Last night’s 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run Block Party in Clayton, N.Y., foreshadowed Saturday’s main event. All of the high-performance catamarans and center consoles on display ran tomorrow in the 100-plus boat fleet on the St. Lawrence River. Tonight, the boat owners and their guests will enjoy an outdoor dinner celebration punctuated by Make-A-Wish presentations, which will be followed by an auction for raise money to fund next year’s wishes.
Great things come in small packages, and the 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run Block Party is one of them. Image by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
My takeaway? In one very short block, an extension of a charity event had more exotic performance-boat hardware on display than the annual Miami and Fort Lauderdale boat shows. The street was decorated with offerings from DCB Performance Marine, MTI, Mystic, Nor-Tech, Sunsation, Skater and more. The Mercury Racing marketing vehicle, which is pretty cool, also dressed up the scene.
The Block Party ran from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Though it was still a bit smoky from the wildfires in Canada, the air temperatures were in the mid-to-low 70-degree range. The word “delightful” comes to mind.
As does the word “amazing,” because it amazes me how much hardware the organizers are able to pack onto a short, waterfront block filled with small businesses on each side or street. And yet it doesn’t look or feel cluttered.
It’s no secret I don’t love traditional boat shows. I’ve written about that before and likely will again.
My biggest issue? The traditional boat-show consumer experience is not even close to commensurate with high-performance powerboats prices.
I don’t know if any boats were sold last night. I do know the manufacturers on hand had the right target audience. As the saying goes, the easiest person to sell a boat is one who already owns one. I also know that strolling downtown Clayton, ogling the hardware on hand and chatting with builders and owners is a whole lot more pleasant than trudging through the Miami Convention Center.
Not everyone who enjoyed the Block Party—for free, mind you—was a potential boat-buyer. Most probably were not. Regardless, the entire experience was a delight.