Newport Beach : In-the-Water Boat Show Launched for Weekend

Boaters and would-be boaters can do some serious negotiating--or a little day-dreaming, depending on their checkbooks--at the Newport in-the-water used boat show, under way at Lido Marina Village.

Offerings at the four-day show, which opened Thursday, range from sailboats of a couple dozen feet in length to 72-foot, power-driven sportfishers, which come complete with all the essentials of shipboard life, including radar, flares and a wet bar. Prices range from a paltry $11,000 for a 23-foot sloop to a whopping $577,000 for a diesel-powered trawler.

In addition to vessels, nautical jewelry was for sale to those who couldn’t afford to own boats but wanted to look like they did. Other booths offered corrosion-proof coatings for marine hardware and enough nautical gear to satisfy almost any skipper. The Coast Guard Auxiliary was busy manning a table where boat owners could sign up for boating lessons, vessel inspections and even to volunteer for the Coast Guard’s unpaid civilian wing.

About 9,000 people are expected to attend the show through Sunday, organizers said. Although a few people attending the show Friday had the steely looks in their eyes that spells cash deals, many of those wandering the docks were caught up in fantasies of far-away islands and warm tropical waters.

One shopper, Bob Alexander of Seal Beach, said he had recently sold his boat and was on the prowl for something bigger. As he rubbed the teak of a 36-foot power boat, appropriately named “Posh II,” the 66-year-old retiree said he brought his checkbook with him. “When you get to be my age, you pay cash,” he said.