Strictly Sail - St Petersburg...

So, anyone local likely to be visiting there?

I may have moved "up" to a C30 but there are times when I miss the E-folks, too.

http://www.strictlysail.com/shows/stpete.asp?show=sp

When: Nov. 2-5, 2006
Where: Spa Beach, at The Pier, in St Petersburg, Florida
Hours: 10 – 6 Thursday – Saturday
10 – 5 Sunday

Hey John,

My boat buddy, JoAnn, and I will be there. Probably Friday or Saturday. I used to have an E27 local in Tarpon Springs, now refitting an E31 Independence sailing out of Clearwater.

Dave
E31 Chance Encounter

Strictly Sail

Hi All,

My wife and I will be at the St Pete Strictly Sail boat show on Friday (Nov 3) ... we'll be helping staff the Florida Offshore Multihull Association booth from 2pm to 6pm ... (yes that's right a "multihull" club ... hey, Ericson doesn't have a booth there besides they needed volunteers and I needed passes )...

Stop by and say hello if you're in the area.

By the way, we are in the process of preparing Kismet for another Bahamas cruise this winter. We'll be leaving our berth in New Port Richey just after Thanksgiving, sailing down Florida's west coast to the Keys and cross over to the islands as soon as we have weather. Then we'll take our time heading down to Georgetown in the Exumas. Anyone that wants to buddy boat with us is welcome to tag along... just let us know.

See you at the boat show.

Check out my website at http://members.toast.net/captron/:egrin:

Strictly Sail - 2006, St Pete

Well, I went and looked around, finding plenty of goodies that I want.

Heck, there were items I *need*.

I found out, BTW, talking to the kind folks from SouthWinds Sailing Magazine (their URL is http://www.southwindssailing.com/ , BTW, and I've sent 'em photos, too) that Don's Salvage, despite their website evaporating into the aether along w/ their advertising in SW Sailing going away, still exists, though they may be getting a bit... ummm... eager.

I also discovered that the Regatta Del Sol has a minimum LOA of 30 feet, which I find, well... (drools)... darn, not in 2007. Maybe in 2008.

It was fun even though I was dragging two pre-teen girls with me.

I heard, in passing, that the Trawlers that were there kind of makes the name-- "Strictly" Sail-- kind of incorrect, and that the name is likely to change... assuming the organizers still are willing to run it next year. Prices at the food stands were, well... *insane*.

All in all, I enjoyed talking to people. "Sailing" magazine, IMHO, is the "soft core porn" for sailors, just look at the centerfold photo of sailboats...

You'll note from the third picture that the wind was strong enough that the "Discover Sailing" boat had to keep their main reefed.

I saw this (last of four pictures) from the trolley bringing me back to where I parked my car; it would appear that someone... ummm... was "hard aground".

Strictly Sail

Mainly a very disappointing show... they might as well close it up. West Marine didn't even have a booth there. There were only two tents of vendors each having about 4 rows 100 feet long and there was plenty of room for more booths ... maybe 30 to 50 vendors not counting boats. It took about 30 minutes to see every vendor display.

Since I'm not much interested in buying a new boat, I only made a quick tour of the docks. There was a good looking Maine Cat 41, a new Seawind Cat and an interesting Island Packet pilot house design that reminded me of a Schucker motorsailor. Other than that, I didn't see much.

Ran into a few old friends, picked up a few odds and ends but all in all it was a waste of time.

Strictly Sail, 2006, St Pete

CaptRon said:
"Ran into a few old friends, picked up a few odds and ends but all in all it was a waste of time."

Well, in some ways, yeah, I can see that, but, at the same time, unless you shell out huge $$$$s to a yacht club, it's a useful socializing opportunity.

Y'know, I didn't notice that West Marine wasn't there; I suspect that The Borg have no need to show since they assimilated the last of their "real" (i.e. "large") competitors. (smirks)

My C30 is close to box-stock from the mid 1970s so *I*, at least, need to consider the kind of upgrades that I (and, more importantly, my Admiral) want and need.

I wonder, though, how much the organizers were charging for the booths... because I heard some comments, especially w/r/t the inclusion of Trawlers in the show, that it was "obvious the organizers want more money".

All in all, given my relative newness, the show still had some value to me... but I can see where it's gone down-hill, even relative to last year.

My daughter and her friend were bored to tears in the tents but were a lot more animated looking through the various boats, even (shudders) the Hunters, which worked out since they didn't need me following them everywhere. I was more interested in the various booths to gather information I needed to deal with _my_ boat's needs.

When I got to the office this morning I listened to my co-workers talk about a football game on Sunday and suspect that's why it seemed less crowded on Sunday afternoon.

I was told that the wave action was much rougher on Saturday then Sunday though it seemed pretty bouncy Sunday, which, to be honest, I found pleasant (except when I tried to put my boat shoes back on.)