With a friend I attended the New England boat show this week. It was an eye opener to say the least. Peggy was right; the appliances (TVs, VCRs, microwaves and stereos) that were provided on the new boats are just the run of the mill discount store junk. Is “Samsung” a marine grade product? (As if I had to ask) I guess this speaks volumes about our throw away society. The joke of the day came when we were looking at the new Catalina 310. My friend Ken asked, “What’s included in the electronics package?” The chubby, young salesman proudly said, “The 19” TV / VCR”. Ken said with a smile ‘I meant the instruments”. The salesman responded with a straight face “That’s all that is available on this model”. With that, I had to walk away to regain my composure. Some how, I don’t think the electronics package is going to be the deciding factor for Ken on this boat. I was disappointed with the boat show. I though the operative word here was SHOW, where you put your products in the best light. Some of the boats had chip in the gelcoat, most were half put together, the C310 had 2 big cracks in the companion way. If you can’t fix it, at least cover it with a sign or something. I would like to say the Hunters were best of show, but sadly, they were just average. However, I do think they were by far the best value, all things considered (especially the electronics package).