"A lot of guys who were looking last year are knocking on the door again this year," said Forrest Long, owner of Bluewater Yacht Sales in Mobile. "Last year, we were just starting to come out of the hole after persevering over 2 or 3 years because of the bad economy when the oil spill hit. I had three sales that didn't close because of it -- two of them with signed contracts."
Andy Newton, a salesman at Gulf Coast Boating Centers in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said they started moving boats to Mobile on Monday.
New boats in the 18- and 19-foot range and pontoon boats have been the hot sellers already this year, though Newton said pre-owned vessels also have been moving well.
"We sold a lot of our pre-owned inventory last year into the first of this year," he said. "It's their first boat and they don't want to take a big hit on it just to see if it's something they like."
Besides boats of all sizes, show favorites such as the Coast Guard sea rescue demonstration, Alabama Marine Resources Division touch tanks, Dauphin Island Sea Lab display, Camp Rap-A-Hope trout pond and Alabama Marine Police Jet Ski simulator are also scheduled to return.
Read more at http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/03/mobile_boat_show_starts_today.html