The Clear Lake area is home to Sea Lake Yacht Sales, Ship & Sail, Higgins & Smythe Yachts and many other sailboat dealers. The show opened Thursday, September 30 and ran through Sunday, October 3.  We attended the show on Saturday, October 2; the weather was clear and not overly hot. Fortunately, high humidity stayed away until Sunday.

After a hearty steak lunch at T-Bone Tom’s, we arrived to a full, make-shift parking lot about 3:00 p.m., giving us enough time to see a few of the sights before the show closed for the day at 7:30 p.m. The tents near the entrance contained many local marine vendors (supplies, insurance, financing, marinas, schools, scuba, nautical novelties, books, etc.) and a few manufacturers including Ccushions (closed-cell cockpit cushions and accessories) and Handcraft Mattress Company (for those who want to add a "real" innerspring mattress to their boat).

Just outside the tents were a few of the trailerable go-fast powerboats and PWCs. We moved on past these quite quickly. Around the corner was Dennis Osborne and his Seabrook-based Lakewood Yacht Service tent. He had numerous items on display including marine generators, diesel engines and marine air-conditioning units. We might try to fit an AC unit in our boat next year. They install and service what they sell.

Next door was Jeff Lynn of Lynn Sailboats in Houston. He had two beautiful boats on display on their trailers.  The first was a fully-loaded Seaward 25 including inboard diesel.  The second (seen above) was a beautiful Compac 27/2. Its gel-coat (both hull & deck) was the most beautiful I have ever seen; it looked like a mirror with a deep luster. The basket-weave non-skid was well done. The bronze opening ports and deck hardware as well as the teak bowsprit made the yacht very salty looking. The extensive interior teak was top-notch. This was truly a beautiful boat with a 29’7" LOA and 24’3" LWL; 6000 lb displacement; and 2500 lb encapsulated ballast (yes, concrete). With a price in the mid-$60,000s, it will not appeal to everyone. But, as Jeff said, once you own this boat, you will not ever want to sell it.

Down at the dock you were greeted by the large Carver cabin-cruisers to the left and the sailing yachts to the right. The first sailboat in view was a new, green-hulled Tartan 4100 offered by Higgins & Smythe Yachts of Clear Lake. This may have been the premier sailboat at the show. [Of course, we didn’t see every new boat and there were numerous brokerage boats as well. Who knows, there may have been an older Swan or Hinkley tucked somewhere in there.] This Tartan is apparently the first new Tartan offered by Higgins & Smythe. Its fit and finish was tremendous. Even the undersides of the cockpit lockers were finished gel-coat. I loved the deck’s non-skid which felt and looked like a very fine-grained sandpaper . . . it offered good traction and yet was easy on the bare feet. The interior finish was stunning. If you have the money, take a look at the Tartan. This boat? In the mid-$300,000s.

Since I was interested in the larger Catalinas, I spent more time farther down the dock with the Sea Lake Yacht Sales group. If I remember correctly, the new Catalinas included a 320, 380, 42 & 470. There were also a number of new Beneteaus including a 361, 411 and 461. Although my wife and I have always thought we would move up in the Catalina family (maybe a 320 or 310), we sure like the looks of the Beneteau 361. The cherry interior millwork is very well done. My wife noted that the coachroof on the Beneteau is lower allowing more visibility from the helm. In-mast mainsail reefing is a nice feature. The two-cabin version has the same interior layout as the Catalina 320 and Beneteau 321; it’s just larger. There is a double v-berth, a large aft berth, and a pull-out double berth beneath the port settee. We are keeping our eyes on this one. Look for a new Catalina 310 to arrive at Sea Lake Yacht Sales in December.

Of course, there were also a multitude of brokerage sailboats available for inspection. I looked at a 1998 Beneteau 411 whose owner proudly showed me around his boat. He logged 4500 nautical miles in and around the Caribbean on this boat and is now living onboard dockside. The boat looks news. Asking price: $249,900.

I also looked at 1989 Catalina 42 for $120,000. Unlike many of the older brokerage boats, this one was well-maintained and would be worth a serious look.

All in all, there was too much to see in one day. I heard they even had on display the only surviving Patrol Torpedo boat to see combat in World War II (PT-309).  If you plan on attending next year’s show, plan on spending at least two days if you want to see it all. Admission this year was $7 for adults and $3 for children under 12.