If you measure the popularity of a boat display at Trawler Fest by the pairs of topsiders on the dock, then the Nordhavn 55 Terrapin looked like a shoe store having a sale.
Nearly 40 trawlers were available to view on the long dock at the Bay Bridge Marina in Stevensville, MD ranging from Ranger tugs to our dock neighbor, a gorgeous Fleming 65. Terrapin was clearly a favorite at the show and would have been an obvious front runner had there been a People’s Choice Award for “Best in Show”.
Don Allen drove down from Rhode Island, Christopher Bruce commuted by Vespa from his Kadey-Krogen 44 at a nearby marina and Jeff flew out from California. We had set up many appointments with clients in advance and it was our first time working a show together in this team formation.
The turnout for the Bay Bridge Trawler Fest was impressive and the end of September weather transitioned from short pants to long pants as the crowd warmed up and the temperatures cooled off.
Terrapins owners, Mason and Catherine, were on board to help talk with people and served as most gracious hosts to the enthusiastic and appreciative throng of trawler aficionados who boarded her.
Terrapin arrived a couple days early so Don could shoot a video of Jeff giving a walk-through tour (and Christopher flew his drone) which has just been posted on the JMYS YouTube channel. Here is the link:
Maryland is glorious in the Fall. The Bay Bridge connects Annapolis to the Eastern shore and there was a lot of excitement in the air with the kids back to school, Halloween on the way and the US Naval Academy midshipmen football team off to an undefeated start to their season.
The JMYS sales team and spouses were treated to a lovely dinner at Annie’s with our guests, Bill and Laurene Parlatore, the founders of PassageMaker Magazine. It was a perfect warm up to prepare for the show.
The boat show portion of Trawler Fest runs for three days – Thursday through Saturday.
The docks opened at 10 AM on Thursday and after hanging banners and fine-tuning our display on Terrapin, we received guests from the opening bell to well after 5 pm closing every day. Christopher, Don and Jeff meshed into a continuous sequence of taking visitors all through Terrapin. We prefer to escort guest so that we can get to know people better and can point out the features on the boat while discussing their interests and learning about their cruising plans. Another benefit of the touring approach is that we better respect the sellers’ private belongings and keep the flow moving.
The first day flew by and we celebrated that night with Bruce Kessler joining us for dinner. Back to back dinners with the Parlatore’s, then Bruce (who with wife Joan paired up to become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a recreational trawler) provided an extraordinary background for us to be reminded of how lucky we are to help our clients participate in the trawler lifestyle.
Jeff spent most of his Friday in the classroom. In the morning he presented his always enlightening, “Dialing In Your Trawler” course and then served as moderator that afternoon for the All-Star panel assembled to share their insights in the “Cruisers Perspective Town Hall Meeting”.
Don and Christopher talked nonstop with dozens of interested parties aboard Terrapin – managing a late lunch before the docks were quiet shortly after 5 o’clock. There is no way we could have managed the traffic flow aboard Terrapin without Alexandra, Christopher’s wife, welcoming our visitors and talking trawlers with them while awaiting the next guide to become available.
Saturday was chilly to start and warmed up in the afternoon and continued our never ending and non-interrupted flow of guests who wanted to get a tour of Terrapin.
From 1 PM to 4 PM Jeff abandoned ship to give his final talk of the event, “Offshore Essentials” and then it was time to break down the display and return command of Terrapin to Mason and Catherine.
At our Saturday dinner we all agreed that not only was this an extraordinary Trawler Fest, but we think just about every person who came to Bay Bridge made it a point to get a board the gorgeous green boat at the end of the dock… Terrapin.
Whether you attended Jeff’s talks or just curious to review the materials presented, both the PowerPoint presentations and all of the handouts will be available below to review for the next couple of weeks, and then will be removed, so please feel free to download and enjoy from now until mid-November. If you were a student in class you will receive a separate email reminder that the class content is available.
As more and more new people are attracted to the idea of a trawler adventure to fulfill their ambitions during their golden-years, the demand for trawlers has accelerated. For 2018, PassageMaker magazine has plans to host three more Trawler Fests. Hopefully we can display more trawlers like Terrapin and, if we do, we’re going need to make sure we include Ray Danet and Andy Nemier on the touring staff so that we can keep up with the demand of interested people who want to take a look and learn about trawlers.
After three days of nonstop time aboard Terrapin, we are all very well versed on her benefits. It is also clear to all of us that the last six months have been a sellers’ market. There are more buyers than boats and good quality listings are trading quickly. Terrapin is no exception, she is still available as this article is posted, but we do have several interested parties who are making arrangements to get aboard now that the show is over. Terrapin is going to work slowly back to Florida where she will be based through the end of the year. If you would like to learn more about her, please contact any of us directly and we would be delighted to discuss our thoughts on Terrapin and welcome you to make an appointment to get a board and see her for yourself.
We always welcome your calls and emails, please get in touch. Hopefully we will see you in person at the upcoming Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) or at one of the Trawler Fests next year.
The time sensitive information has been removed, but may still be available. Please sign up for the JMYS newsletter to inquire. Or, put “TrawlerFest – Bay Bridge, MD 2017” in the subject line of your email to Jeff@JMYS.com.
