Attitude Adjustment
Frost outlines my windshield as I follow my headlights down a winding, single-lane road. Gravel rumbles beneath my tires as I turn into the boatyard. I shut the car door and the sound echoes through the still morning air. The only other sound is the slap of loose halyards on aluminum masts.
The boat is right where I left her, wrapped tight and resting on blocks. Nearby, the Travelift sits idle.
A few hours and just a short flight later my reality changes. I land in an alternate universe: Miami, on the eve of Yachts Miami Beach and the Miami International Boat Show. A warm sea breeze blows down Collins Avenue as a small army of carpenters, electricians, and builders bustle about maneuvering boats, erecting displays, and firing up generators. Boats are buffed and polished to a mirror shine. The excitement is palpable; for many, the Miami shows are the proving ground for new models of which there are countless.
The boat show season is going well; positive buzz came out of the Cannes, Newport, and Annapolis shows, and culminated in one of the most successful Lauderdale shows since the Great Recession. Builders that began relationships at early fall shows are counting on Miami to be the venue to close deals. Time will tell if that’s in the cards. For consumers, there are countless new models to climb aboard that are brimming with innovation—some that you can easily spot and some that remains hidden to most.
For boaters on the fence about attending the show, especially my boating brethren from the north, I offer this advice:
Spend a couple days on the docks exploring one of the many exciting new debuts or swiping a finger across the latest MFDs in the electronics tent; the excitement at the show will undoubtedly rub off on you.
A boat show in the Sunshine State provides a great attitude adjustment. I was reminded of this recently, at a yacht expo in December hosted by Sea Ray and Boston Whaler in Captiva, on the Gulf Coast. Feeling salt-water deprived, I nearly wept while opening up the throttle of the 460 Fly. I was allotted an hour to take her out to the Gulf, get test data, and return to the dock. The Sea Ray captain who accompanied me must have seen the joy in my eyes (or was scared off by my constant grinning), because he told me, with the tone of a consoling doctor, “Take all the time you need.”
He would regret those words as I spun the boat in circle after circle, just messing about and enjoying time on the water.
On this trip, I assigned myself more sea trials than I could ever write in a dozen issues. An older model L-Class Sea Ray that we’ve already reported on? Sure, I’ll take a ride! Small bowriders that would fit neatly athwartships on the swim platform of many boats we feature? Yeah, I’ll take it out for a spin.
During the expo, I met a kindred spirit in Spencer Traynom, an engineer with Boston Whaler who spent the weekend running boats. Together we tested the 330 Outrage. When we finished he saw me looking at my watch. “We have enough time ... let’s go around again,” he said. “I’m sold,” I replied, as I pointed the bow south.
The Miami show will come and go, and all too soon, I’ll be making my way back to the boatyard with my defroster blasting. And there she’ll be, right where I left her. I’ll look at my boat and despite a gluttonous weekend of lusting over countless new yachts of all types and sizes, I’ll be glad to see a familiar face. I’ll look out onto the Connecticut River and think about all the new boats and boaters I’ll trade wakes with this coming summer. Most important, I’ll be thankful for the attitude adjustment the Miami show provides.
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