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T

he spark for the Oriental Boat Show came to Rob Lucey late last year. He says he saw the empty slips of the newly-completed section of the Pecan Grove Marina and thought, “What this town needs is a boat show.” He shared the idea, mentioning it to “too many people,” so that eventually, he says, he had no choice but to become a first time boat show organizer.

The result is the Oriental Boat Show, happening next weekend, April 17-19.

Rob Lucey on a recent afternoon at Pecan Grove Marina. In a week, the slips will be filled for the Oriental Boat Show. He’s hoping for warmer weather than the day this photo was taken.

More than a dozen area brokers, including Triton Yachts, Deatons, St. Barts, Cape Lookout, Oriental Yacht Sales, Jarrett Bay, and Mobile East will have boats in the 60 slips set aside for the show. Attendees will be able to go aboard and look around.

In one of those slips will be the skipjack Ada Mae, which is sailing down from New Bern for the show. Another distinctive vessel will be the periauger — a replica of the cargo sailing boat from North Carolina’s colonial era. Attendees will also be able to tour current working vessels, from the fishing fleet at Endurance Seafood.

The layout of the Oriental Boat Show.

The Oriental Boat Show is being called, “The Boat Show For Everyone.” Rob, who with his wife Jo, publishes the Carolina Currents magazine, says he’s noticed in recent years that some boat shows are a “pile of fiberglass and new power boats,” while other shows are devoted only to sail boats. Most focus only on new boats.

By contrast, the Oriental Boat Show will have “a little of everything,” Lucey says. “New and brokered, power and sail, small and large, cruising boats and kayaks.”

A mix of boats at the entryway to Pecan Grove Marina. A sailboat passes the fishing boats of Endurance Seafood, which will be open to visitors from the Oriental Boat Show.

As for staging a boat show in these economic times, Rob says he’s counting on some pent-up demand after last year’s slow boat sales and the relatively lower fuel prices this year. While Rob allows that there is a lot of uncertainty with the economy, he notes that some people still have money to spend on boats.

The Oriental Boat Show’s diversity of vessels aims to accommodate all those spending levels. “If you’re looking for a small boat to get out on and learn to sail, there’ll be Sunfish. And small fishing boats.” He adds with a smile, “and I know of at least one cruising boat under $50,000 that’s quite a bargain.” His and Jo’s Morgan 382 “Sea Spell” will be among the brokered boats in the slips. Rob says he sold a previous boat at a boat show in Houston years ago, and thought that others with used boats might give that a go with this show, too.

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Posted Thursday April 9, 2009 by Melinda Penkava

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