I am happy to brave freezing temps to prep for our first big boat show ATLANTA of the year . The signals are good for a continued uptick in sales with a tangible pent up demand for what we feel are the best “pocket cruisers” or “trailerable trawlers” on the market today . We will be featuring them in some of the major Southeastern boat shows this year . We do love the “in the water” shows in the spring and fall months as we can show off the true attributes of this style of boats and watch a potential owners response to the demo experience . Just good , clean, fun in the boat business .Alternatively , in the winter and being indoors , yet still on a boat , even in a convention center when its cold outside, is just a bonus of the boat business if you are hopelessly in love with boats.Yes , I am guilty .

So, we will be in Atlanta with C Dorys and Ranger Tugs starting Wed 01/13 through 01/17. At the Georgia World Congress Center in space H 44.

Then in a joint effort  with C Dory ,Wefings Marine  , and Suzuki we will be in the water at Sea Isle Marina for the Miami Boat Show with one of the first boats to be equipped with the new design , ultra light 60 H.P. Suzukis . It will be a C Dory 23 Venture . The twin 60s should be an ideal match with the new light and powerful motors .I am quite  happy to represent the new owners of C Dory , who will be showing off their boat building skills [ they are now the manufacturers of Sea Sport/Osprey/Skagit Orca and C Dory ]  Performance stats will follow .Should be most interesting to see how these motors stack up .

The shows for the spring are still in up the air , but I am leaning towards Jacksonville , Bay Point Panama City, and Pensacola.I love to do boat shows and am always open for a new venue . Its pretty wide open this year as far as available space goes .

Shows will be more important  in the new boat economy as dealers will be fewer and further between . That will mean shows will be a great place for a shopper to see whats new and purchase from a dealer that is serious about their craft . Sales may be somewhat stagnant but new designs and features will always be on the boat horizon. The best dealers will have them available .And they will do the shows . See you at the show !

Marc

Pardon the interruption. I’m just checking a new plug-in installed for Marc so he can easily embed videos into his posts. Trying to post a short video of the Ranger 29 in the water. Hope it works.

Sometimes I feel as though I am running a boat orphanage. Through no fault of the boat , their families have abandoned them and they come to live at my dealership .

They all start out as foster boats in a sense when we get them , with the hope of future support from their original parents. All formerly from good families, some are victims of the economy whose parents just couldn’t keep up the responsibility of having a family of boats and have filed bankruptcy, some are there because their parents died [or closed up shop] unexpectedly, some became orphans because the family’s assets have been transferred to another family, and they didn’t take the liability with the acquisition. All were originally chosen by us because they are good boats, with intelligent features and unique functional traits, and were selected without knowing they come from a troubled family background.

But like Steve Jobs, Leo Tolstoy, or Johann Sebastian Bach and many more [all successful/important people that were orphans] these boats can do great things for their new families. They can bring joy and happiness that comes from being cared for ,played with and coming from one good family [Wefings foster home for boats] to another good home [the end user] . Our family is dedicated to supporting these boats new families with the best support we can, that is part of what makes us who we are. If you have a problem we will try to make it our problem, if you have placed the faith in us to do business with us. If you simply want to get the lowest price and do not care about the genealogy you are missing the point of my post.

The point is that if you like what we have, orphan or not , and appreciate any kind of relationship or service after the sale , and have an understanding that even an orphanage has employees , overhead costs [just like your business] and really is trying to make a reasonable profit , you wont beat us down for fun, pointlessly waste our time just to see how good of a deal you can get with no real intention of doing business and make unrealistic and uninformed offers on our kids. And please don’t expect us to bend over backwards and jump through hoops for you on that bargain boat you shopped us on and bought somewhere else. Our family comes first .Always. You shopped, you conquered, and YOU became an orphan as a result.

We consistently find these types to be our most unappreciative and demanding customers.

I don’t know if its human nature to think “Its ok for me to make a living, but I have to make sure those I do business with do not” , Or if there is an unreasonable perception of what a boat dealer/ marine foster parent makes for profit , but its time to realize there will be no service to be had, perhaps at any price, if the new game is to buy everything you can for pennies on the dollar every time you make a purchase.

Reminds me of an experience I had a week or so ago. A local fellow was coming in to price a generator. I happened to be on the auction web site for scratch and dent Honda Power Equipment. There was exactly what he wanted available, at a better price that he could have gotten anywhere else. He hemmed and hawed .It ws a one time deal and I guarantee he will ask for that price again if he changes his mind. Then the subject of outboard motors came up. I was told” I know what you boat dealers make on them outboards; you make 40 or 50 percent. I know cause I used to do security 20 years ago at a motor dealership and I looked at them invoices”.

I had to laugh and choose to try to educate him that things might not be that same as they were 20 years ago, and the motor [and boat] business is no more than a crazy commodities market now with a 10 or 12 percent deal being a “home run” . I didn’t even try to explain the profound effect that the internet has had on all retail sales . Its now dominating the wholesale world as well. Far too deep of a concept for this old timer to understand. But he is still convinced we have giant margins and are all rich.

In his defense, he did come in to our store. He probably assumed you could get it cheaper if you go out of town .But at least he came in. 500 miles for 500 dollars at 3 dollars a gallon ,even the old timers that KNOW have to think twice about starting the car.

I feel so much better right now I think Ill go to the orphanage and give the kids a bath.

Marc

Wow , its great to hear that Defiance will be covering warranty on the boats they built before the “ownership change” . Im sure Bo and the Defiance team that are so dedicated to their customers will be just as dedicated to their former and possibly current dealers as well . Im sure Ill be getting a support call soon to help me move the boats we have and to continue our great relationship. As a matter of fact , if anyone is considering a purchase , I would be happy to deliver a boat anywhere in the U.S and would suggest a call to Wefings Marine before you buy from anywhere else . I will save you money and the factory that has stood behind their products so well [ I read that on the Defiance forum a number of times !] should continue to do so. So , please give us a call if you would like to take advantage of our UNBEATABLE pricing on these great boats .It really great to be a part of the Defiance Family.Ill look forward to any questions and contact from the forum members or interested craigslist shoppers.
Marc Grove
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We have a 195 Yellowtail , a 22 Admiral , a 22 Admiral EX, and a 25 Admiral EX . All Yamaha Powered and all built by the company that has great integrity and service, keeps their promises, and will take care of you like “Family”.

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Well we could not have picked too much windier of a day and still have gone out for our test , as it was we had to cross some very rough patches of water on the Apalachicola River to get to a place in the river system that we could run our speed and rpm numbers and gather test data . We would have been wet in anything smaller than a 50 footer out in the bay!The river is still very high from record flooding and there was strong current everywhere we went , so we had to run our tests in both directions for every speed and RPM in the St Marks River, dodging debris as we went. The boat was well powered with the four stroke 115 Yamaha and it topped out at just under 40 MPH with three ample guys aboard . Dave Lear from Saltwater Sportsman Magazine was the writer and keeper of the data, Wally Bell from Sundance boats was the photographer and I did most of the driving . The article will appear in the June issue of Saltwater Sportsman Magazine . The boat handled exceptionally well and you forgot you were driving a boat that floats in about 8 or 9 inches of water , as the fine entry was taking care of the ride and the flare was taking care of the spray ,just as it was designed to do . The interior space is well utilized in the boat as the drop shear design make a secure feel for the bow and a very “fishable” stern for working at water level handling fish and getting on and off the boat via the built in swim ladder . Its a really nice combination of features . There will be models from 17 to 25 feet , and it will be a winner for sure , as it does so many things well . The details of standard features are still being worked out , but the 21 footer is available now . Ill leave my friend Dave Lear something to write about , so look for the article in Saltwater Sportsman . Feel free to call us at Wefings Marine with any questions you may have about this exciting new Sundance NX Series Hybrid!
Marc