Winter Haven Boat Show Showed Off Dozens of Pontoons and More
by James Coulter
What good is living on the Chain of Lakes if you don’t have a good boat to explore and enjoy the Chain of Lakes? Fortunately, the Winter Haven Boat Show showed off plenty of boats for locals to purchase.
Nearly 100 boats new and used were showcased in the parking lot of Publix along Cypress Garden Boulevard across from Legoland in Winter Haven last weekend.
Attendees could peruse various top model boats including pontoons, Sweet Water, Hurricane deck boats, and Crestliner aluminum boats.
All vessels were provided by Home Marine Supply in Winter Haven, which has been the local go-to store for boats, boat supplies, and even boat repairs for more than 70 years.
“The turnout has been good with beautiful weather, lots of people coming out, and we sold several boats,” said Kent Darling, Sales Manager with Home Marine Supply. “We still have a lot of people here today cruising around. We will be here tomorrow.”
Darling owes the success of boat shows such as that hosted last weekend to the overall enthusiasm of the local community to get out onto the water, especially with the weather getting warmer and COVID-19 numbers going down.
“The people out here are great in Florida,” he said. “They love to boat, they love to get outside, and do water activities. We are happy to get them into a boat to do it…It has been a lot of great people coming out and looking at new boats and used boats, and getting out there. They are getting over that whole Covid thing and getting out and starting to have fun again.”