I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I have never been to a boat show. So, waaaay back in October 2016, after a few glasses of wine, I made an "Executive Decision" to attend the Miami Boat Show in February, 2017. I bought tickets.
An "Executive Decision" is quite different than a "Promise", btw. However, I still made good on it as Terri and I headed to the show last week.
We arrived a day early and enjoyed being tourists on Miami South Beach:
The next day, we headed to the boat show via a "Water Taxi". The boat on our starboard side is one that I am considering: :-)
We arrive; it's a beautiful day in the pseudo-tropics; I grab a beer, and I see boats ALL AROUND ME. Isn't there a song with lyrics like, "I'm in heaven?"
To get to the big boats, you have to first walk through all these huge tents with every fishing accessory known to man (or woman). If you need a reel, engine part, radar, GPS, electronics, bean-bags, cleats, LED lights, coolers, tenders, fish art, (you get the idea) or any other sort of crazy crap that I have never even seen before or even begin to understand how they function - it is under one of these huge tents. Who knew there was so much specialized stuff out there for boats? Okay, I guess we all knew that already. I could create a Christmas list for myself for the rest of my life.
Inside the tents are the "small" boats. You know - 32 foot or smaller. (Small :-). There are hundreds of these boats in the tents. I even got to sit on "my" boat - a 2017 Century 32 ft Center Console. For only $399K (special, boat show low price), I could have traded in my "old" Century and gotten an exact, brand new one! Where is my damn checkbook? Oh yeah, Terri is holding it for some reason.
But outside, at the docks, the fun really begins. The first boat we climb aboard is a 90 foot Carver yacht. Here is the engine room:
I like to read "Boating" magazine. It comes in the mail every month. I have seen engine rooms like this in my magazine before, but I have never actually experienced one. Holy crap! Totally different. I'm not an engine guy, so if something went wrong that requires more than duct tape, I would be in some trouble on this boat. I can stare at engines and pretend I know what they do - just like almost everyone else.
Above deck, in the cockpit or on the sky-bridge, is where Capt'n Hook feels more comfortable:
Terri ready to drive this yacht from the fly bridge. The salesman said I should buy a boat for her AND me. This one was too small though, only 67 feet. Damn dinghy almost:
Sooooo many boats, sooooo little time. I hate to admit it, but you kind of get "yacht overload" after 9-10 hours:
This is the boat that I fell in love with though:
It is a 47 ft center console with quad 350's on the back. OMG! This is a beautiful boat. It is manufactured by "Scout". It is kind of like my boat - on steroids. Very expensive steroids I might add as this boat is 1.2 million. Where is my checkbook woman?!
New boats are expensive!
And I just hate it when they put models with bikinis on the boats. That is just plain wrong! I mean, us guys are here to look at boats right?! I'm surprised I even noticed them as I was staring at the smooth lines on this particular boat:
Far be it from me to put girls in bikinis in one of my posts. I'm just doing it to make a point anyway. :-)
Here are a few more shots of what you really want to see:
After 10 hours of the boat show, it was time to head back to the hotel and dinner via the water taxi. I must admit, Miami is a very pretty place at sunset:
Upon returning to land, we found a place to eat dinner. Well darn, the restaurant is next to the "Miami Sailboat Show". This is our view from our table. I order lobster and wine. I hate my life right now:
Although I had 2-day tickets to the boat show, we both felt like we had seen enough. Fortunately for us, Miami was having their annual Art Show that same weekend. So on Saturday, we headed to Coconut Grove and attended that festival:
They got boat art too!:
After having a fantastic seafood dinner with some of Terri's friends on Saturday night, On Sunday, it was time to head home. Goodbye Miami! We had a great time!
I think it is time to fish in February! What do you think Caroline? :-) It's going to be 80 degrees this upcoming weekend.
I hope to return soon with a new post with actual fish in it.
Thanks for reading, everyone.
Captain Marc Paul
