• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Many Questioning Push for Boat Show After Storm

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 00:00 CST

By Doreen Hemlock, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Oct. 30--The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show will go on after Hurricane Wilma, a week late and a day shorter, but some question whether it should.

The Pier 66 marina is closed, hotel rooms are limited, electricity is spotty, and some out-of-towners won't chance visiting a hurricane-tattered area. Plus, some residents charge it's unfair that authorities spend so much effort preparing for a show when many locals still lack power and other basics.

Yet, even the disenchanted agree: Fort Lauderdale is THE boat show and this year's storm-scarred event is unlikely to hurt the 2006 extravaganza.

Kaye Pearson, the show organizer, said Saturday he is sensitive to complaints -- his house is without power, too -- but he had two options: cancel or delay one week.

He reckoned facilities would be in good enough shape by Thursday to host the event, and it's better for exhibitors to sell some rather than none.

Postponing more than a week was out of the question because the Bahia Mar marina and other venues were booked for other dates, he added.

"To the extent we're capable of putting on the show, it's a strong indicator of the resiliency of South Florida," said Pearson. "And for those suffering cabin fever, you want to get people out and doing things."

But many in the marine industry question the move to host a Thursday-to-Sunday show surely smaller than first planned.

Gene Gammon, a broker with Gulf Coast Yacht Sales in St. Petersburg, said he called off plans to attend. "It doesn't make sense to go to a disaster area. Where would I stay? Where would I eat?" he said.

Gene Echols, owner of Bottom Line Yacht Sales in St. Augustine, said he's coming, thanks to a new mobile office. He wonders if it's worth it.

Yet, calling off the show would have been costly. "They'd had to give everyone their money back," Echols said.

Diego Cisneros, owner of Cisneros Yachts of Fort Lauderdale, is undecided, unsure how ready the sites will be and how many people may go.

"You can't force something if the infrastructure is not there," he said.

But no one doubts next year's show -- the 47th annual -- will be back strong.

"The public will forget everything," said Gammon, the St. Pete broker. "And if they missed out on selling boats this year, they'll try to make it up next year."

-----

To see more of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

More News in this Category