Boat Show Sets Sail, Lures Sea Lovers to Fairgrounds
By Bill Robinson, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Jan. 22–Water levels at Lake Murray are back up and so was interest in the 2007 Boat Show at the State Fairgrounds, organizers said Sunday.
Battleship-grey skies and the threat of a mild squall did not dissuade a steady stream of mariners and the curious from taking in an armada of high-and-dry recreational vessels from Boston Whalers to open sea cruisers.
For a mere $139,400, you could have hauled home one of the latter; a 32-foot center-console Century model with a cream yellow hull, 101/2-foot beam, dual outboard motors fueled by a 300-gallon tank on a six-wheel trailer.
Scott Culley of Lexington visited the show twice over the weekend; the second to consummate a transaction on a slightly smaller and far less expensive “deck boat” for his wife.
“She’s the one who wanted it,” Culley said. “But I’m going to enjoy it, too.”
His new 22-footer will hold eight to 10 passengers comfortably and comes with a sink, satellite radio and onboard bathroom that doubles as a changing area.
“The design of the interior was the biggest selling point,” Culley said. “There’s plenty of room.”
Nearby, Billy Lake was among the aqua blue-shirt-clad hands on deck for Captain’s Choice Marina of Batesburg-Leesville, which had 30 boats occupying nearly half of a 27,900-square-foot heated tent adjacent to the Ellison and Cantey buildings.
“Everybody tells me I have the right name,” said Lake, who installs outboard engines for the marina. Lake acknowledged he cannot swim, but always wears a life jacket when test-navigating a boat for a prospective owner.
Frank Scuderi, who organized the 2007 event described in radio ads as the “Daddy Lama” of boat shows, said attendance figures won’t be known until Monday but nonetheless declared it a “success.”
The Boat Show featured an estimated 500 boats and personal water craft, Scuderi said, the most in the past “four or five years.” Eighteen dealers, including some from Charleston, Greenwood and Anderson, had displays.
“This is the biggest show we’ve had — definitely since the lake has come back,” he said. SCE&G drained Lake Murray in 2002 to build a second dam, leaving many boating enthusiasts without a recreation outlet.
Count Marsha Snipes among them. The Saluda woman was eyeing pontoon boats in hopes of replacing a boat she sold when the lake was drained.
“We’re excited,” Snipes said. “We have the water back. We’re looking for something we can go out in and relax.”
Mark Walsh of Blythewood plans to retire this year and was looking for a modest-sized boat he can launch and remount on a trailer by himself.
Carolyn Antley, who splits time between Columbia and Hilton Head Island, liked the smaller Boston Whalers “because I can maneuver one by myself.”
Antley’s husband, Fred, however, had his eye on a larger craft.
“As long as it isn’t used,” she said. “We’ve gone that route, and it wasn’t pleasant.”
Reach Robinson at (803) 771-8482.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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