Annapolis Sailboat show ?

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

We anchored in front of the football and soccer practice fields in front of the academy for about six weeks. The end closest to the moorings is most sheltered and a short dinghy ride in. See you there.

The Naval Academy anchorage (not to be confused with the Naval anchorage) requires approval of the Superintendent of the Naval Academy. If you call VADM Carter's office you will find that no one know how to give approval. That means you aren't supposed to be there. The City of Annapolis will not provide pump-out services in the Academy anchorage. You never know when the nice men in little black boats with big black guns will come visit you either.



Check your charts.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

It is too late for early. Cruisers who work the shows have been here for a month at least.

Yeah, good point... guys on the dock crews start earlier than everyone else, and at least last year several of those folks were anchored in the creeks by now...

-Chris

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

The Naval Academy anchorage (not to be confused with the Naval anchorage) requires approval of the Superintendent of the Naval Academy. If you call VADM Carter's office you will find that no one know how to give approval. That means you aren't supposed to be there. The City of Annapolis will not provide pump-out services in the Academy anchorage. You never know when the nice men in little black boats with big black guns will come visit you either.



Check your charts.

That’s what we heard but there were at least 40 boats anchored there including some show boats under brokerage. Moorings and marina folks said the navy folks were pretty calm around show season. Stay near the town end if possible. The anchorage is shown on the charts.

[Fence Man]

So my wife asked to go to Annapolis next month....Evidently, she's been reading everyone's advice. I bought our tickets before I found a hotel room, but good news on that front as well. For only $275/night, we will be partying it up at the Holiday Inn Express, complete with a jacuzzi tub. Any advice for a rookie would be appreciated. We will have our daughter along, so any 10 year old appropriate activity ideas would be great, both in the show and around town. We are planning to see the boat show on Thursday and Friday, with the rest of the weekend free to explore.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

So my wife asked to go to Annapolis next month....Evidently, she's been reading everyone's advice. I bought our tickets before I found a hotel room, but good news on that front as well. For only $275/night, we will be partying it up at the Holiday Inn Express, complete with a jacuzzi tub. Any advice for a rookie would be appreciated. We will have our daughter along, so any 10 year old appropriate activity ideas would be great, both in the show and around town. We are planning to see the boat show on Thursday and Friday, with the rest of the weekend free to explore.

Not so sure on entertaining a 10. I really love the museum at the Accadamy. The upstairs has a world’s greatest collection of antique ships models.

Restaurants etc. try a google search to see what’s up that week.

Will we see you at the Dawg’s booth?

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Not so sure on entertaining a 10. I really love the museum at the Accadamy. The upstairs has a world’s greatest collection of antique ships models.

Restaurants etc. try a google search to see what’s up that week.

Will we see you at the Dawg’s booth?

As long as you don't mind a couple of freshwater wannabe converts, we'll be there.
I'd love to visit the Academy museum. Hopefully we'll run onto some cruising kids, as our daughter is still a little unsure that there will in fact be other kids to play with.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Not so sure on entertaining a 10. I really love the museum at the Accadamy. The upstairs has a world’s greatest collection of antique ships models.

Model collection is NOT to be missed. It’s extraordinary. As an occasional resident of Annapolis it’s where I always take visiting guests. All are amazed. Rest of the museum is pretty fascinating as well.

If you have a car and the time I’m sure your daughter would enjoy the Baltimore Aquarium in the inner harbor.

I can’t think of anything else of particular interest to 10 yo girls in the area offhand.

Oh, maybe a sunset cruise on the Woodwind schooner.

[Fence Man]

Thank you both for the ideas. Kate is excited to see the museum, and the aquarium. I didn't mention the schooner ride, since we can't buy tickets this far in advance. I would bet that to be a busy time for them. We might even hop a train to NYC for a day or two of fun. The township we live in has a population of less than 300, so it'll be quite an eye opener for her, if we do!

Another question. Do any cruisers with kids attend the boat show?

[4arch]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

Another question. Do any cruisers with kids attend the boat show?

They certainly do but as a percentage of overall attendees are only a very small fraction. My recollection of previous years is it's unusual to see more than a handful of kids on any given day - especially if the weather's bad.

I remember going to the show several times as a kid myself. Exploring the different boats was always fun (as long as there weren’t long lines to board), but the novelty quickly wore off after 4 or 5 boats. The vendor tents were just deadly boring for a kid. There’s usually noting at the show specifically geared toward kids – it’s just whatever fun they can manage to get out of what’s there for adults.

If your daughter is still interested in playgrounds, there’s one directly across Compromise Street from the Fleet Reserve Club that may be a good distraction. There’s also no shortage of ice cream stores in Annapolis and strolling along Main Street to check out the shops is a nice way to take a break from show.

Saturday and Sunday you have the highest likelihood of bumping into other kids – but those by far are the most crowded days. I also get the impression most of the kids you do see are not cruisers’ kids but instead belong to local families who decided to make a weekend outing out of going to the show.

Your best bet if you specifically want to meet cruising kids may be to start a new post in the “Families, Kids and Pets Afloat” subforum and see who you might manage to meet. It may be easier to try to organize a small meetup outside of the show as even on a slow day the show can be extremely crowded. I’m likely bringing my daughters to the show this year but they’re probably too young for yours to be interested in playing with.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

Thank you both for the ideas. Kate is excited to see the museum, and the aquarium. I didn't mention the schooner ride, since we can't buy tickets this far in advance. I would bet that to be a busy time for them. We might even hop a train to NYC for a day or two of fun. The township we live in has a population of less than 300, so it'll be quite an eye opener for her, if we do!

Another question. Do any cruisers with kids attend the boat show?

There are quite a few with children. You will find several days worth of shopping on the main drags. There is at least one historic home to tour.

Be sure to stop at the Hendricks Gin barge, great adult venue. There is also a wine and drink sampling venue with good food as well. Crepe shop near the academy entrance.

[Suijin]

A few tips for enjoying the show:

Wear slip on shoes, as many boats require you to remove your shoes. Retying laces 20 times is no fun. Also, remember that every boat you set foot on is owned by someone...manufacturers don’t usually bring new boats, they borrow or “rent” them from current owners.

Bring rain gear. It always rains at the boat show. Always.

Go on boats you might think you’re not really interested in. You’ll often discover something interesting.

If you’re interested in used boats, pretty much every broker in town has extra people on hand to show you around their inventory. Just show up at the yard.

Deals on stuff show up on the last day, particularly with vendors from out of town like Defender. They’d rather sell it at cost than load it in the truck, schlep it home, and restock it.

If you need boat shoes, that is the time to buy them. It’s weird how many vendors sell shoes at the show. Really kinda strange.

[Fence Man]

Thanks for the good advice. I'm not a fan of shoes on my own boat, so I darn sure won't wear them on someone else's boat. I will make sure we have our rain gear packed and ready, given the 100% chance of rain. I'll check the weather ahead of time, but I'm guessing cool mornings and evenings that time of year? I am almost sure that we are more interested in used boats, so we will certainly hit the local yards. I've read it on here several times, that the best way to get an idea of what you are after, is to attend this boat show. It is our plan to tour as many boats as possible, since we really only think we know what we want. Hopefully this will give us enough guidance to at least pick out a picture to go with the dreams/plans.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

Thanks for the good advice. I'm not a fan of shoes on my own boat, so I darn sure won't wear them on someone else's boat. I will make sure we have our rain gear packed and ready, given the 100% chance of rain. I'll check the weather ahead of time, but I'm guessing cool mornings and evenings that time of year? I am almost sure that we are more interested in used boats, so we will certainly hit the local yards. I've read it on here several times, that the best way to get an idea of what you are after, is to attend this boat show. It is our plan to tour as many boats as possible, since we really only think we know what we want. Hopefully this will give us enough guidance to at least pick out a picture to go with the dreams/plans.

Be sure to see brokers cove or whatever they call it this year. They used to want an extra fee to tour the used boats but if you find a broker he will take you in.

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Be sure to see brokers cove or whatever they call it this year. They used to want an extra fee to tour the used boats but if you find a broker he will take you in.

My wife had just asked about used boats at the show, and I speculated that there would only be new ones. Is the brokers cove connected to the boat show, or in a separate location?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Be sure to see brokers cove or whatever they call it this year. They used to want an extra fee to tour the used boats but if you find a broker he will take you in.

Broker's cove has been 86'ed. Used to be brokers were integrated into the main docks and they might be once again. Still, each broker only brings one boat with the rest of them being at Jabins, Port Annapolis, etc so it's worth visiting those yards to look at their inventory. If you don't have a car the water taxi goes to both yards.