Outdoors: Sailing/Boating

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, January 12, 2006

It's January, and that means it's time to think about boating -- at least, it does if you're planning to go to the 13th annual Providence Boat Show this weekend at the Rhode Island Convention Center and Dunkin' Donuts Center next door.

The show features more than 200 display booths for boat-related products and services, as well as 200 brands of power boats and sailboats. Ninety-foot ceilings in the Dunkin' Donuts Center mean that sailboats can be exhibited inside with their sails set. The combined display space at the two venues is 240,000 square feet.

Each year, some 25,000 people escape winter's chill in Rhode Island to attend the Providence Boat Show. This year, among other new exhibitors at the show, they'll find a booth for the Freedom Boat Club. Looking ahead to its second season in Rhode Island, the club will be displaying for the first time at the Boat Show.

Members of the Freedom Club pay a fee to have access to a fleet of power boats that will number eight this summer. Boats are 21- to 26-feet in length. Various membership levels are offered.

The Convention Center and Dunkin' Donuts Center are side by side on Sabin Street in downtown Providence. Boat Show hours today and tomorrow are noon to 9:30 p.m. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $10, with children under 12 admitted free with an adult.

For more information, visit www.providenceboatshow.com.