Heading to the St Pete's Boat Show Today

[copb8tx]

Coming from Dallas and watching our Dallas Boat Show dwindle to wake boats and bass boats it's really exciting to go to a boat show that has beautiful big boats in the water and tons and tons of vendor booths.

We went last year and got invigorated. Our plan is to move up modestly in boats in a couple/few years to get a very light over-nighter so it's fun seeing what's out there and what's going to be 'used' when we get to that point.

 

[FootballFan]

Stop by Red Mesa for some Mexican food. Excellent by Texas standards.

 

[highslice]

Coming from Dallas and watching our Dallas Boat Show dwindle to wake boats and bass boats it's really exciting to go to a boat show that has beautiful big boats in the water and tons and tons of vendor booths.

We went last year and got invigorated. Our plan is to move up modestly in boats in a couple/few years to get a very light over-nighter so it's fun seeing what's out there and what's going to be 'used' when we get to that point.

The St. Louis NMMA boat show was canceled for the 3rd year in a row. They say it is because of lack of inventory.

 

[Pirate Lady]

From what I am seeing about the upcoming Baltimore boat show, most the vendors by far have nothing to do with boats.

 

[JHornsby3]

Portland Oregon's boat show was ok. It's been better. But there was good inventory with the larger dealers. Only a couple of the larger boats were there. The Sea Ray dealer was there with their smaller boats. He was saying that they have a 18 month waiting list for anything over 25 foot. And if I was to drop down the million bucks today on a new SunDancer, it would be more than 2 years to get it.

As for vendors, there was a few small booths. There was a lot that didn't show up but paid for the space.

 

[copb8tx]

Just got home and I've now been to 3 of these in a row and this was definitely the best year so far. Inventory was excellent and there were so many beautiful boats, both in and out of our budget range.

For us, the Tiata 38LS seems to fit the bill for this area and our boating style perfectly. We really arent ready for this upgrade yet and see it happening in a year or two when I retire but you never know if the right boat comes along.

 

[Golfman25]

The St. Louis NMMA boat show was canceled for the 3rd year in a row. They say it is because of lack of inventory.

I don't know about that. I was just at the Chicago show, and while half the size as normal, I was surprized at the number of actual boats. And they all had outboards attached. There where plenty of Dayboats, wakeboats, and pontoons. Even center counsels, both fishing and entertainment, which for our market is rare. They had several larger boats from Cruisers, Beneteau, Sabre, Regal, and even Sea Ray. There where even "boat show" pricing deals.

I'll say this, for the new style day boat/cruiser -- Sea Ray 370 was hands down the winner. They still now how to get the most out of a design.

 

[Chris-380]

Flying in to st pete for work, is it typically a good boat show?

 

[copb8tx]

Flying in to st pete for work, is it typically a good boat show?

I think it's very good. Not Miami or Ft Lauderdale for sure but I felt like there was lots to see.

 

[FootballFan]

Was thinking that I heard the Tampa and St Pete were combined into a single show - maybe that was just a figment of my memory.

 

[copb8tx]

Was thinking that I heard the Tampa and St Pete were combined into a single show - maybe that was just a figment of my memory.

That's exactly correct. It's been that way since opening back up after covid. Everyone I talk to say it's much better now than when they were separate.