Chicago Boat Show

[deerfield]

Today was opening day of the 2009 boat show at Chicago's McCormick Place. These are pictures taken at the Skiers Choice booth. Great guys, selling two great boat lines. Will post more pics tomorrow.

[deerfield]

Okay, I got one more for tonight. This is for Sled. To pull his toys.

[ian ashton]

Good pics! They had your boats reverse-twin!

[moombadaze]

3rd boat over on the left-was that a lsv? looks like its 3 colors-white hull, black trim and blue top side. Thanks for posting the photos-love boat shows

[deerfield]

Ian - You are right. The Outback is reverse of the color scheme on our boat. I'll take either!

Ed - The Outback V in the group photo I think is the same as your boat. Right? I'm the guy behind he lense.

More pictures from last nights visit to the boat show. Things that caught my eye as I walked the show.

[deerfield]

Interiors of different tournament ski boats.

[deerfield]

Or you can own my personal favorite -- the MOOMBA OUTBACK.

[deerfield]

Other models on display at the Skiers Choice booth.

Moombadaze, yup, the blue and white hull is an LSV.

[deerfield]

A couple more pics from walking the show floor.

[deerfield]

Skiers Choice has two great dealers covering Illinois and Wisconsin.

[deerfield]

Finally, even these guys can have a bad day and ding a prop.

[tazz3069]

Very Nice pics Deerfield. I can hardley wait for the Los Angeles show. With the economy, was there lots of people there?

[deerfield]

Tazz - Good question. The short answer is that the traffic at the show was light. The longer answer includes the fact that last night was the first night of the show. It usually gets heavier traffic on the weekend. The show runs daily through Sunday. Also consider the fact that there has been a LOT of snow fall for two days. Plus the fact that the air temp is around 0 degrees. All of these plus the state of the economy I think kept opening night traffic a little lower than in the past. Still, a good show and always enjoyable to see what's new. - Deerfield

[tazz3069]

Thanks. I looked at the vender list at my show. It's a little thin. At least I hope I can walk out with a new vest and bindings for my board.

[04OUTBACK]

That Blue over white LSV is gorgeous!

Our show was cancelled this year... I may go over to one in Louisiana next weekend..

[Sled491]

Deerfield, grerat pics. You gottas quit bugging me about all my toys though or I'll quit sharin'. With that said did I tell you about my new trailer? :)

Milwaukee show was very small and very slow. We spent all day today there or at least all afternoon. They had a beautiful Mobius LS and I was just drooling. Brian caught me on the boat builder so he knew I had been looking. My wife was scoping out a LSV parked beside the Supra 22 SSV. Before I told her the price difference she said she liked the LSV better. Then I showed her the 10K difference in price, that only serverd to make her even more certain we have the right boat.

How were the deals in Chicago for accessories and toys and such? I didn't find any real deals in Milwaukee. You didn't miss anything. And what's with the Mo Jo Marine thing at Lauderdale now?

[deerfield]

Sled - Good question. I'm not sure what's up with Mojo Marine. Maybe the management team at Lauderdale Lakes has determined that unless it has a facility close to Lake Geneva it will loose some of its market share to other marine dealers. Today at the Chicago show we did a lot of looking -- Skiers Choice as well as other brands. Since we are not in the market to replace our Outback, did not pay attention to price. So, don't have first hand knowledge about the deals that were being offered on the show floor. That said, I'm kinda' intrigued with a wave runner. I admit I don't know much about these things. Rented one in Florida. It was like riding a rocket. In particular, I like the look of the Yamaha FZS. Can accommodate three people. Supercharged 200 hp engine for plenty of pull and speed. With trailer the price is $13,100. Would keep it on a trailer at the house and pull it each time we go to Twin Lakes where we keep the Outback on a lift. My boys are 22, 20, and 15. Do you have experience with these things? How quickly does the novelty run out? What problems am I likely to encounter? Am I nuts to get one of these? - Deerfield

[Sled491]

Deerfield. That's a chunk of change for a PWC. No, I don't think they'll get bored of it. I'm trying to buy a used 3 seater so that the days it's too rough, or too hot you can just go out and get wet and cool off.

The 4 strokes are obviosly less hassle than the 2 strokes but one common problem would be fouling the pick up grate with weeds. I'm not sure how Twin Lakes is for weeds. Nice thing with buying it and keeping it at home is you can take Mrs Deerfield out and explore other waters in your area much easier than hauling the Ole' Outback around. Also watch out for a speed limit on the lake and your new rocket busting the sound barrier :)