Boat thoughts…

Monday, the last day of the boat show, is the slowest day. It is actually a pretty short day if you are here to see everything, because many of the vendors are packing up by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  But the small crowds mean a chance to see boats that are too crowded the other days.

One of the trends I notice is that many new boats are going to an interior style that I call “Euro-cheap.”  Boat interiors that look like they were sourced from Ikea. You know the look I am talking about.  All sharp, square corners.  No solid wood, all veneer or laminate. That might be ok on an inexpensive boat built for the mass market, but on a near custom boat with a $2.5 million dollar price tag?  Really?

Very few boats at any price point in the show impressed us–which says an awful lot about our very special 20 year old boat!  One builder who did seem to be building “proper” cruising boats that we liked was Passport.

Boat Jail

You see some new and interesting things at the boat show.  Admiralty Law is a very strange and specialized beast, even to lawyers.  One of the things it allows is for vessels to be “arrested” if they are the subject of a lawsuit.  I had never seen it before, but a boat at the show was “arrested” by US Marshals. There were several different versions of the story about the who, what and why of this event. But anytime the US Marshals office and lawyers are involved, I am sure things are not pretty!

The Show at the End of the Show

What are all these people gathered for?  What exciting event is about ready to occur? Why it is the end of the boat show!

It takes about a week to assemble the in-water part of the show.  Boats have to be moved into place, and docks built around them. The breakdown of this complex web of boats and docks goes much quicker.  The show ends promptly at 5PM on Monday afternoon.  The start of the breakdown is announced by a cannon shot in the harbor, and the race is on!  Every boat has to be out of the harbor by Tuesday morning because they need the time to assemble the powerboat show which begins in the same place on Thursday morning. I made a short time lapse video of the festivities.  Enjoy!