St Petersburg Boat Show 2K26 . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Left 22ºF weather    this morning, to go to the balmy 54ºF St Pete Boat Show for my annual inoculation against sticker shock! 
That way, if I ever do buy something, I won't be blindsided by the horrendous price increases and maybe have a heart attack, or stroke out, or something. 
I always judge the state of our economy by Boat Shows, since they are the epitome of disposable income purchases. 
All the learned pundits, economists, and cabinet officials, can display all their graphs to reach any conclusion they want.
Want to know how we're really doing?!? 
Go to a Boat Show. 
Starting off with noticeably sparse crowds, this year. 
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Contrast the crowd density to 2K22.
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Then add in much sharper and steeper discounts, like a $175K pontoon boat getting dropped down to $149K and the sales guy openly saying: "But, we'll work with you." 
And then you know: Washington DC is lying to you. 
Nobody in the sales booths talking to salesmen, nobody carrying around gadgets and gilhoulies they bought at the show, guys buying sandwiches but not sides, from the food trucks, a mostly-empty Gosling Black Seal bar tent; nope, it was all mildly depressing. 
The Economists may have their graphs, but the People have their wallets, and they're telling a much different story.

See the sparse sailboat banners? 
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More on that Not Good News, later.

This was interesting.
Gheenos are generally more Spartan in their outfitting.
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Squint hard enough and you too, can convince yourself that you have a center console fishing boat, instead of a dangerously over-loaded canoe. 
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This was also fascinating.  They've had LST style RIBs for a while; what is new, is Geriatric Hand Rails to make access and egress, safer for us older types.
Also useful as a hand hold for keeping bow-riders from being tossed out of the boat, in rough waves.
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Marketing probably figured it a was a cinch, Gen-Zers couldn't afford something like this, so just go to the demographic that still has some bucks, left.
I mean, they're USED to seeing that kind of railing, in their assisted-care facilities! 
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Not that they AREN'T trying to  market to Gen-Zers, who feel that USB charging ports, BlueTooth speakers and Diamond stitch cushions, are the minimum required safety equipment for an RIB. 
Otherwise, how could you have a pleasant day on the water? 
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Wait until they find out, there's no Wi-FI!! 

Sparse crowds, for sure.
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Went over to a Honda dealer to see if there were any model year changes, to the Honda BF2.3.
Just to test the sales guy, I asked how much they weighed, this year.
"50 Pounds!"    He said, proudly.
"Really!!?? Uhh . . . . are you sure?"    (Said the guy who KNOWS they actually weigh only 30 pounds.)
"Yup!!    50 Pounds!! Here! Feel it!!"    He said, taking the motor off a motor mount and handing it to me.
(Sure felt like 30 pounds, to me.) 
I was about to go to the Honda web site on my phone, to illuminate him and then stopped.
He was so happy and proud of hefting that "50 pound" motor around all day, that I knew right away, that this was a Moral Quandary:
Take away all his Joy, or point out all the potential Lost Sales, to people who have no intention of putting a 50 pound motor on a small dinghy, because of his ignorance?? 
In the end, Moral Cowardice won out and I simply nodded politely, and walked away, figuring there's not enough Surplus Happiness in the world these days, to begrudge someone else their happiness, however they manage to find it.

Hey! That Sea Foam hull perfectly matches my SCAMP!!     Wonder if it would make a good tender?!? 
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Probably cost me a coupla knots, towing it with the SCAMP, though. 

As close to Boat Show Babes as it gets, when it's cold.
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Asked her for a pic for my sailing blog and she tossed her head around, with her best Alicia Silverstone "As IF!" impression.
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Sailboats aren't completely dead at this show; here's an 8-foot Portland Pudgy, making me wonder if I shouldn't have just got one of those, instead of trying to build a 12-foot SCAMP.
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Nah. A man's got to have his standards, and 8-feet doesn't meet mine. 

Definitely nobody getting in anybody's way, today.
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This LOOKS innocent, enough.
If you didn't know that in previous years, that area was filled with sailboats, instead of power boats.
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A 12 foot roto-molded runabout from Estonia.
Estonia?!?!? 
Had a brief vision of me zipping around in the Baltic Sea in that thing and gave myself a severe case of the Heebie-Jeebies!! 
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The builder was also proud of the fact, that his 12 foot boat only weighed 300 pounds more than my 12 foot SCAMP weighs.
I decided not to enlighten him; nodded politely and then walked away.

At first glance, those seats look like only NBL basketball players can get up on them, without a ladder.
Actually, you flip the bolsters forward and down and you STILL have to be an NBL player, to get up on them. 
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Couldn't have sprung for some foot rests, guys? 

A decent GulfStar sailboat.
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I liked the molded-in integration of solar array support and davit arms.

A Beneteau.
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You know you're getting desperate to see sailboats, when even Euro-Trash styling becomes a welcome sight.

And a coupla Catalinas which were USED boats, being sold by a broker! 
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Throw in some Condo-Marans, (one of which was a time-share) and there were a grand total of TEN sailboats, this year!
The Malbec 18 (a Windrose 18 wannabe) wasn't there, the ComPacs weren't there, the Seawards weren't there.
It's like they're trying to see the minimum number of sailboats they can display and still call it the St Petersburg Power & Sailboat Show. 

A Chris Craft with nice lines reminiscent of the old Mahogany Runabout days and a 450 HP V-10.
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I think that black tube is the fuel inlet.
I wondered if it could make it out of the marina, without having to-refuel. 

An over-the-top beach fishing cart.
Now, I know a lot of Beach Fishermen and their CARS, rarely cost as much as that thing did! 
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Sand Shark is a high-tech beach stake, whose claim to fame is that you can disassemble it, when it gets jammed in the sand.
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Only marketing guys, can make a work-around sound like a feature! 
They seem to be marketing to the Jet-Ski crowd, which probably doesn't know any better.
Left the boat show wondering, if sailors are slowly becoming a dying breed.
But, not THIS year!! 

Charles Brennan

[Riley Smith]

That weather skewed your algorithm! I know anyone in Mississippi considers anything below 60F cold and I'm sure that FL people are even worse 

[Charles Brennan]

That weather skewed your algorithm! I

Riley, Fellow Sailor, Brother in Christ, Friend, whom I've sailed with and broken bread with, more than once:
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(From center, clockwise:)
Sonia Smith, Riley Smith, Charles Brennan, Mary Brennan, Don't remember, Travis Votaw, Laura Griffith, Charlie Jones, John Roddy.

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Sonia left, Riley at right. Next to him is Mary, and next to her, is me.

I'm calling B.S. on that one, Bro!! 
St Pete 2K17 was 4 degrees colder than this year and St Pete 2K22, was 2 degrees colder and they had more people and more shoppers:
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See many tee-shirts and shorts, in that 2K22 crowd?!?
But! They ARE shopping and a few even have bags.
Not yesterday.
Nobody seated at a table and talking over options, with a salesman?? 
No cool gadgets to bring home??   
Burgers, but no fries, at the food truck?!? 
Almost empty Gosling Black Seal bar tent? 
Incidentally, as the warmest place there with their big honkin' propane heaters, you'd think people would hang out just for the warmth.  If you tried, the servers descended on you like mosquitos at sunset.  Tough making a living on tips, if nobody's buying. 

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See anybody carrying a gadget? 
No?? 
How about here?? 
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Ancient Kings used to monitor the state of their reign's economics, differently.
When the Peasants started hoarding gold and bread, they knew revolution was coming.
Certainly, no economist would claim we're in a recession and I would have no quarrel with that.
But I saw this at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in 2K8 & 2K9, and at the Miami Boat Show in 2K8 & 2K9.
While I fervently hope I'm wrong, I see Bad Times coming.

I stand by my words,
Charles Brennan

[Riley Smith]

Haha.....digital proof! It is DEFINITELY below 60F this morning! My wife woke me up at 4am. Yep. "It's SNOWING".
Myself, I could give a rat's petunia, but I had to pee anyway. So I got some britches on and went and looked. Naturally it had already quit and the radar showed the backside of the front about 20 miles to the west. Hint: That was IT.
Nothing to do but make coffee and get the day started. She was so concerned because Jackson had been praying it would snow. It snowed LAST YEAR. Best I've seen in MY lifetime. We're not due for another decade. But she wanted to see and tell him his prayers were answered, but perhaps, just not exactly how he'd imagined. We want to put those prayers in a box don't we, and then turn our noses up when the i wasn't dotted?

So, life lessons. They never stop. I fixed breakfast, now up and about, and SHE went back to bed.

True story of the Life Of Riley.