I was there a couple days ago on Friday. It was good to see Peter from Winter Island marina in Salem, MA. Nice fellow! And, yes there were several people walking around in a daze having put down payments on boats. Met a fellow Cape Codder (part time) who bought a 27 and have been corresponding since. Also, met Knotflying (forgot his real name due to my declining cognitive state) which was cool. He's got great taste in anchors! My wife thinks I should talk about something else when I meet people, but what does she know...
Nothing else really to look at this year at the show. Had to wander by the pontoon boats which were running $30-45k. Why would anyone spend that money on a pontoon boat when they could buy a R-21 and even stay aboard it weekends? I did admire the pod drives on some very expensive boats, but even if you have to replace shear pins once in a while our thrusters work just fine for about half a million dollars less. I didn't see a Garmin display anywhere, but all the other guys were there.
My buddy got a West Marine boat hook for $10. That was exciting. Was offset by the $7 bottle of beer he then drank. I wish they had a Cutwater or two at the N.E. Boat Show, but maybe next year. Guess that's it for my report.
