Sailors Flock to Svendsen’s Spring Fling Weekend

This past weekend at the second annual Svendsen’s Spring Fling was a smashing success! Two days of sunny, warm weather had lots of people coming out to Svendsen’s Marine in Alameda after the long, rainy winter to check out gear, reconnect with old sailing neighbors, and make new friends. At the Latitude 38 tables, we talked with show visitors who had traveled all the way from Fresno, Tahoe, Sacramento, and Southern California. Svendsen’s had over 850 ticket downloads. They really did a great job growing the show this year.

The Spring Fling boat show was a good opportunity for sailors to shop as they ready their boats for the summer season ahead. There was a big selection of vendors and local organizations who had product on display, raffles, discounts, and more. And lest you worried that you’d get hungry, there were food trucks parked both days. Delicious BBQ, Mexican food, and a coffee shop made sure sailors were well fed and had energy to enjoy the Spring Fling.

There was more than one reason to head out to Alameda this weekend — just around the corner, Marina Village hosted an open boat weekend. Richard Boland, Cruising Yachts, Seattle Yachts, Denison, SailtimeSF and Atomic Tuna all had boats open for viewing/tours.

Best of all, the promise of free beer kept the crowd close to Svendsen’s. At exactly 4 p.m. sailors descended for the Crew Party (and free beer provided by our friends over at Almanac Beer Co. Thanks, Almanac!). The Latitude 38 Crew Party concluded day one of the weekend. In past years the Crew Party has been held around the Bay in various locations, but this year we brought the social mixer to kick off the weekend at Svendsen’s.

Lots of skippers and crew mingled and made connections, with the upcoming summer deliveries and the Baja Ha-Ha in mind! It was fun to see our community getting out and gathering together. Bay Area boaters are clearly ready to get out on the water, push their limits, learn more skills, and just do more sailing. If you didn’t get to the Spring Fling and want to find or be crew, check out our calendar and the Crew List and sign up today It’s never too late to join the San Francisco Bay Area community of sailors.

If you enjoyed the second annual Spring Fling, drop a “Heck, yes!” in the comments below. Or, if you didn’t get there this time, drop in a “Next year,” and make a note on your 2024 calendar!