After spending a whirlwind March weekend at the Maine Boatbuilder's Show in Portland, the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors crew came home with three indelible impressions. One, this year's show reflected a welcome level of new energy in the New England boating scene. Two, attendance was back up to pre-recession levels. Three....there are a whole lot of really cool new boats out there!
New energy was crackling in the exhibitor booths and in the aisles, where it seemed like everybody was ready to move forward and "Just Get Out In The Boat." This year's show saw fewer large vessels on display, but the number, variety, and quality of craft more than made up the difference. Lots and lots of folks showed up on a cool blustery weekend to indulge their "boat jones," whether that was a new fuel-efficient power cruiser, a speedy little daysailer, a gleaming wooden dinghy, a new nautical necessity, or some piece of obscure secondhand marine hardware. Show organizers reported a weekend attendance of more than 6,300, the most in three years.
Enjoy paging through the photo gallery below, and we'll show you some of the boats and gear that caught our fancy. We hope the journey inspires you to peel back that boat cover and get started on your own projects. Time to get things shipshape so you can get out on the water as soon as possible.
Photograph by Jeff Scher
