Tacoma Dome Boat Show

The Tacoma Dome Boat Show (I really like the name of that) is this weekend - In fact, it already started!

You can see more than 500 boats inside the Tacoma Dome (of course), in Tacoma, Washington.

The show will be cool, young, and hip. How do I know this? Because they have their own MySpace Page, and it's the nicest MySpace page I've seen.

Speaking of MySpace pages, we just started one for FirstBoat.com (our mother ship). If you'd care to be-friend FirstBoat (or whatever it is you do to connect with folks on MySpace), then please click away and be one of our first friends.

Oh, Canada!
Other boat shows this weekend include previously mentioned Palm Beach Boat Show and the Moncton Boat Show, being held at the Moncton Coliseum from March 28th-30th in New Brunswick, Canada. The show is only in its third year, so go out and support it if you like boat shows and live within a few hours of Moncton. The more you go, the more likely they will be able to have a 4th and 5th year.

Boaters not letting economy dock them

Business Week took a look at how the economy is affecting the marine industry in an article they ran today. The story, written by Ashley M. Heher, looks at the cold, hard facts that there are a lot less boats selling today than there were a few years ago.

It's no surprise, as I mentioned here last July, that there are a lot less boats being purchased due to the economy.

However, the anecdotal quotes from existing boat owners in Ashley M. Heher's article suggest that higher gas prices aren't going to keep boaters from boating. When you have twin 75-gallon gas tanks, does it really matter if gas is $2.25 or $4.25 per gallon? Either way, it's a lot of frigging gas to buy.

Palm Beach Boat Show This Weekend

The 23rd Annual Palm Beach Boat Show starts this Thursday, running from March 27th to the 30th across three locations in Palm Beach, Florida.

Why attend? Here in New England, where there's a chance for snow on this early Spring evening, it's more like why NOT attend. But with more than 1,000 boats, including superyachts like the $25 million dollar Lady Kathryn III (pictured), it's worth the trip from any location.

Learn more about the Palm Beach Boat Show and the Lady Kathryn III here.

Tugster

Do you heart NY? (That means, "do you love new york?")

If so, and if you also love boats, and if you also don't mind blogs, you'll love tugster - a waterblog.

What's Tugster? Here's how Tillerman describes it on his list of the 9 or 10 best sailing blogs:

The author Will Van Dorp works on greater New York harbor and posts on his blog photos of what he sees on the water. Tugs, sunsets, barges, birds, container ships, rudders, tillers, men at work, fishnets, kayakers... even some sailing craft occasionally. Strangely addictive.

Check out Tugster for yourself.

Ray leaps and kills woman

CNN just told me that a woman on a boat died after a spotted eagle ray leaped from the water off the Florida Keys Thursday and struck her while she was sitting on the bow of a boat going 25 mph.

The spotted-eagle ray weighed about 75 to 80 pounds and had a six-foot wingspan!

Read the entire disturbing story here.

Meanwhile, I'm going to search YouTube to see if anybody has video of one of these rays flying through the air, which apparently happens all the time - usually without incident.

Half-Million Dollars Worth of Boats Auctioned

FirstBoat reported today that they drove $492,400 worth of sales of boats and boat products through eBay in 2007.

FirstBoat, which lists up-to-the-minute boats for auction on its website, has an affiliate relationship with eBay. Sales numbers are tracked and audited by a third party; this third party reported that nearly half of a million dollars worth of used boats and marine products were sold on eBay in 2007 to people who had clicked over to eBay directly from FirstBoat.

The numbers appear to be quite remarkable. Although eBay does not share how many boats are sold or auctioned through their site, the auction site once reported that they sold $14 Million worth of boats (2002). It is surmised that FirstBoat is clearly one of their largest drivers of boat buyers with nearly a half-million dollars worth of sales in one year.

This report helps validate to FirstBoat's advertisers that the site's visitors are not just browsing, but are serious about buying boats.

It also shows that FirstBoat helps prepare buyers for making informed decisions about boat and boating-related purchases. FirstBoat's boat buying guide includes information about how to buy a boat, how to bid on a boat, and the basics of boat loans and marine insurance.

Save My Dog

I learned two things on the Dog Blog today.

First, thing I learned is that there is a "dog blog". Come to think of it, there are probably many.

Second, a capsized fisherman who was about to be saved from chilling waters told his rescuers to save his dog first!

Read the whole story, and see the dog blog for yourself here.

Maybe the dog should have had one of these:

Boat Shows Around the World

If you're looking for a boat show this week, you're in luck - there are several events sprinkled around the globe going on right now.

First, there's the 2008 Everett Boat Show at the Everett Events Center in Everett, Washington. Go for the boats, stay for the racing ducks. The show runs through March 9, 2008. See duck link for more show info.

Down the coast a bit is the Sacramento Boat Show, which calls itself the largest ‘all boat’ show in the Central Valley. Despite calling itself this, the event's website has an annoying motorcycle riding across the page right over the information you're trying to read about the show. I'll save your eyes the pain mine just experienced and simply give you the event information here:


When: March 6 - 9, 2008
Where: Cal Expo in Sacramento, California
Thu-Fri: Noon-9pm
Sat: 10am-9pm • Sun: 10am-6pm
Admission is free for kids under 12, and $10 for the rest of us. Save $2 with this coupon (PDF).


Additional boat shows this week and weekend

If you're in or around Europe over the next couple of days, you'll want to check out the HISWA Amsterdam Boat Show 2008 in the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Centre, as well as the Stockholm International Boat Show. Both shows started a few days ago and run through Sunday, March 9th.

Additional boat shows going on now through March 9:

Austrian Boat Show

10th Auckland International Boat Show at the Viaduct Harbour

47th Japan International Boat Show in Yokohama (English)

13th Annual National Capital Boat Show at the Dulles Expo Center, Chantilly, VA (starts March 7, 2008)

Cancelled: The Boat Show in Springfield (Illinois) due to major electrical problems. The show was scheduled for this weekend, but is being pushed back until May.