Annapolis Boat Show 2023

[Ancient Dream]

I am planning on attending the boat show">Annapolis Boat show. I have been 1 other time but I did not own a boat at that time. I was just looking at the beautiful boats and cool gear. I now own an older ODay and I am looking for items to upgrade. I need some additional safety equipment and I want to see about a solar set up, a cheaper ac system and possibly a watermater. Does anyone have any additional suggestions about gear and refit items that might be at a descent price? I am prioritizing the search for equipmentover brousing boats i cant afford. 🙂.

Thanks for the information.

[Kettlewell]

The first thing I would do is upgrade to a modern anchor if your boat doesn't aready have one. Something like a Mantus or a Viking would be good. If you do any cruising it will be the one thing you use every day and will keep you safe. Navigation gear would be second on my list. Chartplotter? If you're headed to the Bahamas make sure you get the Explorer charts. VHF radio with AIS.

[bgallinger]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

The first thing I would do is upgrade to a modern anchor if your boat doesn't aready have one. Something like a Mantus or a Viking would be good. If you do any cruising it will be the one thing you use every day and will keep you safe. Navigation gear would be second on my list. Chartplotter? If you're headed to the Bahamas make sure you get the Explorer charts. VHF radio with AIS.

All great advice!!

[Kettlewell]

Personally, if it were me on a smaller, older boat I would skip the a/c and the watermaker. As a cruiser I'm almost never at a dock, so a/c would be useless. When I have spent longer periods at a dock I just bought a small household window unit and set it up to blast into the boat via a hatch. Worked great and took five minutes to pull out when I went off cruising. I've never had problems finding water cruising between Labrador and South America--everybody drinks water everywhere! Solar panels and charging system are very useful no matter how much power you need, but the less draw the smaller your solar system needs to be.

[Gudgeon]

Ancient Dream I am planning a boat show trip. I have taken my boat project list and made a list of items needed and priortized it . You should be able to research everything at the show do some on line research prior to the show. Purchases we will make are new weather gear">foul weather gear, Offshore PFD harness combo. I am researching new Nav system (chart plotter AIS) and Sat comm systems. I hope to be able to intergrated with some of my current instruments and not replace every thing so will try to sit with reps and see what is doable. Looking in to the lastest packless shaft seals. Always looking for parts as I do not have a good chandlery locally have some chrome fitting that I want to replace. My list is very long and may not get everything on it but will make contacts with different vendors. We have to fly so we can't purchase the large items. It always fun to make contact with members of this forum the commercial members who support. I have contact a few of them to ensure they are there so I can say hi to them at their booth. I also see what seminars are available. Also look at man overboard systems. It is fun to see what the new products are.

[4arch]

I’ve always found good deals on foul weather gear at the show. You might get a good deal on a water maker as it’s a niche item and a lot of people who fit the niche come to the show. Solar items don’t really have to be purchased from a marine vendor and will probably be cheaper elsewhere. Safety gear is a mixed bag.

Several longtime vendors like Garhauer, Fortress Anchor, Zarcor, Defender, and others have pulled out of the show in recent years. Not as many small items are for sale on site as there used to be. There are A LOT more of the not-exactly-boating-related vendors such as sellers of housewares, knives, clothing, jewelry, as well as seemingly more booths for local marinas than ever before.

Just keep in mind a lot of the “great deals” at the boat show really aren’t any better than you can get directly from vendors during other sale events throughout the year without having to appear at the show. The exception to this is floor models the vendors don’t want to schlep home.

[Kettlewell]

Several longtime vendors like Garhauer, Fortress Anchor, Zarcor, Defender, and others have pulled out of the show in recent years. Not as many small items are for sale on site as there used to be.

Sadly, that seems to be the case with most shows today. I just did Newport and it is only a shadow of itself for us cruising sailors. There are always some interesting things to see and people to talk to, but nowhere near what used to be there. Keep in mind too that Annapolis has some "real" marine stores worth checking out, like Fawcett's and Bacon Sails and Marine, which has interesting consignment stuff.

[The Yacht Rigger]

We're trying to keep the boat show gear concept alive!
We will be there with rigging components, electrical, electronics, watermakers, hardware. And we will honor the boat show deals at our online store the whole week of the show too - so we can sell running rigging and all the other stuff that we simply can't cart up to Annapolis.
We also drop ship all the larger items to you - so you don't have to lug a Watermaker back to your boat from the show - unless you want to!

[Gudgeon]

The Yacht Rigger what tent will you be in, I will be sure to stop by. Like to support the vendors on this forum.

[The Yacht Rigger]

Originally Posted by Gudgeon

The Yacht Rigger what tent will you be in, I will be sure to stop by. Like to support the vendors on this forum.

Thanks! We'll be in Tent D - 78-81.

[Greatest Lakes]

I'll be going this year again. I missed it last year due to my wife giving birth... I need to talk to Elvstrøm and get safety stuff as well as foul weather stuff.

Oh, if your oday doesn't have self tailing winches, look for Andersen Winches, they were a huge quality of life upgrade on my boat.

[TheOffice]

PM me before placing an order with Elvstrom

[Greatest Lakes]

Oh, I already bought Elvstrøm sails last year, but my headsail is slightly too long. I need to find out what I can do about it. The attachment points seem to add about 4" between the tack and the head. It's on a furler, so it's harder to cheat.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Greatest Lakes

Oh, I already bought Elvstrøm sails last year, but my headsail is slightly too long. I need to find out what I can do about it. The attachment points seem to add about 4" between the tack and the head. It's on a furler, so it's harder to cheat.

On my last boat, I bought a used jib from a sister boat, and something must have been different in the furler arrangement because it was too long.

Both the head fitting and tack fitting were stainless rings. So I removed both of the snap shackles and used a nut and bolt with fender washers. Pass the bolt through the drum (or head swivel) and then through the stainless ring, put a fender washer on and a nylock nut. Kind of a fussy irritant in the spring and fall, but it worked fine through five or six years of aggressive sailing.

This trick gained me about 6" of additional luff tension and worked fine.

[SV Confianza]

Will be interesting to see if stock has normalized and deals come back this year. Last year the "boat show special" was mostly "yes, we actually have stock."