|  |     Can't help much with the show (we enjoy the Newport Sail Boat Show)
    and the last time we paid for a room in Newport was in 79.  I was
    in the Sheraton Goat Island once - seems like a first class place
    - probably costs accordingly.   When we anchor in Newport we like
    to eat at Christie's. Not real fancy likes Clarks, but the
    Narrangansett seafood pie has always been good.   It gets real busy
    on weekends from late May to October and anytime during a show,
    but by arriving early or going at off peak times we have never had
    to wait for seating.  Clark's is a black tie affair and reservations
    are a must. The cuisine is 4 stars - so is the check.  We have tried
    several little cafe's in the center of the reconstructed section
    but I thought they were pretentious. The ones that preceeded them
    (and the tourists) were better in my opinion, but I never thought
    of plants, brass and glass as a viable substitute for good food.
    
    Walt
 | 
|  |     Having been an exhibitor at the last couple of Small Boat (and
    WoodBoat) shows I can make a couple comments on the show. But firat
    a disclaimer- I am a complete WOOD boat nut, mostly I build traditional
    small boats. 
    
    So after that, ...the show is pretty much like all other
    boat shows. Lots of ugly plastic stuff, overlaid with lots of chrome
    plated white metal, and all hawked by ex-used car salesmen. The
    shows in Newport do have the advantage of being on the water and
    most of the boats can be actually tried out. At Small Boat they
    have run a series of boat trials, and reported on them extensively
    in The Small Boat Journal. I assume they will be doing that again.
    
    Our club (Traditional Small Craft Association) will not be exhibiting
    at Small Boat this year, but I think Ill take my Dory with a 1906
    one lung engine down and thump around the floats a bit.
    
    Ron Ginger
     
 | 
|  |   RE: .2
  How's it going Ron? Haven't heard from you in a while.
  
  For the readers of this file let me confirm Ron's allegiance to
  WOOD. We used to work together and he never let an opportunity go by
  to refer to fiberglass boats as either 'Clorox bottles' or 'frozen
  snot' Classy people, those WOOD boat nuts.
  
  I only let him get away with this since he is a wealth of
  information on boat building and was always available to share
  it. If anyone has any questions about WOOD and other 'obsolete'
  (just joking, Ron) materials, I suggest passing it by him.
  John
 |