Boat buyers and dreamers are converging on the Lumen Field Even Center for the Seattle Boat Show, which runs through Feb. 11.
Nobody boats like those in the Puget Sound area.
“We are the largest boat show on the West Coast,” George Harris of the Northwest Marine Trade Association said.
According to the University of Washington College of the Environment, there were more than 237,000 vessels registered in Washington state in 2022, a drop of more than 7,800 boats from the year before.
If you are thinking of becoming the newest captain of your own vessel, the Seattle Boat Show is the place to see what could be under your command.
“Over to my left I see some tournament wakeboard boats," Harris said. "Some waterski boats. We’ve got kayaks, we’ve got standup paddleboards. We’ve got sailboats.”
There are sailboats with exteriors tough enough to handle some of the roughest seas, but with interiors comfortable enough for some of the nicest luxury living on the water.
And the show isn’t just the place to find a boat to buy, it also offers resources for people who already have a boat.
“We do a lot of education for boaters," Harris said. "We have our boating efficient seminars, and we have some long-format seminars called boat show university. Those are how to be successful at docking, or how to be successful at maintaining your boat.”
A way to find a boat, fix a boat or just learn how to be a better sailor.