New TV show on hidden boating destinations comes to New Bedford

A new TV program aimed at showing boaters the Northeast’s lesser-known recreational ports was filming one of its first episodes in the city Monday, getting shots of waterfront icons like the Schooner Ernestina and chatting for a bit with Mayor Jon Mitchell about why pulling into a Whaling City slip is a good idea.
“We’re not going to focus just on the famous Newports of the world,” said Tom Richardson, co-host of New England Boating TV, which premiered Monday night on the New England Sports Network. “We want to show what some of the undiscovered destinations have to offer.”
New England Boating TV is the first show produced by marketing firm Lighthouse Media Solutions, which recently purchased Richardson’s website BoatingLocal.com. Richardson produced short travel videos for BoatingLocal — which was rebranded into the new website New England Boating — but this show marks his first foray into television, he said.
Producer and director Gene Allen, however, has worked in television before, producing a show called Port of Call that ran for five years and showed what various New England boating destinations had to offer. New England Boating is in the same vein, Allen said.
The show’s first episode Monday showcased Mattapoisett as a boating destination. Subsequent episodes have been filmed in Hingham and Bass River, an estuary village in South Yarmouth.
The show aims to tell boaters where to get the best meals, have the most fun and refuel before heading off to their next port, Richardson said.
But non-boaters can get something out of the show too, with rundowns on the best restaurants and museums serving any vacationer looking for a place off the beaten path, he said.
New Bedford has become a boating magnet in recent years because its waterfront holds plenty of cultural attractions — 14 art galleries within a five-minute walk of the water, according to city officials — and other attractions. Yachting Magazine also listed the city as one of its top 50 North American ports.
Mitchell, who explained what boaters need to see and do, said the city is always looking for ways to bring people “the New Bedford gospel.”
Richardson echoed the mayor’s comments, pointing out that New Bedford features a few unique attractions such as the dinghy slip at the Ernestina that lets boaters pull up a dinghy alongside the schooner and head right onboard for a tour.
“Some places … You’re just stuck on your boat,” Richardson said.
The episode is slated to air at 6:30 p.m. July 29.
By Matt Camara
mcamara@s-t.com
July 02, 2013 12:00 AM
Source URL: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130702/NEWS/307020330/-1/NEWS