OK guys and gals. Listen up! It’s that time again. It’s time for Pacific Marine Expo. In case you’ve been dozing in the bunk for the past couple of months, dreaming of plugged fish holds and wild nights on the town between trips, well shake it up because PME starts next Wednesday, Nov. 19, and runs for three days at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field Event Center.
It’s the perfect place to find the newest fishing gear, electronics, clothing, engines — you name it. Just about anything that’s needed for your boat will be there. Lots of people have outfitted new boats and repair projects right on the show floor. Bring a shopping list and wander the aisles. I guarantee you a lot of things can be had at less than top dollar.
There are also plenty of conferences and talks: some will help you fish safer, some will help you get organized to save time and money and a couple will explain pending rules and regulations. An example of the latter is the program on Friday, “An Update on Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Mandates and Development of Alternate Safety Compliance Programs” with the Coast Guard’s Jack Kemerer and Troy Rentz and Joar Bengaard, a consultant with DNV GL in Houston.
Then there’s the talk on a subject that periodically must drift across every fisherman’s vision. That’s Wednesday’s keynote address when John Aldridge, a New York lobsterman, talks about how, after falling overboard, he survived 12 hours in the water with only a pair of boots to keep him afloat.
At the end of the day, it’s time for happy hour in the ZF beer garden. Each day there will be a drawing there for a pair of tickets to see the Seattle Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 23.
So get there anyway you can: bus, car, plane, side-door Pullman — that’s a boxcar — and we’ll see you there. In the beer garden for sure.