2014 Toronto International Boat Show

Sean

Well-Known Member
It's -24C (-11.2F) here today. We have had snow since late November that stayed on the ground since early December. We don't usually have much snow before Christmas and its less than a 50/50 chance to even have a "white" Christmas in the past 30 years.

It's Frikkin' cold outside, you bet I'm ready for the BOAT SHOW!

So you really wonder about the Global Warming stats that have been shoved in our face. The Arctic melting etc... This past year the Arctic ice pack GREW by 40% and the Antarctic has been getting colder every year(not warmer and nobody mentions this) for a decade or more. So, I was going to say we should have guessed that this winter was going to be a cold one but, then I'd be just as arrogant as those that try to sell us on global warming without having a 100% grasp of the worlds climatology systems. In all things...balance. So lets hope for an early spring.
 

Peels

Active Member
sweet, were going to the local quad city boat show weekend after next...

same weekend, we are going to the tubing run at the ski resort there.... funny. mixed signals.

and for global warming...so much is said about it. its gonna happen, whether or not we are helping it along. it happened before. we're crazy to think the earth will stay exactly the same all the time. And you arent going to stop it... So all the yapping is for naught. I agree...balance... Besides, I have this feeling that some huge volcano will erupt somewhere throwing us into a new ice age LONG before global warming will hurt the human race.

Personally, everything i see/read.... Climate change, it isn't across the board. I feel like it comes and goes.. at anytime. Natural order. It can be anywhere... Hell, we could be sunbathing in alaska and snowmobiling in Florida. who the hell knows...NOBODY, that's who. :) LOL

I know it's colder here in Iowa today than I can remember its been in 25 years. -15 with -35 windchill....I could handle some of this magical "warming" right now.... :)

cheers. only 4 months to go!
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
Scientists tell us there have been 5 Ice ages that can be determined. Apparently we are still technically coming out of the last one from 2.6 million years ago or sumpthin'.

It would be pretty hard to come out of an Ice age without some global warming....
I agree, it's a natural phenomenon. Anyone that tells you different wants your money, or wants to feel important, or both.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
Well, just back from 6 hours at the show... lots to see.

My "lottery" boat on display 2014 Chris Craft Lancer 20.
My choice for best all around brand Four Wynns.
My choice for "most pointless boat" is the Mini Tugboat.
My choice for best hardware Cobalt
Best pontoon (almost a boat) STAN CRAFT at $ 133,000
Best PWC goes to Sea Doo with their new $5000 kid-tough SPARK model.
The went too far and ruined our product boat was MASTERCRAFT
Worst factory booth would have been Mercury...(but they gave me some MERCURY CHEWING GUM and saved themselves).
The Same as last year award goes to the entire SAIL display area.
Most active factory booth (doing their jobs) is a tie between YAMAHA and SEA DOO.
Best product was`RESCUE TAPE`!
Best accessory - Henri Lloyd sea bag at $44.00
Biggest rip-off...a foam mat (water toy) for $499
Coolest boat at the show... A vintage Blown Big Block Glen-L in the ACBS booth.

I wonder why there was only one propeller manufacturer represented (plus Merc had some in their booth)
 
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Chris E

Member
went down yesterday with kids in tow, i didnt see as much as i would have liked, but we toured the sea ray booth extensively, the line up looked pretty good, and spent a fair bit of time at cobalt. both lines looked good. the wakeboard show was excellent as well. loved the 1650hp merc engine.

very interesting to see pride of muskoka in the sea ray booth, not sure what is up with that, but i'm guessing that port sandfield marina must be fuming...and very worried.

all in all, nothing really new or exciting, really the only interesting thing was the lack of interest by the sales people in us. although we aren't buyers, only one person engaged us all day - strange.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
Yes,
I too was disappointed there really was nothing new (or exciting)... except the Seadoo SPARK. And I'm a boater, not a PWC guy so it counts for somthin' but not for me.
 

hodgify

New Member
Sunday was my first time in twenty years. Was not impressed, to much of the same . Liked that Johnson /Evinrude had a good display . Would have liked to see more older stuff and more outboard boat accessories. My lottery boat would be the twenty foot Chris Craft Bullet the Grey one with the brown interior.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
My lottery boat would be the twenty foot Chris Craft Bullet the Grey one with the brown interior.

Pretty much the same boat that I like except in silver...
They are making only 100 silver models (over 5 years) so they bill it as the Silver Bullet LIMITED EDITION.
 

Peels

Active Member
our local show...i was unimpressed, nothing major. Some cool boats though. My kids chose a 100,000 dollar mastercraft as their favorite LOL bright orange with LED accent lighting...pretty slick

but...yeah not happenin.

There were some seriously decadent pontoons though. craziness... a couple with wet bars.

there was one there with I/O v6 and wake tower....i wanna say it was 75k. barf.

i was hoping to get a look at the new jet drive from glastron. But, again, I knew more than the salesman. he asked me If I had seen one yet.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
The $133,000 pontoon we saw had a 5.7 V8 with a Bravo drive. It had like a 3rd tube to house the thing so it's really is a tri-maran. Oh, it had a nicer bar (and seating) than in my basement too.

Crazy how these pontoons have developed.
 

nathan

Active Member
the new pontoons are awesome! the third tube they add now is supposed to make the pontoons handle more like a boat than a dock. the middle tube is normally slightly bigger than the outer two. it is nuts what hey do with pontoons today including I know of one with a 496 I/o that runs 76 and an outboard that will run over 100!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLRwkrBZzsA
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
They showed video of a "tri-tube" pontoon at the show with twin Merc 300 o/b's on it. They had people water skiing, they drag raced a performance boat and showed it going through a slalom course. I think they said it did over 70mph.

After all that you can bring your friends aboard, have a BBQ and a few pops....
Great for some but, still not for me.
 

nathan

Active Member
I was the same way and still kind of more of a boat person. I do like the pontoons but would have to have a regular boat too.
 

Sean

Well-Known Member
I think part of that is a geography/lifestyle thing. I mean, if you're on a river and it's always flat... well why not have a pontoon? There are most likley speed limits, wake issues atc... and you can entertain on the moving dock.

For us, we live in town. We trailer to a different lake every weekend and some of them are well known for the big waves (Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay, lake Ontario). Our boat is easy to transport and versitile in the water so, we can go just about anywhere. It can seat 6 comfortably too so, entertaining is still possible.

At the end of the day, I prefer having my dinner served to me at a restaurant rather than "cooking out" on the boat. But, that would be different if we owned a big cruiser (mobile cottage).Different boats for different folks!
 

nathan

Active Member
I think you would be surprised how easy they are to trailer. but like you said different boats boat for different folks! that's why they build so many different ones!
 

Peels

Active Member
Ive forgotten the model, Either Manitou or Premier, but that one I saw with I/O was FULLY decked out. had huge stereo waketower, seating for 16 i think...and a wet bar with fridge. it had the country song (not a country fan) "pontoon" playing pretty loud... Serving cold beer right next to that exhibit...I tell ya... if it was the Premier with the top level with the slide...I might have caved. It was THAT nice, and seriously got me in the mood for summer.

cheers!

my only problem with pontoons is trailering and storage, really and aesthetically, i dont like lookin at em. But they just keep getting better. We had a pontoon when I was younger, and it was fun...but sorta boring. Basically a floor, a buncha seats and a motor LOL, Make them really comfortable, slap a huge outboard on them I'd consider. they are much cheaper size wise.
 

nathan

Active Member
if they were playing pontoon it was a premier as they have paid a lot of money to use that as there company song. you can get the with a 300 hp outboard on them!
 
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