Happy Birthday Jacques Cousteau?

As we celebrate the 100th birthday of Jacques Cousteau, a pioneer in the field of marine conservation, it is hard not to imagine what his take would be on the Deep Horizon mess in the Gulf of Mexico.

Today Google is celebrating Captain Cousteau's birthday with a SCUBA-inspired logo (pictured). He was the defacto human representative and biggest advocate of life beneath the sea. The ocean's ambassador. So what Cousteau have to say about the oil spill?

As I googled that question to see what others who knew him better than I would have to say, I found Steven Machtinger of Tiburon (California), president of the board for The Bay Institute Aquarium Foundation, pondering that same question.

I also found that Captain Cousteau's grandson, Philippe Cousteau, has had plenty to say about the disaster. And, quite impressively, the young Cousteau has done more than just talk. According to his facebook page, he is onsite in Louisiana doing all he can to stop the carnage. Philippe even dove into the oil-infested waters a few weeks ago to see the damage up close. You can read his thoughts in this article from the Miami Herald, or check out Philippe Cousteau's website to learn more about him and his efforts to fight for the gulf in his grandfather's honor.

Click the Google logo for the most recent news results of articles mentioning Jacques Cousteau, and let's hope the people trying to stop that oil from pouring into the Gulf give Jacques a nice birthday present by having some success in their efforts.

Minutes from Mystic

This time last week I was setting up the BoatNameGear booth for a boat show - The Northeast Maritime Exhibition at Mystic Seaport. I was as impressed with WindCheck Magazine’s ability to get this inaugural show off the ground in the short amount of time that they had, as I was with their venue selection in the Seaport.

The show started out looking like a dud on Friday with stormy weather and a constant flow of nothing but school children on field trips marching by the tent… not very promising if you’re trying to sell stuff to boat owners.

The weather cooperated for the rest of the weekend, and traffic picked up a bit. I anticipate that if the show is held again next year, perhaps a few weeks later (when school is out and families are more apt to attend the Seaport), we’ll see a much better showing. The location is ideal with its long docks and makes for a nice contrast when you see new boats on display among the historic wooden ships that are the norm at the Seaport.

Overall, I was glad to get the BoatNameGear brand out there in my homestate, and send some t-shirts and welcome mats home with a few fine folks. I also made some great connections in the industry, giving me plenty of fodder for a few Daily Boater articles, including Mobile Mariner, Sailors for the Sea, and the crew of the Spirit of Massachusetts which is part of the Ocean Classroom Foundation. Make sure you subscribe to the Daily Boater to catch our posts on the latter two organizations within the next couple of weeks.

Now for some more pictures from the show and the boats at Mystic Seaport.

Boutique Boat Shows in CT

It seems Connecticut is hosting about a half dozen boat shows this year, most of them small and first-time shows organized by boat dealers that are pulling out all the stops to make 2010 more successful than last year.

Today, I attended one of these shows in Essex, CT, and I'll be exhibiting BoatNameGear at another one in New London on June 19th. There is also one happening in Mystic at the Seaport next month. The New London event appears that it might be much larger than what I witnessed today in Essex, as it is being organized by the same folks that put on the huge SailFest every year.

As for Essex, here's what I saw on this beautiful Friday afternoon. One dock with boats, three non-boat vendors under the tent, and a couple dozen boats to look at. And there seemed to be a lot of yacht salespeople and Soundings writers and photographers milling around - at least for the kickoff of the event.

Still, you couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise for a boat show.

Overall, I think Soundings, Brewer, Hank Aldrich Yacht Sales and the other yacht brokers involved with the event did a pretty nice job with the inaugural "Spring Boat Show" in Essex, CT. The show began today and goes through Sunday, April 25th. Here are a few photos of my favorite boats from the show.