Was my first boat show in 30 years, some observations. Just bought last fall so it was more for fun. Wife came with as a date night.
Went Thursday night to avoid the crowds. Successful except there were crowds of salespeople. The first several groups were too aggressive for my tastes, wasn’t much fun.
As a kid my favorite thing was to crawl around the cabin cruisers. Well, the kid is still alive and well in me. Stupid, big, expensive boats were still fun to tour. Just now it’s more about the engineering and design.
Small world: Stopped at the Cobalt dealer. They were one of the few to have a smaller boat(20ft). Asked the dude a few questions. Turns out his aunt and uncle are three doors down from my parents. Had a great conversation.
Two dealers that stood out way above the rest:
SBC – Met Charlie. I asked a couple questions. He was super knowledgeable, friendly, and didn’t pressure me. They will be on the short list next time I’m shopping.
MN Inboard: Yeah, I’m one of the minority on IDO that will put watersports over fishing at times. They were very friendly, low pressure, and just fun to talk to. The boats might be silly expensive but talking to the staff was similar to SBC.
