S/V Passage - Refitting a Classic (& Building Our Skills) Before Cutting the Docklines

Going into the 2011 Annapolis Sailboat Show, I had so many expectations yet wasn't really sure what to expect at the same time. Last year, we basically wandered all the booths for a little while but spent the bulk of our two days at the show attending seminars and touring every single possible boat (even some multi-hulls). This year was basically the opposite in every way. We attended just one seminar-by Lin & Larry Pardey on Budget Cruising-and stepped foot on just one boat...the new St. Francis 60 ft Catamaran, a yacht so big I can't even confidently call it a boat. I mean, that floating monstrosity has more square footage than my condo!!!!! Craziness.

Last year, I felt like I had no idea what I was talking about if I did have a vendor conversation and this year I knew which booths to see (I actually researched the vendor list and show map in advance) and which to skip. In some cases, I knew their selling points before they said them. (But I do now know how to fit my foulies when we buy them!)

One of our first stops was Lin and Larry Pardey's booth, since they're doing the boat show circuit to promote Lin's new book Bull Canyon. Meeting them was an absolutely amazing experience! I have read so many of their works, and a lot of their messaging (Go Small, Go Now) really helped me commit to taking a chance on Passage even though I knew she would need a lot of work to get back to her former glory. At one point, I felt so silly telling Lin how much her books mean to me but it was so great to hear her perspective on our life plans and to have our dream totally validated by people who've been out there and know what it's like. The best part was when Lin and Larry signed my copy of The Cost Conscious Cruiser...when I read it, I got a little tear in my eye. Lin said, "Brodi and David, I envy you. You can only do something for the first time once." She's right. As much as I might get bogged down in details and planning and worries and doubts...this entire process is magical in its own right. David and I share a dream, and we are making it happen. We might mess up, we might make decisions different that others would or did, but they're our decisions and they're for our dream. There are few things in life greater than that.

I wasn't sure if things could get any better than the start of our first day at the show, but throughout the rest of the show I also got to have a chat with a few bloggers I "follow": Carolyn, who writes The Boat Galley blog (and is publishing a cookbook in 2012 that I'm eagerly awaiting!) and Rich Boren who designed an amazing watermaker that we're oggling, blogs about sailing with his family in the Sea of Cortez, and until recently also had a sistership Pearson 365 ketch.

Then, towards the end of our second day at the show, we got to meet Nigel Calder! For those of you who read this blog but aren't big on boating mechanics, he is basically THE GUY when it comes to mechanical and electrical stuff on sailboats. David and I were chatting with the President and Head Engineer/Designer for Electromaax, when he walked by. They called him over (since I guess they know each other pretty well), and introduced us. During the conversation, Nigel said that he's been promoting their high output alternator with serpentine pulley system all over Canada! Well if Nigel Calder endorses it...

One thing I definitely did not expect was to meet several of the Who's Who of the cruising lifestyle and even have extended conversations with them! While not necessary, it's great to hear that our thoughts and perspectives are on the right track in planning to make all this happen. As we were discussing our plans and our boat with these sailing greats, I started to realize that we're almost two years into our five year plan...and somehow it just started to feel more 'real'. We aren't going to do everything right before we go, so it was time to commit to purchases and make decisions on some big ticket items. After spending our first day talking with all the key vendors we wanted to see, and even some we didn't expect, David and I spent a lot of the ride back to his sister's place (and that night when we were relaxing) discussing what purchases were important for "now" and what we wanted/needed to wait until next year...

See more pics on Passage's Facebook Page!