Recession, We Think Not!

By the looks of the Miami Boat Show, you would think this country’s economy is running on all cylinders.

We rented a car and our friends, Jean and Tony went with us to Miami to check out this enormous event and meet Reuben Trane, the owner of Island Pilot the company building our new boat. It was a perfect day to walk around the world’s largest boat show. It is so big that there are coach buses shuttling people from sailboats to midsize boats to giant luxury yachts and back to the convention center. We were there 9 hours and didn’t even go into the convention center.

We met Reuben just in time to take a sea trial on a catamaran that will use the hybrid motors that will be in our new boat. Reuben is a very tall man ( 6’5”) with a happy, energetic disposition. He was very warm and welcoming when Warren yelled to him from the dock. “Reuben, it’s Warren and Robin!” Reuben looked up from the dock below and smiled, “Hey, come aboard, we were just leaving.” We were quickly escorted onto the boat. Here we were introduced to media people and the crew as the Couple who purchased the First Island Pilot Dse. We felt like celebrities for a few moments. People came up and shook our hands and wanted to talk to us. Natalie Friton, the managing editor of Passage Maker magazine was very eager to tell us what a wonderful person Reuben was and that we will be nothing short of amazed with the quality of his work. She has been following the progress of the first “green” boat and told us that the publicity and excitement is growing while waiting for this boat to arrive in June. Natalie told me to get ready for a rush of reporters and interested boaters wanting to see your boat! After the sea trial, we went over to see the other Island Pilot boats that Reuben had on display. He wanted to show us the quality workmanship that they do and will be copied into our boat. That is where we met Reuben’s wife, Cheryl. We shared a bottle of wine and spoke about our boat for a few hours and I must say when we left, Warren and I both felt at ease knowing we made the right decision. We took a shuttle bus over to Collins Ave in Miami Beach, where the yachts were being shown. I have never seen so many gorgeous boats in my life. One after another, yachts lined up for miles, one bigger than the next. Tony picked out one that he would like to have in his next life! Yachts that were as big as cruise ships made for one type of budget, an Unlimited Budget! I didn’t want to go onto any yachts because we just purchased a new boat and didn’t want to be discouraged that our 40 foot boat was about the same size as these yachts’ dinghies. The price tag for most of these yachts are in the millions, starting at 2 million and all the way up.

Who’s buying these big ticket items? Is everyone window shopping? How much room do you really need on a boat? Is this kind of luxury really necessary? Is there a recession? Well, by the looks of the Miami Boat Show, We think not!