U.S. Powerboat Show in Annapolis, MD

[Dadrock33]

http://www.pageturnpro.com/Chesapeak...ult.html#page/

Admiral and I will be in attendance on Saturday at the show so that we can gawk and drool all over the boats we want but can't afford . . . probably have more fun looking through the "side show" tents for small stuff that can increase the draft! Anyway, attached is the link for their program book.

[rbrauerei]

Enjoy the Show! It's fun to see all the latest and greatest (and expensive) boats. I've read that it's the largest in a decade with over 450 boats on display. We went 2 years ago and saw the boat we now own for the first time at Riverside Marine's dock (they should be there this year too with some of the new Bayliners). We would make the run in to Naptown on Saturday too, but we're trying to squeeze out one more overnighter on the water Friday into Saturday. Then Saturday night our daughter is coming up from Virginia with a couple friends to go to the Renaissance Festival and we'll probably meet for dinner somewhere. Wife is working on Sunday; so, if I can drag my butt out of bed before they start tearing down Sunday evening, I might try to make it for a couple hours.

[rbrauerei]

James, did you make it to the show; did you see anything interesting?

I made it on Sunday. I didn't really see a single boat that made me wish I had something different than I currently own. Yea, there were a lot of nice (read big and expensive) boats. But nothing in my realistic range that turned my head. In fact, having a 21', I'd move up to 24 or 26' and the show really was sparse in that range.

The only thing particularly interesting was a Sea Ray - all black - 37' I think - that has Skyhook GPS "anchoring". This is a Mercruiser technology that's been around for awhile, but it looked "cool" on the helm of this all black boat. Other than that, wasn't much to talk about with friends over beer while watching them break down the show.

[Dadrock33]

Hey Rick - yep, I made it . .Admiral backed out again . . . I didn't see hardly any Bayliners there! must've been in the wrong area or something . . . did fall in love with the Aquila 44 power cat though. I'm a cat lover (strictly catamaran - not the felines [they don't like me and the feeling is mutual]) and love the rag puffers even more but hey, $$ boat bucks are scarce and I'm a boat porn lover so the shows are my only way to satisfy that craving. They had some nice boats; Nordhaven, Fleming and some other trawlers and the Leopard cat and the Aquila were there too . . . . more fishing stuff this year than I remember too. Oh well, to each his own . . . .

[rbrauerei]

Yea, the cats were nice and I liked the trawlers - love the wood. They had a couple Bayliners - the VR series and an Element. They were right in front of the Fleet Reserve Club (where I sat for about half my time there sipping some beverages). Riverside Marine is the dealer and I stopped and talked with the salesman who sold to me 2 years ago and the service manager was there so we talked engines and stuff for a bit.