It's Tuesday June 18, 2013
April 19, 2012
Not much wind, and that was a good thing, for the 2012 Oriental Boat Show.
Scene along one dock at the 2012 Oriental Boat Show.Oriental’s Rotary Club says that the 4th Annual Oriental Boat Show set a record for attendance. More than 1730 paying attendees came to the show laid out in the waters and grounds of Pecan Grove Marina on Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15. 957 attended on Saturday alone. Hundreds more attended on Friday when the Rotary wasn’t charging admission.
Boats of many sizes and types were at the show. About half were in the water, and half, like these on trailers on land. A Key West gets a look-over from a boat show attendee.As much as sailors might appreciate a steady wind, boat shows do not. At the Rotary’s Oriental Boat Show in 2011, strong winds — associated with tornadoes elsewhere in the state — dampened attendance and caused a number of vendors to leave early.
Not so this year.
Sam Myers officially opens the record-setting 4th Annual Oriental Boat Show on Friday, April 13, as Pete Parham, trumpet in hand, prepares to play “The Star-Spangled Banner.”Sam Myers who has organized the event for Rotary the past few years says that at this year’s show — the 4th Annual — there were 66 vendors, more than 80 boats on display – half of them in the water, as well as attendees from ten states.
“Based on the combination of number of vendors, number of boats, sales attributed and number of attendees,” says Myers, “the Oriental Boat Show has every indication of having become one of the largest and most successful in-water shows between Annapolis and Savannah.”
It wasn’t a little boat that was attracting attendees.. but the even smaller WaveFront TillerClutch holding the lines in place on the tiller. The device was tested in the waters off of Oriental — and lakes near Raleigh where WaveFront’s Pete Crawford and Katherine Smart live.Boat brokers from Oriental and beyond showed off their vessels, and at the vendors tents, new products were touted. Among them, electronic navigation systems that relay info to iPads and the WaveFront TillerClutch, a tiller-controller that was tested in the waters off of Oriental.
Pete Waterson of Seacoast Marine Electronics shows off the new navigation equipment that can put all the information in to a nearby iPad.There were also seminars where talks were given on first-aid, fishing regulations, efforts to make the Neuse River cleaner, and safety demonstrations on how to use a flare in an emergency.
Machine Technician Butterfield of the US Coast Guard guides Carina Doyle of Raleigh on how to use a flare in an emergency. Looking on are two of her children. It was one of several demonstrations and seminars given at the Boat Show.According to a press release, the Boat Show may lead to some boat sales. “Many dealers and brokers reported garnering substantive leads on boat purchases. Last year’s show accounted for over $500,000 in boat sales along with $135,000 in sales of complimentary products and services. Early vendor reports indicate that 2012 might well top that sales performance.”
Sosegada, Caliber that Triton Yachts brought to the show.Sam Myers says 2012’s vendor list and updated information about the show’s evolving sales performance can be found at “orientalboatshow.com”.
The Rotary held a Nautical Flea Market as part of the Boat Show.
Posted Thursday April 19, 2012 by Melinda Penkava
