Who is going to TrawlerFest in Stuart FL?

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stubones99

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Is anyone from here headed down to TrawlerFest in Stuart next week?

TrawlerFest- Stuart, FL 2017 | | PassageMaker

the in-the-water part starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
According to the exhibitors list, here are the boats that will be there:
Privateer 54
Greenline Hybrid Yacht 48
Greenline Hybrid Yacht 33
Grand Banks Europa 56
Fleming 55
Grand Banks 42
Beneteau Swift Trawler 34
Beneteau Swift Trawler 30
Beneteau Swift Trawler 50
Coastal Craft 45
Trawlercat 40
Trawlercat 48
Altima 52
Grand Banks Heritage EU 43
Jeaneau Velasco 37
Jeanneau NC14
Krogen 52
Krogen 48 Whaleback
Krogen 58
Krogen 48 North Sea Walkaround
Krogen 44 AE
Krogen Express 52
Krogen Express 52
Nordic Tug 44
Azimut Magellano 76
Azimut Magellano 66
Azimut Magellano 53
Ranger Tug 28
Ranger Tug 31
Nordhavn 52
Nordhavn 40
North Pacific 49
Cutwater 30
Cutwater 28
Seaton 56
Pilgrim 40
Nimbus 405
Hudson Powercat 48
Marlow 65
Lee Wilbur Cruiser MY 70
Minorca 34
Ocean Alexander 51
Nordhavn 43
Nordhavn 55

I am in Brevard Co and planning on going down on Thursday if anyone wants to carpool.
 
Be there Thurs - Sat. A few on that list are on our "short" list.
 
Are there any older boats on display/for sale, or just newer stuff?
 
I'm at TrawlerFest Tuesday-Friday, taking the diesel class and how-to-buy-a-boat class. I'm a recovering sailor / trawler newbee. Anyone want to dine? My interests lean to Krogens...
PM me for details if you'd like some company.
David.
 
I'll be at TF friday-sunday. Will be hanging around the KK 's. Any questions about the 48 AE text me (704-608-9092).
 
I'm 99% sure I won't be at this one, since last year, it sucked. You couldn't board most boats unless you had a ladder due to the fixed height docks at the venue. Only the azimut's were boardable since they were bigger than most and could enter at a higher boarding door.

They said parking problems have been resolved but fixed dock height doesn't work well when at low tide. So, if you go, bring a ladder with you and attend at high tide when the distance down to the boats won't be that far.

If you're an exhibitor, plan for low tide boarding of prospects.

Good Luck with the show!
stu
 
We will be there Wednesday to Saturday from Ohio attending seminars and shopping 44-50 full displacement trawlers.
 
I just realized that this thread was from 2017! Good luck guys.
 
I will be there Friday
 
Even though the original thread was from 2017, we'll be there on Thursday.
 
As one can see from the thread, 1 year after my first post we went from TF shopper to owner. Yes my wife had an issue with the fixed docks there at low tide- but we dealt with it.
Will be there Friday PM -Sunday. Any questions about the 48 AE at the show, or the process,
feel free to call or text me.

Sandy

704-608-9092
 
The good news is Kadey Krogen has the end of the T dock and can let people aboard through the forward gate which is higher than the aft gate when necessary.

The finger piers are not full length so may not work for some boats. I would look at high tide if possible.

Also, there look to be a larger variety of boats this year compared to last year, so there are more boats to tour. Who knows, it may be a decent show after all.
 
With low tide at 11.25 Friday, it may be a challenge mid day for boarding. Late afternoon or very early morning appears best. We will be there Friday nonetheless.
 
We just got back from Trawlerfest, even though I swore I wouldn't be back at that location. We got there at 10am on a falling tide and most of the boats were easily able to get aboard and back off, unlike last year.

Check out the Kadey Krogen open 50! It's our new best / most favorite boat!
Krogen 50' Open - Kadey-Krogen Yachts, Inc. : Kadey-Krogen Yachts, Inc.

I think it wins the "best use of space" award at the show.

Stu
 
I just got back as well after a 2+ hour drive each way and to be honest, we were disappointed. I can see 25 boats at any local boat show, or likely more, and with most of them being 40' or more and lots of $$$$, it just wasn't our cup of tea. The other disappointment was the amount of vendors. Maybe a dozen and almost all were brokers or Insurance companies. This fest is about the seminars IMHO and if you are not there for that or looking at a specific boat then you'll be out in an hour and $30 poorer. Won't go back needless to say. Lovely day with the admiral though.:smitten:
 
We were in Stuart today but decided not to stop by just to walk the docks. The seminars are always the best part of the event.
 
LaBomba said:
I just got back as well after a 2+ hour drive each way and to be honest, we were disappointed. I can see 25 boats at any local boat show, or likely more, and with most of them being 40' or more and lots of $$$$, it just wasn't our cup of tea. The other disappointment was the amount of vendors. Maybe a dozen and almost all were brokers or Insurance companies. This fest is about the seminars IMHO and if you are not there for that or looking at a specific boat then you'll be out in an hour and $30 poorer. Won't go back needless to say. Lovely day with the admiral though.:smitten:
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you LoBomba. We drove from NC to Stuart, 10+ hours with kids, on Thursday and attended the show on Friday. We were also very disappointed. Being our first Trawlerfest, it seemed unorganized as parking was a mess, and signage, directions were confusing. I also agree that I can go to most of my state's coastal marinas / boat shows and see much of what I saw at Trawlerfest. We did board about 12 boats (had no problem with the fixed docks and low tide) but was disappointed that there weren't more older or used boats in a lower price range. I don't think we saw a boat south of $300,000. While touring the boats, my wife and I both thought we were somewhat snubbed because we didn't look or act the part of high dollar boat buyers. (I know, what does a high dollar boat buyer look or act like exactly?) Maybe this was just our perception, maybe it was because we had two young kids with us (we didn't see any other children there) or maybe it was all in our heads but it sure seemed like an accurate perception. While on one very expensive boat, the rep asked me my boat budget. When I stated that we were budgeting around $400K to $450K he literally stopped talking to me mid conversation and began speaking with another couple. We also thought that the Kadey Krogan people were silly. They make you complete a "boarding pass" and be given a small clip to wear on your shirt before you can even see their boats close up or board them. Even if you weren't going to board one, they wouldn't let us proceed to the end of the t-dock where they were moored until you completed the form. I'm sure this was a marketing tool so they now have my name, email and phone number (well, they really don't because I gave them fake info). Nevertheless, we felt like having to complete the "boarding pass" and wearing the little clip was silly and somewhat pompous. These are just boats, albeit very nice and very expensive, but just boats after all. What's next, a credit check?

As for the vendors, I also agree with LoBomba. There were approx 20 vendors and the majority were insurance related or brokers. That's fine and certainly important but where were the product vendors? Many vendors we passed didn't even bother to say hello, good morning, nothing. Some didn't even look up at us as we walked by. They seemed bored and were usually on their phones or laptop. We got there that morning and they weren't even busy. I will say that the gentleman I spoke with at the MTOA booth was very informative and we had a great conversation. Also, Alyse Caldwell at the Ask Captain Chris booth was fantastic. She was informative, engaging and passionate about her services. She took the time to answer numerous questions we had and we truly enjoyed our time speaking with her. She will get our business in the future. The other vendors that didn't even attempt to engage in a conversation with us have lost us as customers.

Please understand, these are only our impressions of our first Trawlerfest. Maybe this was considered a fantastic event. We have heard that the seminars are really good and maybe this is why most people attend a Trawlerfest. We did not attend any (kids in tow) and certainly may have a more favorable review had we attended some of them. To drive some 20+ hours round trip and spend close to $500 on gas food and lodging to see a few dozen high priced boats and 20 mostly disinterested vendors were just not what we had in mind and why we won't be attending another.
 
Almost all the shows I've attended over the past few years, they expect you to sign in. I understand they want to build their contact list for prospective buyers and that's the way t works now.

Yes, the show was filled with higher priced boats, but the only used boat show I know of is Yachtworld.com available over the web...

At least you didn't see signs saying boarding with your broker, like you do in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale shows.

I wasn't going to go but found two boats I was interested in would be there so it was well worth the trip for us.
 
stubones99 said:
We just got back from Trawlerfest, even though I swore I wouldn't be back at that location. We got there at 10am on a falling tide and most of the boats were easily able to get aboard and back off, unlike last year.

Check out the Kadey Krogen open 50! It's our new best / most favorite boat!
Krogen 50' Open - Kadey-Krogen Yachts, Inc. : Kadey-Krogen Yachts, Inc.

I think it wins the "best use of space" award at the show.

Stu
Click to expand...

We are looking forward to seeing the 50 Open when it makes its way up to Annapolis this fall. Really interesting design.
 
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