Our Boat Show Adventure
Happy Sunday everyone! We went to our first ever boat show on Friday, in Miami. Seeing all of the new boats was pretty cool, of course we went to the Lagoon dock first. We were looking around to see if the new boats had any features that our boat doesn’t have that we might be able to add during the refit. One thing I saw, that I really liked, was a bench in the cockpit that sort of hangs off the back of the boat in between the dinghy davits. If you don’t know what dinghy davits are: they are the arms that hang off of the back in between the sugar scoops that hold the pulley system to hoist the dinghy up out of the water. If wishes were fishes and the sea were full, that bench would be on the back of Dauntless-we’ll see if that comes to fruition. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
We also walked around inside the tents looking at things like underwater lights, new mattresses (which have a hinge in the middle of them to access the storage under the beds way easier than unmaking the whole thing and removing one of the two mattresses that we have), scuba gear, bottom paint, etc. It was sort of over stimulating to be quite honest, but I gotta say that I am so glad that we went.
It was so nice to go and see all of these new boats, and even though they were all gorgeous, there are still so many aspects of our boat that I wouldn’t want to trade out for something new. For example, Lagoon doesn’t make the 450F anymore. Now they manufacture a 46 foot boat as the 46F, and the new boat still has things that I don’t like as much as what we have on our boat. The front cockpit on the 46 is not as large as the one that we have, and the sun lounge on the flybridge is now behind the helm rather than in front of it, which in my opinion makes it less convenient to get to. Not to say that there aren’t aspects of the new models that we don’t like or that the new Lagoons aren’t amazing-because they are. The finishes are gorgeous, but we don’t feel the least bit sad or disappointed in our purchase. Dauntless will have customizations that a new Lagoon simply could not offer, plus I believe that we will have more of a connection with our boat because of the route that we are taking.
If you own a boat, or are looking for a boat, or even if you just want to go look for fun, I think that one day is more than sufficient to see what you need to, and defiantly worth the entry fee. The information that we absorbed was amazing and for the most part, the people at the booths have a lot of information about their product. For example, the underwater lights that we looked at can be hooked up through the chart plotter on your boat and with complete control, but they are only compatible with a certain year of technology and newer. The representatives at this booth were very nice to talk to and really worked together to help answer questions instead of just saying “I don’t know” or shoveling a brochure in your hands.
Overall, I believe that we had a very pleasant experience. That being said, it was a long day. There’s no two ways about that. We woke up at 6:30 AM to catch the train from West Palm to Miami at 7:40 AM, then we spent about eight hours walking around back and forth in the AC and the sun, then we went to a meet-and-greet for Nick and Megan O’Kelly (a couple who has a YouTube channel that we watch: The O’Kelly’s) at a restaurant just down the street from the show and were there until about 11:00 PM, and finally we made the hour and 15 or so minute drive back to the boat with the O‘Kelly’s (they hauled out in the same yard as us and offered to let us ride back with them since we were all going to the exact same place, which was very nice). So, we were out and about for around 17-ish hours. That is a long day… we took Saturday to hang out and just relax. As you can imagine, we were all very tired-even Stella(our two-year-old black lab).
We capped off our weekend by going to another meet-and-greet/Q&A session for Sailing Zatara and Gone with the Wynns (two more channels that we watch on YouTube) in Ft. Lauderdale. It was really amazing to hear the stories and advice that all of these experienced sailors had to offer, and then being able to ask specific questions not only about sailing, but also about the life style and little things that not everyone might think about (like haircuts). For those of you who don’t know, I am a licensed cosmetologist in the state of Colorado, which is really convenient for my mom because she has a live-in hairstylist. For me, it’s not that easy, and I love my family but I don’t trust a single one of them to cut my hair… sorry guys. Nikki, from Gone with the Wynns, is also a licensed cosmetologist who cuts her own hair. I had the opportunity to talk to her about the techniques she uses and how she maintains her equipment while living on the boat with all of the salty air. That was amazing and I am so thankful for her having that one-on-one with me about that. I also was able to ask her about the best fabrics that she has found for the life style for clothing, towels, and linens. She without a doubt lives by linen fabric. She says it’s durable, thin (so if doesn’t hold onto moisture), and for clothing it is breathable. She said that synthetic fabrics get must very quickly, so anything that is “dry wicking” is going to get an oder and hold onto it. I’m not sure if she gets a lot of questions about things like that. Everyone was asking about sailing specifically and boats and solar, but I never heard anyone ask about that. I also haven’t seen much online about it either, which is really surprising to me. Regardless, I am so glad that I got to ask that question and receive an answer directly and immediately.
I’ll pick back up on the boat buying process on Wednesday. Have a great Monday!
Thanks,
Syd