Swap meet season is here - my ratings

[patrick]

1. 48 North / Fisheries Supply - Saturday, April 9 - Biggest and best event - across from Gasworks Park in seattle. The advertised time is 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM but my experience is that it really starts when I get there at 2:30 AM with my headlamp. There are some rumors of some sales the day before. If you get there at 7 AM, you will have to park a long walk away and the best spaces will be gone.2. Portland / West Marine - Saturday, April 30 - 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Hayden Meadows store. These guys sleep in and get started at daylight. It is ok but not nearly as big as Fisheries.3. Swantown Boatswap in Olympia Washington - Saturday May 21 10:AM to 4:00 PM This event is kind of a dud in my experience. They charge for a 10 foot square bit of muddy grass in the park and you have to park several blocks away making it difficult for a one person sale.There are some others in Washington state - Everett, Bellingham, Port Townsend, Blaine, and Tacoma but I do not know when or where. If you know of one, how about posting it here?

 

[Rich]

A couple of listings for New England

Patrick, thanks for opening up this topic, I'm an avid used-stuff collector and cheapskate so I shop at these things whenever possible. Here on the right horn we call them "flea markets" rather than "swap meets" and there is one scheduled for Saturday, March 26, at the Shennecossett Yacht Club, 916 Shennecossett Road, Groton, Connecticut (adjacent to the UConn/Avery point campus).I'll also remind folks about a couple of consignment shops in our area: Boat Stuff in Mystic, Conn. (http://www.mysticboatstuff.com/); Marine Consignment of Wickford, Rhode Island (http://www.marineconsignment.com/Default.htm); and Newport Nautical Supply in Newport, Rhode Island ( http://www.newportnautical.com/marineconsignmentprogram.htm). I'm always anxious to find new consignment shops I haven't been to, so hopefully someone will fill in the ones I haven't mentioned!