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he boat show had been awaited for months, and this past weekend over 2,000 came through the gates and took it all in. There were forty boats on display – power, sail, on trailers and in the water. Boats were sold, and in one case a power boat owner traded in on a sailboat (we hear the opposite much more often).

“There was between 2,000 and 2,500 people through the show” said show manager Chris Daniels.

Dock "A" was completed just in time for the show – and quickly filled in with sail and power vessels on display. (Joel Arrington photo)

Sailing vessels to 40’ were in the water, with smaller boats like these trailerable Hunters shown on land.

Skip Kemp of Cateret Community College explains the benefits of "oyster gardening" – that means growing a batch of oysters under your dock. His demonstration below was better than any explanation….

The TownDock.net "Best In Show" award didn’t go to a boat – but to a tank of oysters. This display of how oysters clean water was a vivid example of how big a difference oysters can make. We took three photos to make this slide show.

Lined up – power vessels for fishing and just running about.

Fishing Guide Derek Jordan sharing a fishing story….

It was breezy Saturday, and young Sarah Williams cap flew off and into the water. She had good timing – this happened while walking by Fishing Guide Derek Jordan’s boat. The hat was blowing away fast – Derek grabed his rod n reel – made a deadly accurate 20’ cast – and reeled that hat back in….

Derek reels the hat in while Sarah’s appreciative parents look on.

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More photos from the boat show…

Father-Son sailmaking team Wally® and Ben Chapin showed their wares. In authentic Oriental fashion, their dog Lily assisted.

Kindly Ross Pease of the Inland Waterway Provision Company was in the booth inside the show, while mean Jay Winston sold kayaks from the shows entrance near the dinghy dock.

LuAnn Parins and Mark Weinheimer compare sailing notes with Bob Moore (center).

Several local realtors took advantage of the all the visitors to town, with booths alongside the boat vendors. Carol Wright (pointing the the computer) said many prospective boat buyers were interested in property too…

Jim Saunders and Stanley Feigenbaum. Stanley is the US distributor for Beta marine diesel engines and generators, based just a few miles out of Oriental in Arapahoe.

We’d heard about a product called Flexiteek that was synthetic teak deck substitute. Being cynical, we had to figure it couldn’t really look like teak. We are still staring at the little sample they gave us….‘cause dang it it does look like teak. The sheets of material are glued down to a deck.

A couple from Benson, NC is the US distributor for a New Zealand product – Flexiteek.

Sailcraft’s Alan Arnfast showed he could play to two different crowds. He brought a HUGE Volvo diesel AND a Harken roller furler…

Lots of folks had to check out this little tug.

Beverly and Bill Schwartz showed example of their boat canvas work…

Saturday night was beach music time….dancin’ on the train station deck. Oriental Harbor’s own Steve Williams is the drummer for "Night Cruise."

So – will there be another boat show next year? Show manager Chris Daniels said many vendors were asking to book their booth again for 2005. "we had between 2,000 and 2,500 people come through during the weekend. Boats were sold….vendors were happy".

Oriental Harbor President George Dobson says they would like to do the show again – but it is too soon to announce that it will definitely happen. "At this time next year most or all of the slips we used will be occupied by their new owners. We can’t unilaterally make a decision that we would have another boat show, without first discussing it with the slip owners."

George Dobson and Chris Daniels of Oriental Harbor Marina

Posted Tuesday April 27, 2004 by Keith N. Smith