I've just finished "working" at the Seattle In The Water Boat Show as well as spending a day at the Convention Center Boat Show. I was a greeter at Signature Yachts, explaining Hunters to visitors. I have some comments to make in general--no response is necessary--more to solidify my thinking then anything else. Before I say more, please understand that I am a bias individual who has had four hunters and am currently enjoying very much my H380. I also like most boats for one reason or another. I haven't sailed to Hawii but have coastal cruised for forty years toward Alaska, but have never gotten to Alaska--someday, maybe. I use to race alot and have my fair share of trophies. So, with that caveat, let me say I saw many beautiful sail boats at the Seattle In the Water Boat Show and I met many charming, intelligent and interesting boat lookers--some who owned boats and some who did not. Early on, I met Phil of this bullentin board's fame and it was very nice to meet him. Now I know why this bullentin board is one of the best. We boat owners are fortunate to have this web spot to comment like I'm doing at the moment. I later met another one of the staff at HOW, but for the life of me I can not remember her name. She was also charming and knowledgeable and had a cute dog as well. All dealers had good looking boats on display and they had worked hard to get them in place and have them look good. There were a number of people who were looking to "move up," while another couple who had both lost their job were selling their brand new boat. I sat on the Hunter 356 much of the time. What a beautiful boat and Hunter has kicked it up a notch with their wood work. In several cases, I think Hunter now exceeds some of the higher price boats with the quality of wood work. And my bias view is that Hunter is now leading the pack with a quality boat. Not far behind is Catalina, Jeanneau and Beneteau. Tartan and Sabre are making good looking boats but at a higher price. There were a numbe of boats with in the Mast furling. This item has become popular in the last few years. And there were more arches on other types of boats. A couple of boats had in the Boom furling, however, in talking to both dealers and sailors, this item still needs some work. Apprently, it works well up or down, but if you want to reef, you have a problem with no out haul gear. I had never thought of it. A lot of boats are now coming with a Vacuflush toilets. And people want them. But they use fresh water from your main tank. Given the times this old guy goes to the bathroom, we'd be out of fresh water every other day. Men and women look at boats differently. The women seem to be looking for light and airy boats while guys like the darker more cavelike inside. Must be in our genes. The best part of the boat show work tho, was meeting the people. I met wonderful people from Portland and the rest of Oregon. Canada came down in droves and it was fun talking to them since I live in a Vancouver, BC suburb called Bellingham, WA. There were people from Idaho that were looking for boat for the lakes. This brings me to my first observation. I saw few boats that were geared to the beginning sailor or family. I started with a day sailer and moved up to a Cal 20. Nothing like that at either boat show. Maybe I missed them someplace but I saw nothing in the shows except a trailorable boat from The Sailing Life (Portland Hunter dealer) called a Steward. I guess you start out with a thirty footer these days. I suspect the beginners have to start with used boats. Pity. One person drove me crazy. He came on the Hunter 356 and didn't like anything about the boat! I tried to point out some of the good features but he found something wrong with everything. He didn't like Corion galley tops, they were too heavy, engine access was wrong because you couldn't see something he though you ought to see. It had the wrong type of curtains, and, as far as he was concerned why put the VHF radio out in the cockpit. Idiots! I finally just gave up on him. Turns out that he has a Hunter 340 and has done more long distant cruising that I have. And....he tells people to buy Hunter when he is out cruising. It just doesn't compute. But he make me stretch a bit, always good to do that. Another point that scares me is that I saw tons and tons of powerboats at both boat shows. And they were selling. Bayliner has done some innovating work and you can get a pretty good boat in twenty four feet for the beginning family. The problem as I see it is that we are going to have a tons of people on the water who have had no education about boats at all. Sailors because of the complexity of sailing take courses. Or they sail with someone else for a while. But power boats just go. I wish that power boat dealers would tell new owners to take a Power Squadron Course. Maybe some do, but I saw little of that--but to be fair, I did not walk around the power boats that much. After sailing for forty plus years, what I did see was an incredible difference is the quality of boats being offered for sail I can remember a boat I bought without life lines, bow pulpit or stern rails and no winches. Forty years ago they were extras. All the boats I saw came very well equipped. Forty years ago, boats came without sails. Todays boats come with well made sails and gear. Todays boats are just a giant leap ahead of what we use to get. But that's the world in general I guess. Thanks to all of you who came aboard. It was fun meeting you. I hope everyone enjoyed the boat show. Les