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New Boats and Crab Cakes ~ Annapolis Last month we attended the largest and most famous sailboat show in the country, the United States Sailboat Show, better known simply as Annapolis. If you’re a sailboater, this is Nirvana. All the latest and greatest boats are here, set amidst an area with sailing history second to none. We arrived in the evening and, since it was really three hours earlier back home, we set out to explore. When we walked into a watering hole near the docks, we were immediately greeted by several northwest boat-business folks and many of the people we’d hoped to see at the show. Funny how that works. I think certain watering holes send out vibes to sailors, sort of like sounds that only dogs can hear. We attended the Press/VIP day. Basically, if you paid $35 you were a VIP and could see the show a day early. The docks were surprisingly busy, no outward signs of the recession. With people flying in from all over the nation, total attendance for the four day, sail only, Annapolis show was about 50,000, compared to the 10-day Seattle January shows which drew 77,000 for both power and sail. Where most boat shows will have a sampling of certain lines, basically boats that dealers have on hand, the Annapolis show features docks teeming with a builder’s (i.e. Hunter, Beneteau) full line, from dinghies to cruisers. One surprise was the appearance of twin rudders and retractable, swing, or dagger board keels. Emulating some of the around-the-world racing yachts, the Jeanneau Sun Fast 3200 features twin rudders and has been very successful in Europe. The Santa Cruz 37 has a “lifting,” keel which can be retracted for storage or travel but is fixed when in the water. The Southerly 42, along with others in their line of cruising boats, had both twin rudders and swing keels. There were pictures of it setting on the beach like a catamaran. Hmmm. “Darling, did you check the tides?” Unfortunately, it always takes a while for a lot of these new designs to trickle over to the West Coast, so we probably won’t see them soon, although your dealer will be glad to order you one. Hopefully, we’ll see more of these new boats at the Strictly Sail show in Oakland next April. It was exciting to enter a world where sail permeates every aspect of the waterfront culture. That and crab; crab cakes, crab soup, crab stuffed with crab. Very good, although I still prefer our local Dungeness. However, the small containers of sherry on the tables to add to your dish as you saw fit, replacing our malt vinegar, is one idea that’s already trickled over to our West Coast table. |
