Every year I go to the New York Boat Show. In recent years, it has been a sad pilgrimage. Where once a wide range of boat types were represented, for the past decade or so most of the boats on the floor have been cookie cutter power boats. This year there were literally no sail boats in the show at all, with the exception of a couple of nice day-sailers and kayaks at the Hobie booth and a Sunfish at the Dory Shop.

Sadder still was the paucity of marine vendors. Many of the usual suspects were missing. West Marine and Defender Industries apparently didn’t think it worth showing up. A bad economy, poor priced show space or the growth of on-line shopping. Whatever the reason, I could find essentially nothing that I wanted to buy, which was a first.