Above: The PMM staff grew over the years, forming a tightknit team who accomplished great things with lots of energy.
Above right: Putting on big events takes a lot of work by the
PMM staff, but we enjoyed every event as a celebration.
Right: Our routinely packed TrawlerPort seminars provided
information that future cruisers wanted to know on so many
subjects. Here I moderate a panel discussion on design.
to speak their minds or make things right. It seemed
like we received a hundred letters and emails about my
incorrect association of an aircraft carrier with Jimmy
Doolittle’s daring raid over Tokyo in the desperate
early months of WWII. A whole bunch of veterans flew
into action, clarifying the facts or using my reference
to WWII to share their own wartime experiences. Or
the time I made the exquisite mistake of naming a city
in Germany based on a sign I’d seen. It was “Exit” in
German. Hah!
We hired our first full-time employee in 1998, and
over time, our Annapolis team expanded tenfold,
mostly young, talented men and women, all eager to
do their best and learn. Our golden retriever, Boomer,
was always in the office, as was Banker, then Murphy,
and other dogs came to visit. We had our first office
wedding, then the first baby, and the family grew. The
team continues to work hard.
BOAT SHOW PRESENCE
Our leap into the event business came with
TrawlerPort in 1999, a show within an existing boat
show. In addition to grouping trawlers closer together
among a sea of white fiberglass, we filled meeting
rooms and ballrooms to capacity for comprehensive
seminars on boat design, technical systems, weather,
communications, cruising destinations, and moderated
panel discussions with industry folks or experienced
cruisers. Even our insurance seminar was interesting
with standing room only. For a time we followed
up system seminars with hands-on engine room
inspections on boats in the show. In all, TrawlerPort
added value and substance to the traditional walk-
the-docks event experience, and it is a great model
for future boat shows. Our staff really hustled to put
these events on while still working on the next issue,
but it was great fun. I can still see Kieran, Bradley, Will,
Natalie, Geoff, and others running around the docks
setting up flags or on some last-minute errand. And
when we acquired Trawler Fest in 2005, it raised the
bar of opportunity to new heights, as there is no limit
to how great an event can become, creating a total
immersion of the trawler lifestyle.
