As you might already know, two weeks ago Blue Turtle crew presented at TrawlerFest in Stuart, Florida. This was our second time attending the show as presenters and we had a fabulous time staying at the Hutchinson Island Marriott where the show was being held. We also got to have dinner a couple of nights with our friends (previous neighbors from Snookbight) who stay on their sailboat at the Hutchinson Island marina during the winter. Since we were only able to spend a couple days at the show because of work commitments, it was a whirlwind trip.
On the first day, I participated in the Admiral’s Roundtable along with 4 other experienced cruising women as a panel to answer questions in a women-only open forum. With 30 or so women participating in the group, the questions ranged from boat storage ideas and what stuff to bring onto the boat to inquiries regarding safety aboard, health, pets aboard, weather and navigation. It’s always interesting to hear the different answers from our diverse panel of women with different cruising backgrounds and experiences.
Randy’s dad, John, and his wife, April arrived in the evening so they could check out our presentation the following day. The next morning, we had breakfast with them before heading upstairs to locate our room for the seminar. It appeared that we had 30 or so folks signed up to see our talk on the Dry Tortugas, which we’d expanded since last year with new info and photos. Randy introduced us and Blue Turtle and then I took over talking about the Dry Tortugas, the islands, the history, the National Park and the many things to do there. After I discussed provisioning, Randy took us through navigating there, checking in and then through the various snorkel and scuba diving spots. Corey wrapped up the seminar by discussing fishing and spearfishing in the Dry Tortugas and the various spots and rules and regulations. The seminar went very well and we had a lot of great questions and feedback from the audience.
After our presentation was over, it was time to check out of the hotel and walk the in-water boat show before heading back to Fort Myers Beach. The in-water show was very similar to last year’s which featured many gorgeous newer boats (i.e. boats we can’t afford). We did tour an older 42′ Nordic Tug that was amazing and of course, we always have to tour a couple Kadey Krogens, a 44′ AE and 48′ Whaleback. We still say that the KK 42′ is our dream boat!
We had a wonderful time in Stuart being a part of TrawlerFest and spending time with family and friends.
Sorry we missed you and your presentation Kim. We only had time for a one session Friday morning (what to look for booking a survey) as we attempted to get on as many ’80s vintage trawlers as possible from Miami to Ft. Pierce over the course of 5 days. The boats at the show were truly amazing especially when compared to the ones we can afford from 30 years ago. We kept reminding ourselves of your sage advice about your acquisition and upkeep of Blue Turtle.