Heeeeee's Baaaaaack.....

The Captain is back so how to celebrate? We headed to the Miami Boat Show, of course. Where else to have a romantic late Valentine's Day celebration other than messing about the boats. Big boats. Small boats. Fast boats. Slow boats. You name it they had it.

Our two days of fun started at the powerboat venue where we messed about the small stuff - that would be the less that 45 foot boats. From there we built up the courage to tackle the convention center. Oh my! I can't even describe it. And the photo does no justice. Try to think of the indoor photo above and multiple it by 4. That would give you a good perspective of the main floor. From there you still need to explore the Big Game area, the upstairs vendor area, the Electronics room and then the downstairs vendor area. Tired yet? I hope not, because once you've done aaaallllll that there is still the outside boats and vendor tents to explore. After 9 hours we were exhausted and decided to tackle the remainder of the convention center on day two. But before I move on, make sure you check out that small engine in photo 2. It's the one that is bigger than the guys standing next to it.

Moving on. So day two began at the Yacht and Brokerage show. This was where the bigger stuff was. Most of it so big that we didn't even bother to get on board for fear we would get lost on board and not find our way back to the deck until the boats stopped in Antigua for fuel. (Wouldn't that be tough.) Beyond the boats, it was a great spot to check out Miami Beach and all the cool hotels. From there it was back to the convention center to finish up there. Then a mad dash to the sailboat venue to check out the latest in sailing multihulls. We stayed until the sailboat venue closed and then took in the Latitudes and Attitudes party. Its the only party I know of where the beer is free and the Cola is $3 a bottle. Imagine that. We enjoyed the pizza and listened to the Eric Stone band but by 9pm we were wiped out. Thank heaven it was boater's midnight and the party was winding down anyway.

All in all a very cool couple of days. Just a word of warning. If you decide to check out next year's Miami Boat show and want to tackle all the venues in detail, plan at least 3 days.

But hey, the wild weekend isn't over yet. Stay tuned for more.

The Admiral