historical graphs of boat speed, wind speed and wind direction, a great help when starting a watch. Close by, the Furuno reps were showing off their new TZ Touch 14 inch chart plotter display. We also learned a bit more about their RD-33 display and found out it could also show historical graphs.
Eager to discuss all that we had seen with other boat owners, we headed to the Antares boat at the docks. We managed to come to an agreement with a few of the other owners on the electronics – Furuno – and the new prop – Max Prop. The Furuno choice was driven not only by the sleek screens but also a bit by the experiences of current owners – it works, they like it, so why change? As always, the accomodating Antares team went off to discuss logistics with the suppliers. We also got some great news from Jeff – our current Apex dinghy could be supplied in Argentina with a center console! I can’t wait to circle Manhattan Island on the dinghy.
Last stop was a weather class. Going into it, I thought that a course on weather might be a bit like a class on picking stocks. The only guy to make money in those classes is the guy teaching the class. But if you take a second class from him he will make more. I should not be so negative as I find financial education an important field. Actually, knowing a bit about weather can make a huge difference in comfort and safety when navigating offshore. Most people will combine some knowledge with the talents of an onshore weather router and we plan to do the same.
Some things remained undone but it was a pretty succesful show. We even chose our Sunbrella and settee colors.
Color Swatches
I really would like to decide on our life raft. All other things electronic, such as handheld GPSs and VHFs are fun to ogle at but will improve in the next year. Plus it means hours more surfing on the couch and debating the options.
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