SeeYouThere

I went down on Monday, it was quiet, but not empty. I took the boat license test, and passed. The sales guy said that 97% of people passed, but the marker afterwards said that 60% pass.

There were a few off-shore boats there, there was a nice Baja with 496s. The rest of the Fountain area was cruisers and centre-consoles. There was poker-run boat from the Ontario Poker Run Association? Whatever the Ontario association is called. And some outboard speedboats.

NKissau

Let me get this straight. You have to take a test to drive a boat in Canada? That is awesome! I wish that were the case here in the states. There are too many boneheads on the water these days. Same with motor homes. What's up with that, anyone can just buy a 40' motorhome and drive it around.

Too bad about the boat show. Our shows here in Michigan suck lately. If there are any offshores you're not aloud near them. Usually just fishing boats and cruisers Got to go to Miami to see the good stuff.

n20michael

I will be going later this week, looking forward to it!, usually go on the day with the worst weather, less people! not sure how many "big dollar" offshores will be there, but, as we all know, they probably sell 100 "family" type bowriders for every "real" offshore, should be a good show, besides, its
-40 and dark 18 hours a day, ANYTHING that remotely reminds me of summer is GOOD BY ME!!!

"NK"- I Agree!, I have been in MANY a marina and seen some guy with deep pockets and no skill [try] to dock his new boat, sometimes its downright scary. Same with RV's, and the MOST scary is rental trucks, there is NOTHING scarier than some guy who has NEVER driven anything bigger than his Hyundai sailing down a highway in a 30ft rental truck!!, think about it?, its basically a giant "rental car", how do you guys normally drive rental cars?????????, lol.

Thanks for the info on the show
Michael

Airpacker

the Ontario association you speak of is the Performance Boat Club of Canada.
www.performanceboatclub.ca

check us out.

Stinger390X

I went wednesday. It was a bit dry...if you know what I mean.
I agree...Fountain only brought up the "family" stuff and Chris craft...well at least they had nice nice boats. Very classy lines and stanse, but I did not like the little one as it only had a six cylinder in it. The lines of the boat were very nice but a bit small for my taste.
Shortage of big boats there and Larson didn't even show up. (I think I know what may have happened there as my buddy owns the dealership)
Only a couple of big "Blow boats" too?!?!

No one is spending big money these days.

I did manage to get a few goodies and some great advice in the accesory section. I ordered a new charger/inverter for my boat and new batteries. Got my steroe issue figured out as I know what to buy, however I did not buy it at the show as it was sold out. Going Clarion...top of the line. It even has a remote to install at the swim platform for the volume and station changing!

Other than that I was not impressed. The indoor water park lake only had canoes and kayaks running around? I guess the good shows are on the weekends?

At least for a Wednesday there was lots of room to walk and shop and you didn't have to wait in line to talk to experts.

Oh...and I found a Canadian company that makes these cool rubber dock side protectors that are inflatable. I bought two of them and will probably buy more. That shoudl stop any possible dock rash (touch wood...not!) I don't have any so far....prevention is the name of tha game.

SeeYouThere

Airpacker: yes, that was it, thanks.

Yes, in Canada you need a license, as of September 2009. So I figured I would get mine now and beat the rush. They are already required for under 16-year-olds, and for PWC operators, I believe. I am not sure if it will help or not, it is all either common sense, or things you will forget. Drunk maniacs will not stop being drunk maniacs just because they are supposed to have license.

n20michael

Hey Stinger, I agree, the show was a little lacking, but, all things considered I had a pretty good time, lots of vendors to look at accessories and stuff, The 30 ft baja with 496's was sweet, and Fountain brought a really cool "express cruiser up", looked like a real rocket and was sold too!, basically, it was about what I expected, althought I am pretty sure I did some Larson boats there??, Unless a dealership brought them there instead of the factory?, had a nice chat with a fellow from the 1000 Islands display that lives on Wellesley Island.

Stinger?, Where did you see the dock side protectors, they sound really cool!, would love to see a website or contact number, THANKS!!, we got ANOTHER pile of snow last nite, so, right now, even a "family bowrider" is making me drool!!.

Mike

PS: "Stinger" what did you get for audio?, there are some killer set ups out there now, some of them you can actually hear OVER the engine[s]!, ha ha

Perlmudder

I went yesterday. Larson was there cause I talked to one of the dealers about getting a new seat cushion. I was kinda disappointed by the go fasts. every year in the past they usually brought an MTI and a big V. this year it was only the baja and fountain ec. stinger. I have the whole clarion set up in my boat. the head unit is in the glove box, then there is a remote on the drivers side and one on the swim platform. worked great till it got stolen in sept. It was mobbed when I was there, if I could have I would have gone on a weekday evening then you can walk right onto some of the big cruisers.

freshwaterfiend

I thought the show was a real let down. The boats were boring, the crowd was light and the best part was running into Peter from DoubleR. Poor guy was at the Mercury booth for the whole show.

Pride said they didn't bother to bring down any Donzi's, and Jim Earle's display was really family oriented.

When the best boat of the show is a 30 foot Baja, you know things are hurting.

We counted 12 sold signs throughout the show - and that was the last day.

AB From Windsor

No performance boats or just a couple, is the reason why myself and some friends don't go down to Toronto for the show.