Sausalito Boat Show — Getting Better Every Year

The past weekend’s third annual Sausalito Boat Show took another great step forward in rebuilding a first-class Bay Area boat show. There were a lot more boats, though the growth came from powerboats while the number of sailboats was smaller. There were sailboats from Hanse, Beneteau and Jeanneau. Besides having much better weather than last year, the three-day show expanded with more booths, continuous entertainment, well-attended seminars, and most importantly, a great place to reconnect with other sailors and sailing businesses on the waterfront.

We met with Andrea and Mike, above. Andrea taught Mike to sail at Modern Sailing many years ago. Mike had just returned from putting his sailing lessons to work with a bareboat charter out of Bergen, Norway, about a month ago. He said it was a beautiful but cool and wet charter. He was asking Andrea where he should charter next. She didn’t hesitate to respond with, “Tahiti.” She described the nine-hour direct flight and then short hop to paradise in Raiatea. It’s also only a two-hour time zone change, so it’s pretty hard to beat. Mike was giving Andrea great kudos for her ability as a sailor and instructor for his now-active sailing life.

We spoke with avid Latitude 38 readers James and Margaret, pictured above, as they were signing up for boat-maintenance courses at Spaulding Marine Center. They’re getting ready to do work on their new-to-them Olson 25, Alzora, which they keep at Pelican Yacht Harbor in Sausalito. It was “kind of” hull #1 for the Olson 25 fleet. Apparently, the first Olson 25 didn’t come out of the mold quite right, so their yellow hull #2 was actually the first one launched and sailed as a class Olson 25. The active Olson 25 fleet has already welcomed them with some available extra sails, and look forward to seeing the boat active on the Bay again.

One of the common threads we find when bumping into sailors who work on tall ships is how many of them are teachers. Matt Kurkjian told us of his enthusiasm for teaching kids, and especially aboard tall ships like our local Matthew Turner. Besides the teaching, he also just enjoys sailing or puttering aboard his Ericson 27 in Berkeley Marina and reading Latitude 38. We always ponder the mystery of the public perception of the elite world of “yachting” versus the salt-of-the-earth, down-to-earth sailors we meet at the Latitude 38 booth. So many of them both love to sail and love to share sailing with kids, and anyone. All of them feel grateful having the Bay at their doorstep and a way to get onto it under sail.

Do you have questions on canvas, marinas, rigging or marine electronics? The crew above and others scattered throughout the show were on hand to answer your questions and help solve your problems so you can get back to sailing. Running small marine-service businesses in California has become increasingly difficult over the decades, so we appreciate those who work hard to make it happen. We’ve been covering the marine trades more on our Working Waterfront page, as we know so many of the small marine businesses are looking for skilled labor to help keep their businesses thriving and your boat sailing. It was great to see them all at the show. Keep an eye on our Job Opportunities section of the magazine if the marine trades sound interesting to you.

It was great to reconnect with John Schulthess, former owner of Wind Toys and new owner Bill Boyd, at the show. Their kayaks were the “small boats” at the show, although they had amazing big-boat features. They go offshore fishing in the pedal- and electric power-assisted kayaks with depthsounders and all sorts of “yacht gear” in an affordable, stowable, transportable package. Very different from the kayaks we grew up with. The show included boats to catch salmon with 900 hp of power, and kayaks, like those above, which you can paddle or pedal out to catch salmon.

Overall, the show organizers put on a fantastic event. It’s challenging to rebuild a solid show from scratch in this post-COVID era, but the persistence is paying off. Boat dealers on the docks reported several boats being sold and the attendance up over last year’s sweltering-hot event. This year, the weather couldn’t have been better. It was sunny with pleasant temperatures, so those getting dunked in the dunk tank had a fun, not freezing, swim.

If you aren’t out sailing the Bay, the show is a great way to spend a day. or a half-day, before your sail. We’ll be looking forward to next year’s show.