This is our take and our opinion on Trawler Fest 2017 Bay Bridge. This was our first Trawler Fest but not our first boat show. We spent all day Thursday at the marina. It was great to see boats in one location, this really helps newbies like ourselves to see the wide range of boats. We were disappointed in the number of boats as compared to sail boat shows we have been to in the past. I suspect this speaks to the smaller demand for these types of boats. It was great to speak with boat owners that were there representing the boat manufactures. All the participants were very helpful in talking with us and showing us the different aspects of their boat. It was great to be able to open lockers, crawl in the engine rooms, check out the shower stalls, kitchen counter, side deck, pilothouses, fly bridges, etc. to see what we really liked and didn’t like. The engine room of the Nordhavn 55 was fantastic. The Helmsman 38 was nice but seemed a bit small for us and only one stateroom, we wish they would have had the 43 at the show. Our pick of the show was the North Pacific 49, a great all around boat we could see ourselves on, but there were many nice boats there. Some boats we were looking forward to seeing didn’t show due to Maria, one was the Nordhavn 46 which we really wanted to see.
We did have quite a few discussions on the direction this type of boats and where the manufactures were going. One topic that always came up, not with the boat manufacture reps, but with the brokers, which was that the sales for new boats is decreasing although some manufactures stated that they were sold out for many years so if we wanted a new boat it would be some time before it was delivered, that there is a lack of newer used boats on the market. Many had various reasons for this but our take on this was costs. We did set down with a few of the reps of the boats we thought would work for us. All of them ended up being close to or over $1M. So for us a new boat is out of our range. We did go to a few of the free seminars and there were many in the same position we are in, seeking out as much information as possible in a short time.
To us it seemed that many boats (sail & motor) are now out of the range for us and I consider us to be in the middle to upper middle class. Compared to RV’s were there are so many great new RV’s (5th wheel/motorhomes) that we could afford but in comparison very few new boats. I know some of you will give me heck for this, but remember this is our opinion and I understand some will say that’s it apples to oranges, but to us it’s a choice between retiring and traveling in an RV or boat for the next 5-10 years, it’s a means to an end.
While there we had set up viewing of several used boats. A Navigator 4800, which ended up having a great engine room, some where between a crawl and standup. We really liked the lay out of this boat being very open between the salon and the pilothouse. Great kitchen counter space and the layout of the staterooms was also great. The next boat was the Bayliner 4788, another great layout but with a very tight engine room, but did have hatches above to get to most everything, didn’t have the center hatch mod. We tried to see a Defever 49 CPMY and a Kadey Krogen 42 but could not get things lined up. We were very grateful to the brokers that showed us the boats.
Overall it was a great experience and well worth the expense. Not sure if we will go to another one but we’ll have to see what boats are expected to be there.
Thanks
We did have quite a few discussions on the direction this type of boats and where the manufactures were going. One topic that always came up, not with the boat manufacture reps, but with the brokers, which was that the sales for new boats is decreasing although some manufactures stated that they were sold out for many years so if we wanted a new boat it would be some time before it was delivered, that there is a lack of newer used boats on the market. Many had various reasons for this but our take on this was costs. We did set down with a few of the reps of the boats we thought would work for us. All of them ended up being close to or over $1M. So for us a new boat is out of our range. We did go to a few of the free seminars and there were many in the same position we are in, seeking out as much information as possible in a short time.
To us it seemed that many boats (sail & motor) are now out of the range for us and I consider us to be in the middle to upper middle class. Compared to RV’s were there are so many great new RV’s (5th wheel/motorhomes) that we could afford but in comparison very few new boats. I know some of you will give me heck for this, but remember this is our opinion and I understand some will say that’s it apples to oranges, but to us it’s a choice between retiring and traveling in an RV or boat for the next 5-10 years, it’s a means to an end.
While there we had set up viewing of several used boats. A Navigator 4800, which ended up having a great engine room, some where between a crawl and standup. We really liked the lay out of this boat being very open between the salon and the pilothouse. Great kitchen counter space and the layout of the staterooms was also great. The next boat was the Bayliner 4788, another great layout but with a very tight engine room, but did have hatches above to get to most everything, didn’t have the center hatch mod. We tried to see a Defever 49 CPMY and a Kadey Krogen 42 but could not get things lined up. We were very grateful to the brokers that showed us the boats.
Overall it was a great experience and well worth the expense. Not sure if we will go to another one but we’ll have to see what boats are expected to be there.
Thanks
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