The 2010 Atlantic City Boat Show happened this past week and it was once again held at the convention center. This venue is a great place, the location, the environment and the accessibility make it a perfect selection. This year’s show had a nice mix of trades people, marinas and manufacturers.
The venue is situated as soon as you arrive in Atlantic City so whether you drive or ride the train you are either parking or getting off the train and right into the show. When getting into the show it was laid out nicely so you can browse the boats then hit the trades/vendors while you decide what boats you want to look at. I visited several of the vendors and spoke with a great deal of interesting people. My personal goals were to find the best school to attend for getting a captain’s license, talk to and buy some artificial lures for wahoo/dolphin/sails in the Keys and learn about and buy a personal locator beacon. I also wanted to check out the latest and greatest boats that we could expect to see on the water, along with what the engine manufacturers are doing for the fuel war.
When I started I met up first with Dan from Scylla Lures (www.scyllalures.com). He suggested a few lures for me to try, I bought two without hesitation and can not wait to use them. If you check out his site you will see that you can have your name applied to the lure. A cool idea for a gift. The lure skirts are all vinyl and tied not glued on. The lures heads are pours with the eyes set in, no losing eyes, and the poly is water clear. I also bought a great pair of pliers, the pliers are all aluminum with a braid cutter on the side. They came with a nylon sheath and a tether cord. For a 29.99 dollar price tag it was the deal of the show. Dan was paired up with Robert Browning of Boomerang fishing (www.boomerangfishing.com) . Robert has a great selection of fishing poles from baitcasters to stand up rods. They are all great poles and incredibly reasonable in pricing.
My next stop was for a great tuna tournament. The tuna stake invitational (www.tunastakes.com) is a charity event run out of Atlantic City. The event is held in memory of Dr. Leonard Strobel. The tournament is not only a great event but it also will raise awareness for heart disease, donate money to it’s research and all while fishing. You can run out of anywhere between Shark River and Cape May. Fishing can be done on any one day/night out of five. The weigh ins are at various locations and the awards banquet is held in Atlantic City. As an added bonus the Grand Champion gets an invite to the IGFA Offshore 2011 World Championships in Cabo San Lucas.
So after that I wandered down the rows and rows of booths and walked into the Saltwater Soldiers (www.saltwatersoldiers.org) booth. I spoke with Mike Branson who was just estactic to talk about the foundation he had started. His foundation is putting soldiers on the water. He runs this charity to give back to the men and women who keep us free. What can I say, go to the site and donate! Mike is always upgrading his boat and keeping things comfortable for the soldiers. Mike was sharing the booth with Bahama Lures (www.bahamalure.com ), The lures are a good looking lure and there were several on display and up for raffle.
Leaving there I next walking into Alan Robinson’s booth (www.themapguy.com ). The map guy, as he is called is a unique and interesting booth. Alan takes a picture of your boat or whatever else you have in mind and does an original water color. He takes that and places it on a chart of your choosing along with the fish that you choose for an original print that you can frame and hang on the wall for years to come.
From there I stopped off at Voodoo lures (www.fishvoodoodolls.com) . What an idea for a lure. I bought one head from the company and the trick here is that you can unscrew the skirt and change it out while the head is still rigged. The head is a steel threaded head and the skirt is plastic, threaded and slotted so when you unscrew it you can pop it off and put a new one on. Essentially you can save a lot of money buying several skirts.
Leaving there I found several schools for captain’s license. After talking with them I decided on Mariner’s School (www.marinersschool.com) . The newly designed Mariners Learing System is a state of the art web based learning system. In this system you have a virtual classroom and learn through reading and video lecture. After this you take a quiz. If you need to read it or watch the video again you have the opportunity to. There is also a message board where you can post questions and they have a help line that is available via an 800 number. You learn at your own pace then take a test (USCG approved) given by them at a site they designate. The rates are very competitive and they give you everything you need. If you want a captain’s license then go talk to Captain Bob Figular, he will not steer you wrong.
My next stop was at the ACR booth. I have been looking at personal locator beacons for some time. I wanted piece of mind next time I venture off shore. Fishing out of the Florida Keys at times you wander way out there and you can be incredibly vulnerable. With a PLB or an EPIRB such as the ones designed by ACR you can have a small sense of security. I spoke with the representative from ACR and it was extremely informative. I decided leaving that booth that I would seek out a sales booth and purchase a PLB. Both the PLB and EPIRB work exactly the same the only difference is size. I felt that the PLB along with a ditch bag and some essential items would suit me best. When I purchased mine I was given a coupon to mail in and get a free ditch bag sent to me. Buying the PLb was one of the easiest things to purchase, I spoke with Karen from Viking Life Saving Equipment (www.viking-life.com) and she was very pleasant and explained to product to me. Lastly to keep up with the time ACR has start an “I’m OK” feature. For a fee you can register at www.406link.com and send a loved one a message telling them you are OK if you are out of VHF and cell range.
One of the more interesting products at the show was from Bob at Bob’s bait board (www.bobsbaitboard.com) . Bob has designed a bait board that attaches to your igloo cooler, has a knife, sharpening ceramic sticks and a measuring tape all in one. The board is made of an floating acrylic had a floating 7” dexter knife and is available in 3 sizes and custom size upon request. I think in the years to come we will see these all over the place. What an idea!
Heading down the line I stopped to talk with Dr. Joseph Tordella (www.air-land-sea.com) . He has a practice that is dedicated to giving physicals for USCG captain’s licenses and FAA pilots license. His office is located in the Atlantic City Airport and he does not see “sick” patients, you will not sit next to a flu virus or any other type of sickness. He takes you on appointment so you will arrive and be seen. There is minimal waiting with this arrangement and he is affordably priced.
I moved along to the boats and saw that this year the emphasis was on the smaller boats. There were only a handful of boats over 35 feet. The one that did stand out was a Buddy Davis. What can I say, it was a Buddy Davis.
I did look at the Grady Whites. With today’s economic times they offer you a great boat for a reasonable price. The new Chesapeake model is a step up in size from the Gulf Stream. It has what you need for a comfortable overnight trip and a great all around family/fishing/fun boat. The smaller boats were also well represented with Boston Whaler and Carloina Skiff having a strong competition.
The engines have come a long way. Mercury had a large display and was showing off the new “greener” engines. Both Yamaha and Evinrude also had a display and the Yamaha 350 was a show stopper. It boasts the power and the best fuel mileage in the industry.
I spoke with a lot of people and everyone was happy that we were there. The weather was looking like the weekend was going to be a bust. Hopefully everyone did well and got home safe.
Catch em up,
Timmy T
