Boats Afloat Show 2017 on Lake Union
Scott and I attend the Boats Afloat Show each year. Seattle has two main boat shows, one in January and the other in September. The January show is held at the convention with a floating show on Lake Union. Then in September, they do just the floating show. This is a great show, because the weather is normally nice and you get to tour some larger vessels, typically 45′ and up.
Now that we have owned our Bayliner Ciera 3055, Kokomo for five months, we feel comfortable making the next step. Remember, the main reason we bought THIS boat was to make sure we liked boating and sleeping on it. We are hoping to find a larger boat that we might be able to live on, come spring time. While at the Boats Afloat Show, we looked for boats and features that would work for us.
Check out the SeaRay 48′ Sundancer
The Sea Ray Sundancer is not set up for a liveaboard. However, we were curious to see how this “weekender” was set up in comparison to our Bayliner 3055.
The cockpit and deck is very roomy. What was really cool about this model, is the captain’s seat swivels towards the other seats on deck, so everyone can mingle.
The beam (the width of the boat) is just under 15′. To compare, our boat is about 11′.
With the extra 4′, it is much roomier inside the cabin, than on our boat (of course, this boat is also 48′ long).
Our boat for comparison:
I did love the size of the galley and all of its’ counter space. I mean, I guess you really could live on this if you wanted to. In addition, it had a two burner stove tope with a microwave / oven combo.
The main stateroom was in the V-Berth and very roomy for two people.
The main head had a separate shower stall which is nice. Having a separate shower stall keeps the rest of the head dry.
In the aft berth, the Sea Ray Sundancer has two full size beds.
Overall, this was a very nice “weekender” as we call it. It would certainly be much more comfortable than our current boat, but we didn’t pay $515,000 for our boat!
Scott and I walked the entire show. We ran into our broker, Eddie from NW Yachts and he had some recommendations for us too look at. Of course, this will have to wait until next spring! Did I mention that my job was eliminated in August and now I’m job hunting? Oh yeah, that too.
Dream Yachts
Not really seeing anything that we liked, Scott and I were about to head home when we stumbled upon M/Y Gal Sal, a 1998 NorthCoast Custom Yacht for $939k. This yacht is moored at our marina, Elliott Bay Marina on G Dock. We walk by it every time we go to the fuel dock. Now we have our chance to take a peek at what she looks like on the inside! Trust me, she did not disappoint us!
I think we could live on this boat, what do you think? It’s hard to see in the photo below, but right next to Scott is the dining room with six chairs. The opening on the left is the pass through to the galley.
I got so caught up in the beauty of this yacht, that I failed to take a lot of photos. But I did manage to get one of the main head with his and hers sinks!
If you needed to do engine work, there’s plenty of room!
From the helm, there was lots of visibility for the captain.
Modern Day Yachts
For kicks and giggles, we decided to tour the 2017 Presitige 750 which was about $3 million. The decor was modern and very sleek.
Here’s a funny story about our tour of this yacht – not really! I get that there are hundreds of people looking at boats and most of them are “looky loos”. However, the broker doesn’t know who is actually in the market to buy a yacht. After I took the photo below, Scott went into the galley and opened the fridge to look in. Within seconds the broker, who was standing where I took this photo, shouts “It’s a Fridge!!”
I looked at him and said, “why are you shouting that at him?” and his reply was that they didn’t want hundreds of people opening the fridge. Are you thinking what I am at this point? If that’s the case, why don’t you put a note on the fridge that says “Please don’t open”?! He was so rude, that if we were in the market, we certainly would not buy from this guy!
The yacht was very modern and sleek. We toured this yacht with our marina neighbors, who own a 75′ yacht. In their opinion, this modern look will be outdated in a few years. (Remember the yachts of the 1980’s and the disco lighting?).
Overall, it was interesting to visit a boat show as boat owners (finally!). The big Seattle Boat Show is this January and they will have two satellite shows, one on Lake Union and the other at Bell Harbor. At that show, they will have supply vendors showcasing their products, which will be a great resource for us. Stay tuned! Scott & Ally on Kokomo
