Yesterday was Mardi Gras — Fat Tuesday — so big, loud and colorful dance celebrations took place all over the globe. But few places in the world celebrate Carnival as lustily on a per capita basis than do the islands of the Caribbean.

We joined the Mardi Gras fun on St. Barth. Since it’s one of the least populated islands in the Caribbean, St. Barth had one of the smaller celebrations. Even still, thousands — including every sailor in the area — turned out in wild costumes to street dance to blaring music from 3 p.m. until the wee hours. Despite the fact that it was about as mixed a group of races, ages and sexes as possible, and despite the fact there was constant drinking and plenty of pot smoking, there wasn’t a gendarme in sight. There didn’t need to be, either, as there were no unpleasant incidents. That’s Carnival as it should be.

"I think Yacht Fest was fantastic!" said Joan Burleigh of Trident Funding this morning. "In fact, I’m completing some business from the show as we speak."

Trident was one of roughly 25 vendors who exhibited their wares at the four-day boat show and trade fair, held last week at Alameda’s Marina Village Yacht Harbor. Adding an educational component to the show, a half-dozen seminars —  on topics ranging from SSB installation to inside-the-Bay cruising — were also very well attended. By all accounts, the show was a huge success — especially for a first-time event — and there’s a wide consensus among exhibitors that it should become an annual, if not biannual, affair.

As national economic news has grown increasingly gloomy, marine sector sales have plummeted. But as some politicians have been pointing out lately, with an economic downturn comes new opportunities. For boaters, that translates to killer deals on boats and gear that will likely disappear when the economy rebounds. Shoppers at Yacht Fest seemed to get this concept, as a number of big boats were sold — at extremely attractive prices.

Other exhibitors included financing companies, insurance firms, yacht clubs, sailing schools and dinghy retailers. Our hats are off to Debbie Reynolds of Passage Yachts and Alan Weaver of Marina Village for shouldering the heaviest organizational burdens. Alan and his staff somehow managed to shoehorn about 125 boats into the show basin. Ben Oldham of Passage estimates that 2,000 boaters attended the Thursday-to-Sunday show!