I'm told that I'm dating myself when I mention the Ed Sullivan Show on TV (analog, of course). But, not only being the longest running variety show on TV (1948-1971), he introduced us to the Beattles, Elvis, broke the race barrier with many Black performers, and locked me in for a solid hour at 8:00 PM every Sunday evening on CBS, with my arms crossed, of course, to simply enjoy entertainment. A former boxer, sports writer, theater critic, TV personality and then columnist, Sullivan crossed many people, groups and his own network as he worked to provide America's stage. He was one of Walter Winchell's big rivals, eventually outdistancing him in popularity.
No Ed Sullivan today, but we do have our local "really big show", the Great Seattle Boat Show, the largest boat show on the West Coast, which runs from Friday, January 23rd through Sunday, February 1st at two locations, the Quest Field Event Center and the south end of Lake Union.
At the south Lake Union afloat venue, sponsored by the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA), you'll find not only 300-plus sport/fishing cruisers, sailboats, catamarans, tugs, trawlers and yachts for sale (taking up over 116,000 square feet of moorage), but also the queen of the Nordhavn fleet, making her first public debut in an open setting, the Nordhaven 86-foot yacht. A brand new model, recently offloaded the container ship, she'll be without all the bells and whistles her owners have chosen. Still, according to Bonnie Bergquist, NYBA manager, visitors on board will instantly recognize the magnificent craftsmanship and details that make her Nordhavn’s most crowning achievement to date.
Then jump on the free Seattle Street Car (ever ridden it?) to Quest Field event center, scene of the other show venue, and managed by the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA).
In addition to lots of boats, electronics and manufacturer displays, seminars and the boat show university, you'll also see the famous raft, the Junk, constructed from 15,000 plastic bottles, derelict sailboat masts and fishing nets, a solar generator, a wind turbine, and the fuselage of a Cessna aircraft. She sailed during the summer of 2008 for 88 days and 2,600 miles (surviving four hurricanes) through plastic impacted water from California to Hawaii. According to Michael Campbell, NMTA president, the show has partnered with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance to bring the Junk to the Seattle Boat Show with the goal of educating the Seattle community about the effects of plastic pollution in the marine environment.
I said a few days ago, if you haven't got your tickets yet, go online or check with your broker or dealer. One ticket gets you into both the indoor (Quest Field Event Center) and the afloat (south Lake Union) shows, plus the streetcar shuttle between.
This blog is getting blatantly commercial, but boat shows do that to us. Please excuse the push, enjoy the show - - ashore and afloat, get back into the rhythm of boats and boating, and dream again about that next cruise!
Bon voyage!
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