Why hello! In all honesty there isn’t TOO much to tell you about the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Krogen 58′ Equinox was there and we had myself and Larry and the Florida sales team on board to staff the event. Much like last year, there was going to be rain. Lots of rain. Unlike last year, this time it was a freakin’ hurricane.

Larry and I flew down Thursday morning which was also the opening day of the show. I remembered how much I dislike landing during storms. We arrived to the show and it was like this:

Needless to say, not too many people attended the show that day. And it only got worse! On our walk back to our hotel, we took a 50mph gust of wind to the face and I got blown back five steps! One of the exhibitor tents was completely blown apart and allegedly with one of the tents breaking somewhere in the show, someone’s jaw got broken. It was a pretty crazy weather event to say the least.

Highlights from FLIBS include mostly photos, so enjoy!

 

Now for Sandy’s affect on Fort Lauderdale…

 

 

The next morning…

Fortunately, Larry and I were able to change our flights from Monday to Sunday night and catch the last flight available to Baltimore for at least 3 days as Sandy hit the Northeast. After the storm passed through here, I learned that flights were being made for two week out for the people who got stuck in Fort Lauderdale. I hope everyone who’s reading this made it through the storm safely, especially if you are in any of the heavily affected areas.

Anyway, as always, FLIBS was definitely an experience to remember. We did end up meeting a handful of great new people who I’m excited to follow up with. This was also the last show of 2012 for Kadey-Krogen and my last show as Shannon Band…. Hope you all enjoyed the boat show season as much as we did!

I’d have to say the most exciting day of the Annapolis show was the move-in day which was the Wednesday before the show opened. We loaded up Krogen 52′ Suite Judy (just about to the brim!) and left our dock at the Port Annapolis Marina. We were perfectly on time for our 11:30 move-in time, but shockingly… the show wasn’t ready for C dock to move-in. So 3 hours later when they could finally accommodate us, we made our move.

 

The entire Stuart and Annapolis sales crew was there for the set up, and by now it’s a well-oiled machine. The entire float was decorated and as I was making finishing touches and stepping off the float to throw something away, I heard a loud CRACK and then slammed against the ground with my leg stuck between our float and the dock. Turns out the show put a wooden seperater piece down which didn’t have the piece of wood underneath that keeps it stationary so it just shifted out of the way as I took a step. Fortunately, I was only a little scraped and bruised and am still able to dance at my upcoming wedding. Otherwise, next year it would be known as “Shannon’s US Powerboat Show”.

 

Then, after a long day we went to dinner with a boating magazine where I couldn’t get a drink initially because I didn’t have my ID on me and they didn’t believe I was of drinking age. (Good problem to have I realize, but not after the kind of day I had!)

The rest of the show proved to be a good event. Quite a few prospective buyers came back to see the Krogen 52′ for their first, second or third time. She really is quite a beautiful boat. Suite Judy’s owners were around for the show, which was a great help. Dyan was helping me get people registered and Mike would chat with people on the float while they waited for a broker to be free to get them on board.

Despite the chilling winds we had under the tent, the weather was actually decent this year. In years past there has always been torrential downpours, so we definitely lucked out in that aspect this year. So I don’t mean to complain ab how cold it was under the shade of the tent with the strong, consistent winds coming right at me, but as you can see…

So, another successful Annapolis Show! Next up… FLIBS! The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is from October 25 – October 29. Come see Krogen 58′  Equinox on BC 12 near Bahia Mar.

Baltimore Trawler Fest was a great event, yet again. This is the third year Trawler Fest has been in Baltimore since it moved from Solomon’s Island, Maryland. While it was still in Baltimore, we moved to BMC Harborview which is right next to the Tiki Barge! (Literally a barge that has two bars and a pool at the end of a marina, so fun.)

We got settled in on Wednesday with a brokerage Krogen 58’ and a Camano 41’ that we had taken in trade. Our set up looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Many thanks to Laura and John who helped me get everything assembled and organized!

All in all, Trawler Fest Baltimore was fabulous! Typical of Trawler Fests the docks were a little slow while the seminars were happening, but the seminars are an essential part of the Trawler Fest experience. Besides, we were entertained by the ginormous jellyfish that were overtaking the Inner Harbor!

For the duration of the show, the people would ebb and flow depending on the seminar schedule. We talked to many people we had met at prior events and met a few new ones as well. It’s pretty amazing how much people know about us just from researching us online. Just proves to us the importance of an web presence, both for the research and for fun ways to interact such as Facebook and YouTube.

We also had quite a few owners come to Trawler Fest who would attend the seminars and then mingle with us or be kind enough to show their boats during their down time. Roberto and Maria own Krogen 48′ NSGratitudeand were completely novice boaters before falling in love with Kadey-Krogen. Guess what? They brought the boat from Rhode Island down to Baltimore by themselves. And guess what else? They’re preferred time to travel is at night! Roberto contacted me that he had lost his wedding band when the anchor line knocked it off his finger this summer, so he had a new one delivered to me from the original jeweler in Antigua. KKY was there to watch, and document, Roberto and Maria “get married” again.

Bruce and Sue Stone were some of the other owners who were at the Trawler Fest Baltimore. They own the newest Krogen 48′ AE, Silver Bay, and as you can tell from the picture below, Bruce hates the boating lifestyle.

The final day we had a special guest come and help greet people….

For those of you who don’t know, Sasha is Larry’s other daughter Portuguese water dog. If you have met her, you know that she likes to fool people into think she’s never gotten any love, attention or affection in her entire life. Between her sweet personality and that adorable face, she was certainly a hit!

Up next we have the Annapolis Boat Show! Come see Krogen 52′, Suite Judy, on C Dock October 11 – 14th!!

 

Well, it’s official! The Fall 2012 Boat Show Season has begun!! The next six weeks will be quite hectic!

Larry picked me up at O’dark thirty for our drive up to Newport in the company SUV that was filled to the brim with all our marketing collateral and furniture for the float. It tooks us a little over 7 hours, with two restroom stops which resulted in my new nickname of “Tiny Tanks.” Upon arrival I was greated warmly by Richard and Pam Wass, owners of KK 58′ Papa Whiskey. They owned a KK 48′ Whaleback for a few years before trading her in for Papa Whiskey and evidently really trust us at Kadey-Krogen considering they let us borrow their boat for the show while they took a quick trip to Maine! Anyway, set up went well and we were off to our B&B, Spring Street Inn.

I was up around sunrise the next morning because I remembered how much I loved my run along Cliffwalk last year. I fell in love all over again…

And then the show started. And we were busy! Busy until Sunday at 5pm when the show ended. There were a couple things I learned from this show.

1. People are feeling better about the economy.

In our conversations, we heard many less comments about the economy and how they will be working until the end of time. For a lot of people, if retirement hadn’t come it was just around the corner. Even if people still weren’t completely comfortable with the economic state, we noticed the attitude has shifted a bit and people were ready to move on with enjoying their lives instead of waiting for things to be fixed. The amount of serious leads we gained was pretty impressive.

2. It’s very confusing when Kadey-Krogen and Krogen Express are next to each other.

For those who are just learning about boating, it makes sense for them to think Kadey-Krogen and Krogen Express are one company. Especially when we are adjacent to each other at the show! While they build a fine boat, Kadey-Krogen Yachts and Krogen Express are not and have never been affiliated. Common misconception.

3. People can forget about their shoes.

‘What,’ you ask? Well, at the end of the day on Thursday we noticed someone had left their shoes on our float. That happens from time to time as people walk from boat to boat, but they’re not typically still there after the show closes. I’ve known people to have taken the wrong pair of shoes, but never just left shoes behind. The shoes were left there through Sunday and were never claimed! I’m still perplexed by this.

4. Kadey-Krogen’s are “worth the wait.”

I mentioned that we were busy. I’m talking a wait of up to 40 minutes before people could get on board. (We had everyone walk through with a member of our sales team since it was an owned vessel and it keeps things a little more orderly.) Some people are patient and understand why there’s a wait while others can get impatient and take it out on me continue down the docks. It always warms my heart a little when people who sustained the wait come off the boat glowing and telling me it was worth the wait. I heard it several times each day.

That’s it for now. Next week we have Baltimore Trawler Fest which is shortly followed by the Annapolis Powerboat Show! The week after that we’ll have the Annapolis Open House on October 20th and the next week we’ll be at FLIBS in Fort Lauderdale. WHEW!! Buckle up! Hope to see yall at one or more of these events.

Did you ever wonder about the stability characteristics of a Kadey-Krogen?  We recently received the following note from an owner of a Krogen 39’ based in Ketchikan, Alaska.  Wonder no more…

Dennis,

I wanted to share an experience I had this past weekend.

I took my daughter, Terri, and Tim’s parents out to see Jill where Jill works (Tim couldn’t go due to a dive class he is teaching).  This was my first trip as the person in charge of Sula.  The 6 hour trip out went perfectly – smooth seas, sunshine, and no wind.

The return trip, well… not so much.  As we got into the channel we started getting fairly big “rollers” that would come in pairs – I’m guessing 6 – 8 feet tall.   When we got in the shadow of the island, things calmed down a little but we were still getting the rollers every now and again but now they were down to 3 -4 feet.  I never once felt that Sula could not handle the rollers even though they would change our orientation to the sea (such as looking out the window into the ocean instead of looking out the window across the ocean).

As we headed north and got more and more land mass (islands, rocks, and reefs) behind us, the seas calmed down more and more.  Then we got hit by what I am calling a rogue wave – it was not at all in character with the waves we were experiencing.  I estimate the pilot house was  very close to 90 degrees to the water – port side up and starboard side down.  Sula bobbed right back up!!!  That was the only time that I worried about whether she could take it or not.

In summation, I took my first trip in the captain position and Sula and I made it just fine.   However, there was quite a bit of collateral damage from that wave, but I am not deterred.  Sula once again made me feel “at home on any sea”.

~ Janice

I recently had the pleasure of working with a wonderful couple in the sale of a spectacular Krogen 42 which they have now named Amelia.  This K42 is a 1987 walk-around model with the island master layout and stabilized.  Joe and Cyndi asked if I would help them bring Amelia from San Francisco back to their home port of Monterey.  Being new owners I did not hesitate to take this opportunity for a bit of training and enjoyment to once again head out into the grand Pacific Ocean!

Last week I departed Seattle on a delayed flight to San Francisco and arrived at SFO.  I then boarded the BART heading to meet up with Joe and Cyndi at the Embarcadero nearby where Amelia had been berthed for some time.  They had the Amelia already stocked up with great food, brew and wine… Another trip aboard a Krogen proving once again what “At Home on Any Sea” truly means!  Oh you bet, there’s a BBQ on Amelia as well!!

We started going through some of the systems and knowing that Joe and Cyndi had very little time at the helm and with plenty of daylight left to enjoy, I suggested that we untie and go practice maneuvering techniques.  I introduced Joe and Cyndi to instruction on how to make Amelia move sideways for what I call parallel docking.  After some time, we decided to go for an evening ride on the Bay.

For dinner, Joe did a fantastic job of barbequing seasoned chicken breast while Cyndi did her magic on the stove with the accompanying sides – man this was a fantastic meal and yep, I ate too much!  Better get planning on a long, long bike ride next week if this continues…  My berth was calling my name after our late dinner and the guest accommodations on Amelia were very comfortable and I slept very well.

The next morning we all commented on how much better we sleep onboard a boat versus at home.  The gentle motion that is felt onboard a boat just lulls one into a perfect slumber.  What a nice liveaboard this Krogen 42′ would make!  No hurry to depart today because we want the tide to be a favorable run for our trip out under the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Francisco is well known for having an opposing tide to the large ocean swells that roll in, which makes for an uncomfortable passage.  It is best to time the tide out and hit the Golden Gate at a slack tide which will improve the ride tremendously.  As we were heading out we knew there was a strong marine layer but we were hoping to be given the photo opportunity of a shot of us on the bow heading under the Golden Gate.  But as we rounded the corner of downtown San Fran, we could only see the lower legs of the bridge. Darn!  Well at least we got a great shot of Alcatraz Island lit up by the bright morning sun!  As we approached the Bridge our plan appeared to be working out with precision.  Great going, Joe!

We rounded the point and past Seal Rocks heading to our anchorage at Half Moon Bay under nice sized swells on our stern starboard quarter.  We were running at 1800 RPM and according to my chart should be burning about 3 gph.  Our speed over ground (SOG) was in the mid-7 knot range.  Engine room checks proved that all things were working well down below.  Lunch time crept up and we had sandwiches and then Cyndi did something really awful, she brought out a huge container of peanut butter cookies – damn I’m not much of a cookie freak but when it comes to peanut butter cookies and especially when they are the chewy type –OMG more bike riding…!

This leg turned out to be an ideal time for Joe to get comfortable with his chart plotter and radar systems.  He was already talking about upgrading these older systems and enjoying the early stages of planning his longer trips.  What fun that must be, to be in that type of position in life!  I hope to be doing the same some day…

We started seeing the large radar domes that are situated upon the head of land, an outcropping at the north end of Half Moon Bay and soon we spotted the sea buoys both on radar and then visually.  I had remembered that a very famous surfing spot for riding huge waves was somewhere in this vicinity but I was having a really difficult time remembering the name of it.  Cyndi recalled … “Mavericks!”

Yep, it is situated about a mile north and offshore from Half Moon Bay, in a dangerous area of rocks we could see the waves breaking there. The large swell that was coming in on our run would not cause the 50’+ sized waves that produce a quickly generated frenzy. That happens in the winter time from storms produced up on the Bering Straits of Alaska. The seas were large enough that I imagined they were producing great surfing waves today anyway.  As we turned into the entrance channel, we had a nice view of the harbor and township.

Our anchor set very quickly and Joe was elated with the ease of the operation.  Brews in hand, BBQ lit and burgers on – this is the cruising life!  After dinner we were enjoying the view out the wonderful saloon windows of the Krogen, what I call “The windows to the World.” Later on after more good times and brews, my extremely comfortable berth was calling me and once again I had a great sleep that night.  One thing that I have been asked quite a few times by the crowds at the boat shows is how noisy the Krogens are at anchor.  Well I can assure you ALL that the Krogen hull form is by far the most quiet yacht that I have ever slept aboard!  The hull shape and insulation that is provided by core materials really does work to provide a very nice sleeping and liveaboard environment indeed.

Once up in the morning, and after having our coffee and breakfast we got underway.  We found that the anchor wash down pump was not working and we could not remember if that was an item that came up at survey.  Not to worry, just dragging the anchor through the water at the surface does a wonderful job of cleaning the muck off.  We departed Half Moon Bay heading for our destination of Monterey.  We had just over twice the distance to make today that we did yesterday.

The swells had subsided quite a bit and we now had 3’ to 6’ swells again from our stern starboard quarter.  I shot some video of the following seas and how nicely the Krogen hull form powers along in these types of conditions.  You can see the video footage by CLICKING HERE. Take notice of how straight of a run Amelia makes. It’s like she’s on rails!  This makes the ride for her human folk far more comfortable than hull forms that yaw and snap back and forth – I can promise you of this!  Don’t forget about that autopilot pump either…

As we neared Monterey we started seeing numerous targets on the radar as well as some buildings that were lit up in sunshine!  When we pulled into the harbor heading to their slip, we noticed a huge sea lion was making their dock home for nap time.  Cyndi said that I will have to shoo it off of the dock, that she’s scared of being so close to one that large.  I eagerly agreed to be the one to provide the impetus for it to find a new berthing location.

As soon as Joe expertly pulled Amelia into the slip, I stepped off and started walking noisily towards the slumbering sea lion.  I’ll tell you honestly, it was of no brave endeavor on my behalf.  It simply dove in and then jumped right up on the next slip, scratched itself and fell right back asleep.  They had to put up a make shift sea lion barrier on the swim platform and a quick look around it became quite obvious that sea lions make any unprotected swim platform their berth.  They are truly very enjoyable to watch though.

 

Joe’s son, Joe Jr., came down to assist. Once all tied up and rinsed off, we had a congratulatory brew and then headed to their home for dinner.  There I met their other family members, except one- she was to have labor induced the following day. A very busy weekend for Joe and Cyndi!  Congratulations to you both on two accounts!  I wish you the best and look forward to hearing about your future cruising!

So, we received the following email from a very happy owner! It was so beautifully written that we felt compelled to share (with permission, of course). As you’ll read, the owner is mainly impressed with and elated by how her Krogen 58′ feels in the water. We proudly tell everyone about our wineglass transom and how comfortable that will make the journey. You can learn more about that here.

Enjoy the read!

- Shannon

 

Hi John,

Life has been just one GLORIOUS day at sea after the next… despite the wind and seas!   Seamantha and “her” crew are all doing well as we have been underway, making way up the Jersey coast, just having settled here at Liberty Landing Marine Center for a while to visit with friends.

I was thinking of you as we were heading into the Absecon Inlet (to Atlantic City) the other day.  We were at max ebb with opposing winds… running nose into the ebb… nicely* squared waves!   ( *Note:  not my usual vernacular  when describing the sea state… especially when the words “wave” and “square” are placed the applied order!)  Conditions one should describe as a true surf or sleigh ride.  But, our Seamantha made the ride just another day at sea!  (Just like you promised!!!!!)  No big deal…  she just lumbered through it all, taking a peak to the right, then left… keeping her butt and bottom laughing at the tickling seas, carrying on flawlessly… Captain & Admiral with nar a worry!!!  I couldn’t wait to share this with you!!!  A WHOLE different experience than on our previous trawler last Fall heading off the Ship John Shoals on the approach to the C&D Canal!!!  (The tale I came crying to you about!)

In fact, our entire ride up the “ever dreaded” Jersey Coast was a dream!  From the Pilot House, nothing looks big… and Seamantha could care less what was going on!!!!!  This boat truly IS a dream!!!  I know you know that… and I’m sorry to keep telling you so, but with each new sea experience, we gain more and more confidence in our vessel!

Not sure if I ever mentioned that even I am docking the boat now!!!  I am AMAZED at how easily she handles!!!

Thank you!!!  I’m hoping you are having a wonderful day!!!

Sincerely,

Paulette

Paulette and John Lee

Cruising aboard Seamantha- Kadey Krogen 58-016