Southwest Int. In-Water Boat Show

[TomAndLee]

We will be attending our first boat show this weekend and were wondering if any liveaboard cruisers are going to be in Seabrook or surrounding areas on Saturday for the boat show.

Would love to buy ya a drink and maybe pick your brain...but not too hard!

Tom and Lee

[LoudMusic]

Hello fellow Austinite!

My wife and I had it on the calendar and have since decided against the trip because it seems there will be very few sailboats on display. Maybe we're wrong? I look forward to your report if you're inclined to write one up.

[TomAndLee]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

Hello fellow Austinite!

My wife and I had it on the calendar and have since decided against the trip because it seems there will be very few sailboats on display. Maybe we're wrong? I look forward to your report if you're inclined to write one up.

I will absolutely post a write up! There are so many sailboats for sale in that area and we are just using it as a time to get on a few so we can figure out what we like and don't like. We are in our beginning stages and this is fairly close to home so it works for us. I know I would eventually like to go to the mothership of shows in Annapolis but we aren't even close to being able to grasping so many things at this point that I think we will wait until next year.
If ya'll change your mind, holler!

[TomAndLee]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

Hello fellow Austinite!

My wife and I had it on the calendar and have since decided against the trip because it seems there will be very few sailboats on display. Maybe we're wrong? I look forward to your report if you're inclined to write one up.

Hey there, I'm back for my update!

So first time at a boat show so I do not have anything to compare it to. There were Jeanneau, Beneteau, Hunter, Catalina, a couple Catamarans and Trawlers and there were also a few used boats individuals were selling or brokers were selling for the owners. I grabbed a couple fliers with boats under the 30k range that I am going to try to post in the forum designated for that. The good was that everyone was super friendly and fun. Most were offering beers and waters to people checking out there boats. While we didn't exactly have the variety in sailboats that we were hoping for, one of the brokers opened their docks up on Sunday for the boat show. It was only a mile and a half down the road, they had a great flyer that listed what boat was where with the year, make and model and price. We were able to climb in a ton of boats and find out what we do and do not like. There were boats way out of our price range but curiosity killed us so we had to board and look around.

We stayed at the hotel right there at the marina and the grounds were beautiful. Views overlooking the water. The food wasn't that great though.

The entertainment was good, but not our cup of tea so we didn't stay long for the party. People seemed to kind of stay with people they knew most, which is natural but we felt a bit out of place (for us). They had some food trailers and the food was good. Everyone at the trailers were very friendly.

The vendors. Tons of vendors with little inventory, but still good to visit and check out. They had at least two vendors that had absolutely nothing to do with boating. One was selling jewelry cleaning stuff and the other was one of those miracle tighten your skin crap. They were both aggressive and would grab you to try to get you in. I hate that.

A lot of powerboats and toys available. We looked at some dinghies but only saw one vendor with them.

Overall it was a good first show for us. We had intended on going to a couple of the seminars but we were busy looking so we never made it. Plus, considering our lack of experience, it probably would have been over our head. They did have a 'choosing your first sailboat' seminar which could have been useful but because it was broker sponsored, I wasn't too excited about attending. I really like hearing the advice from those who have purchased, not those who are selling me.

Anyway, we are glad we went but will probably only go back to a couple of the marinas where the brokers are located. The weather was gorgeous though and we did enjoy ourselves.