Boating USA — January 2018

SCAN ME

GO FULL-ON BOY SCOUT:
BE PREPARED

I

t’s easy to succumb to a feeling of
being completely overwhelmed
when you arrive at the gates of a ma-
jor boat show. You’re facing thousands
of boats, hundreds of exhibitors, and the
unpleasant feeling that you’re about to
miss something really cool because you
don’t know where it is or what time it
starts. Serious sensory overload.
Here’s the good news: You can avoid
that entire scenario when you do a little
advance planning. All major shows (Boot
included) provide a list of exhibitors,
events and activities on their websites.
Once you’ve made plans to attend a show,
do some research; spend some time on
the show’s website and put together lists
of the boat types that interest you.
We found it helpful to also make a
note of the special events we wanted to

attend, and we added them — with their

start and end times — to our digital and

paper calendars. More organization

equals less stress.

MAP IT OUT

O

n our fi rst day at the Düsseldorf

show, we wandered the massive

halls for hours, accomplishing

much less than we’d hoped. At some

point in the afternoon, I gave up and

sat down in an out-of-the-way corner to

relieve my throbbing feet.

It’s true, the sheer size of an interna-

tional boat show is staggering. Use the boat

show’s map (or app, if it off ers one) to cre-

ate a coherent strategy based on the fl oor

plan. If you identify your high-priority

exhibits for each day and group them by

proximity to each other, you’ll be able

to comparison shop and get a real-time

sense for which boat is the best fi t.

You’ll also maxi-

mize the must-sees

and -dos while mini-

mizing the num-

ber of aching miles

you’ll travel on

foot,  which is highly

desirable — unless you’re a step-counter.

In that case, be sure you’re wearing com-

fortable shoes (it’s the cardinal rule of all

boat shows, and you ignore it at your peril),

fi re up the Fitbit, and have at it.

MONEY MATTERS

I

f you’re in the market for a new boat,

you’ll want to know exactly how

much you can spend and how you’re

going to structure the fi nancial picture.

At the very least, decide how much you

can spend on the boat itself and what

your wiggle room for options might look

like. Then factor in taxes, shipping costs,

and any related dealer prep work. PHOTOS: COURTESY BOOT DÜSSELDORF INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW (SHOWROOM AND MAP)

Read our advice on how to buy the perfect boat

by scanning this tag or visiting boatingmag

.com/photos/how-to-buy-perfect-boat.

WHAT WERE

YOU LOOKING

FOR?

Keep an eye out for

the best possible fi t

for how you like to

go boating.

64 | BOATINGMAG.COM | JANUARY 2018