Atlantic City Boat Show

[Scott]

The AC show … If you can get to this show next time around its really really worth your time.

The Grand Daddy or I guess “Queen of the Show” was some 58-foot Viking Sport cruiser (yuk is all I can say) I’m sure it was beautiful inside but No Thank you!!
The big noteworthy stuff, in my eyes, was a 51 and 39 Bertrams and a 52 Viking SF, with ridiculous lines to board. There was also a big Ocean 46?? and the New 42 Henriques. Davis also had some “40 something” foot stuff there. 35 Cabo, 35 Predator, 38 OutIsland etc etc were also there.

Tons of monster (over 31’) Center Consoles with very large price tags. Palmetto 33 looked like a real nice deal, even heard some real time, real life endorsements of that hull over some very popular Large CC’s …We were all surprised when we heard which big CC was sold or traded in after a year of use. The top of the console lifted (as on some of the larger sport fishing boats) to reveal your electronics. Nice touch on a boat this size. They had it hooked up to a Bennett hydraulic ram … REAL NICE. My one complaint about that boat was you could not run the boat and lean against the post??? None of us could touch either the throttles or the wheel when we were against the post. That has to lead to some fatigue while running that puppy. It was just too far away. That was mentioned to the Salesman and he said I was the first to say that, everyone else seemed to like that. You could seemingly fit four or five people in the area between the post and the console.

29’ Hinckley center console … talk about craftsmanship. And of course every other brand imaginable.

Naturally we checked out our namesake …. Definitely not on par with some of the other builders. We hopped on the 32 and poked around and were not overly impressed. It had the big coffin forward. We figured out how to lift the thing ( I think the whole show heard us lift the thing) as there was an unprotected, non- booted single throw toggle mounted right in the open, a few inches from the starboard side bolster. Anyhow Finny threw the switch … RWWRWRRRRRWRRRWWWR …. I thought a macerator pump was running and grinding up bearings in the process. Those rams were LOUD !!
Not a whole lot of space in its console either, given what other manufactures in this size range are accomplishing.

Jumped over to the 25 and again disappointed at the quality. The one thing that stuck in my head was the front “lift up” door to the console and how it was mounted. Thing opened with small pressure assist pistons. With the door/hatch in the up or open position it just swayed in the breeze, looked like it was going to come crashing down … you could see the strain on the undersized arms that attached to the door…I could only imagine what would happen out in a sea - that would not hold up. It was wagging around on a boat on blocks!!

I would have to say I think our favorite boat was the Albemarle 32 SF … Nice boat with an even nicer price tag, nice marlin tower, diesels, just enough room below for overnight stuff, nice benches on the helm deck, nice cockpit . We got thrown off after Finny got caught drooling over the gauges as he sat at the helm. Prior to that he locked himself in the cabin for a while. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

The Albemarle 242 CC w/jackshaft… another nice boat. Talked to the salesman for a bit and came to find out he had a 23 SC for a while. After that we took a look at and spoke with the President/Owner of the Bimini 24 Center console (the old topaz hull). Great guy and builds a real nice boat. This one with a single IB 240Hp? Yanmar Diesel. Nice classic boat.

The new SouthPort 26 and 28 was there, nice but nothing over the top … wouldn’t mind a ride in one.

Jupiter …. Nice Console ….. Nice work on the electric panel …Capt. Chuck I thought of you while we poked around this boat …. It was All Gucci !!! Nice Birdsall 40” Fiberglass leaning post Tackle center, nice hardware (i.e. Chuck they had the Gucci holders on it !! ) They did go a bit overboard with the matching custom paint job on the motors , painted to match the hull.

Chris got a few comments on the Classic SeaCraft shirt … Jason, It sure sounds like the boating world knows about this site !!! Couple of Tower builders we talked to really knew the boats, SeaCrafts, and we spent some time talking about old vs new … Was funny how many time “Potter hull” came up !! Its pretty neat to hear the respect these hulls get from folks in the business.

Came across this booth with brass nautical decorations, Fin tried to lift something …and the owner slammed him to the ground …KIDDING [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]!!! That was Joe R’s area .. Nice to see ya again Joe …

Saw the folks at SPTanks . They honed in on Chris with the CSC shirt, so we spoke to them for a few minutes … They are also very aware of the site. They informed us about a new method they are using for mounting the sending unit, real nice, and use a magnetic type float on a tube as the standard sending unit, big time improvements over the old style float. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again …Real nice people and they do real nice work!!!

Would have been nice to get there during the week … but still would not have had enough time to see it all. We went into the vendor’s section to look for leaning posts and such … I think we saw half of what was in that area. We didn’t look at a whole lot of boats. There were impressive boats and not so impressive ones. I know we were all disappointed at several big name boats, using cheap hardware and components, poor rigging and such on boats that deserve better.

[Capt Chuck]

Nice report Scott and THANKS for sharing [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I'll be going to the West Palm Beach Show April 17th-20th. There is always plenty of
"Gucci" boats

Oh how could I forget to mention, the major "Eye Candy"

[ScottM]

I'll be going to the West Palm Beach Show April 17th-20th.

April 17-20 huh? That's when Kelli and I are coming over for a visit. Maybe the girls can do some shopping while you and I hit the boat show. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Capt Chuck]

Ooooops! The West Palm Beach Boat Show is March 17th - 20th
NOT April---Sorry [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[ocuyler]

Scott,

Thanks for the recap. Sorry I missed you guys - it sounded like fun. I got talked into the Cleveland Show, which sucked by comparison if you like offshore hulls.

Did you say Chris was the Queen of the Show?

Oh, yeah, was Robin there? Say hi to her for me.

[Scott]

Sorry I missed you guys - it sounded like fun.

Otto .. It was ...just not enough time to really get the full feel of the show

Did you say Chris was the Queen of the Show?.

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] When I looked back at that I knew it was going to be trouble [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Oh, yeah, was Robin there? Say hi to her for me.

While she is into the boat thing I don’t think she would tolerate the hours we were there. She would have locked me in that fish box !! I have to say she has surprised me as she has spent more time flippin through the Albemarle brochure than I have [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

I'll tell her you said Hi

[Finster]

Did you say Chris was the Queen of the Show?.

Otto, you wouldn't have liked the show, no Carvers [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Sounds like your in the market for a queen. Go to JohnRs site. Jerseygirl hangs out there now, maybe you could score. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I'll have to look around and see if I any pic's from that lost weekend you spent with he/she/it. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]