I filled a bottle up with some bubbly Annie Charm, shook it, and let it explode on folks at the recent Trawlerfest in Baltimore. Speaker Annie was definitely ON! I gave three talks: 1) an informal ladies tea (which was a great candid conversation with gals who rightfully have a lot of questions about going cruising); 2) “Rock the Boat” encouraging more females to get out and go cruising (I’m pretty sure I cursed a handful of times but had the whole crowd laughing a good bit); and 3) my “Bahamas Top Ten” which was the most widely attended (and appreciated it seemed) talk. For that reason, I’m including my Bahamas Top Ten slides from my presentation below (by popular request from Trawlerfest attendees).
What a whirlwind three days, but I met so many new boaters, some just shopping for their first cruising boat, some with decades of experience, even a few ladies who were working hard to convince their male counterpart to go cruising (which was a pleasant surprise for me)! I also got to meet the famous WX forecaster, Chris Parker, in person for the first time, talk all about my new lithium batteries with Tom Trimmer at Custom Marine Products, and have some fun, candid conversations with Rudy and Jill Sechez who wrote a very helpful book on Anchoring as well as the Director of America’s Great Loop Cruiser’s Association (AGLCA), Kim Russo. Many thanks to PassageMaker/Trawlerfest and my team at SAIL Magazine who helped line this up for me. I felt like we were able to encourage and inspire a lot of new (and old) boaters to get out and go, which felt really nice in today’s crazy Covid climate.
Speaker Annie ready for a big day of talks (had to send Phillip pics of me as he had some work obligations and couldn’t make it). He had to approve of my outfits … lol!
My speaking venue! Thankfully it was outside, which I requested, and the weather was fabulous every day. I was surprised that all these seats filled every time!
The Baltimore waterfront in and around the Inner Harbour was really quite lovely, too, and a great place to walk after all of my daytime gigs were over.
And, without further adieu … here are my Bahamas Top 10 Slides. There are some very helpful links in here to help folks navigate Customs, find ports of entry, purchase Explorer Charts, and get updates on Covid travel restrictions and requirements. Also, some fantastic pictures! Putting this together made me think Phillip and I have got to plan another trip back to the Bahamas very soon. If any of you have more questions that aren’t answered in the slideshow, feel free to email me and Phillip and I will do our best to try to find answers or resources for you. But, the websites included (at the end) of the slides are the best place to find the most up-to-date info on Covid and travel to the Bahamas. Hope to see some of you out in those beautiful Bahamian islands someday!
Great job Annie, making Pensacola proud!
That’s right! I was representing. Thank you!