Bad.

Real bad.

Glad I didn't pay to go. :hihi:

I went. It didn't suck. Glad I went. Only cost $5 if you already bought a fresh or saltwater license from any state.

Renewed my Safe/Sea and got a free year. Registered for the Striper Cup. Bought some great sunglasses for $20 and met up with old friends like Jimmy White.

This morning I asked the wife...wanna go to the boat show in PVD for a few hours? Well, it is a full day for us ...45 min ferry, 1:15 drive... each way. What the heck I was not doing much and wanted to get out of the house and away from the kids for a few hours and I really want to talk to the simrad guy and check out what's new in boat stuff.

That was a pretty depressing show. I felt sorry for some of the dealers there. You could see it on their faces. It looked like doom. If a boat show can be used as a measure of the local economy, we are in really bad shape, like heading into a depression. NO ONE is buying much of anything. The show is a small shadow of its former self. So few people are setting up those elaborate booths anymore. The costs must be killing them most don't even attend and there is no way they are selling much in the way of boats there. I would love to see the trend in the numbers of people and vendors over the past 20 years.

A few nice small boats, nothing really to get too excited about. Very few people walking around. No lines. (The longest line was at the beer and cocktail bar!! really!!) As we were walking up to the entrance someone stopped me and gave me a pair of exhibitor tickets. So it only cost me 10 bucks for parking + travel.

The Simrad guys was very knowledgeable but the booth was tiny and they had very little stuff. He answered all my questions and still suggested I go to the Boston show.
The highlight of the show for me was talking to the very nice lady in the splicing booth. I bought her book and we talked a while about a few splices that I still struggle with and she gave me a few tricks that I cant wait to try. Ever use corn starch on your fid?

Anyway That will be the last boat show in pvd I go to for a while, but it was nice to spend the day with my wife out of the house.

Providence has been a terrible show for years now. Nowhere near Boston, and not even the back junk lot of Newport, so an indication of the economy? Not really.

With only 2 months until RISSA I'm not surprised there was basically no fishing stuff (other than bad fish and some other junk).

On another note, the fit & finish of Regulators is certainly going downhill.
Sub Contender or Yellowfin.

I didnt go to the PVD but the Newport show was packed. I think the reputation of the PVD show has been going down, and people have been waiting for the Boston show. The Economy was being boosted at the Newport show.