Logbook: Take Your Parents to Work Day

As a kid I relished take your kid to work day. For me that meant a train ride to Manhattan and a few hours in a cubicle, which seemed so cool at the time. I’d gleefully make copies for hours in exchange for a Happy Meal and a hot chocolate that I’d pretend was coffee. I never really took the time to learn what my dad did but it was a fun experience nonetheless. My mom on the other hand worked in the main office of my high school when I was a student there, our version of take your kid to work day often resulted in me being grounded.

This past March I was able to flip that script and give my parents a taste of what I do on the Saturday of the Palm Beach boat show. I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive going into it. I started in marine publishing 14 years ago but still call my dad when I have a question or an issue with my boat. I wanted to show them some cool boats but, more importantly, that those years of college they paid for weren’t a (total) waste.

I ditched my industry-issued khakis and polo for a more comfortable, and incognito, shorts and a t-shirt and we made our way into the show just as it opened. Wanting to wow them out of the gate, our first stop was the Valhalla display and their nearly $3 million super console V55. I’d reviewed that boat before and thus had my ducks in a fairly straight row. The 2,400 ponies, enormous … everything and accommodations to rival our old cabin cruiser, they echoed the sentiment so many others have after stepping off that boat: Wow.

Perhaps I should have paced myself, but our next stop was the CL Yachts X96, a small superyacht that is absolutely loaded with party tricks. Before this day at Palm Beach neither of my parents had been to a major show like this, and they seemed to genuinely enjoy taking it all in.

We continued on to check out new models from Tiara, Pursuit, MJM, Back Cove and Marlow. Some people recognized me, which was good for my ego, and no one stopped me to complain about one of our reviews; things were off to a strong start. We also ran into Power & Motoryacht columnist Bill Prince on the docks. We all chatted for a bit and Bill told some nice lies about how he enjoyed working with me (beers on me at the next boat show, Bill!).

After showing my folks many of the elite-caliber boats that so often grace the pages of this magazine, my dad wanted to see some boats that were more in line with what he was interested in, smaller center consoles that he could use for shorthanded day trips with my mom and their dogs and morning fishing trips with his grandsons. It was a side of the show, because of time constraints, that I rarely get the time to see. The on-land portion of the show featured dozens of center console builders, some of whom I’ve never heard of and others I’ve heard of but didn’t really know about. Here I was, Mr. Big Shot Editor learning about new builders and boats; I had hoped my expertise would have lasted longer. This was probably the highlight of the day for me, discovering smaller boats with my parents, talking about what we liked and didn’t like, various price points–which ones seemed fair and the many that seemed outrageous.

Before long the weekend horde descended upon the show. The beer- and lemonade-drinking, stroller-pushing crowd surrounded us. For the first time in my career, I was one of them, not an editor covering a show but a boater searching for something cool.

It was a great way to cap off a successful first Take Your Parents To Work Day. I think my mom was happy to see that I’ve grown up since involuntarily visiting her workplace in high school and I even knew a couple of things about particular boats that my dad didn’t, which is rare.

My goal for the day was to teach my parents all that I’ve learned about the marine industry, but as is typical with parents, they ended up teaching me that boat shows–much like boating itself—is a lot more fun with family.

See you on the water, Dan
[email protected]
@danhardingboating

This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.

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Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/column/logbook-take-your-parents-to-work-day