Duroboat, the Great Loop and 2 adventurous Gals

We now have Duroboat at Wefings Marine and here is why;

A couple months ago I got a call from American Suzuki . We have been Suzuki dealers for about 8 years and I have gotten to know many of the corporate folks there . The call was from the marketing guys asking If we could service a 50 H.P. on a small aluminum boat with a couple girls from Seattle that were doing the great loop . I of course said “sure, tell me what the situation is” to which they replied they will be there TODAY ! . Thinking cap was quickly put on head as I assumed there was no trailer or way to check things out other than in the water, so I called our friends at Scipio Creek Marina in Apalachicola and asked if they could lift their boat with the forklift and put on a rack so we could service it . They were happy to do so and I took one of our mechanics off his regular duties and had him to go over there the next A.M. to get them fixed up . After speaking with the girls, they had asked me if there were any good places to stay near by that fit their budget. They had no transportation other than their boat which was now out of the water , so I called the water Street Hotel [down the street from Scipio Creek Marina] to see if they might have a promotional room for the girls . They were quite full ,but did offer a great discount . It was the perfect place for them as they had been sleeping on the boat, and could use some air conditioning and a beautiful view , some high speed internet access for their blog and photo uploading , and of course top notch showers to get days worth of bug spray and sunscreen off.

They got settled in and the next step was food and beer . The hotel was walking distance from a little waterfront restaurant called “Up the Creek” . They serve Oysters, Shrimp ,Gator-tail,fish  and other local things as well as beer . My wife and I greeted  them there and we got to meet them and hear their tales from their departure in Chicago down the inland waterways , and finally to Apalachicola. They had also never had our favorite delicacy APALACHICOLA OYSTERS. They tried them and moved on the the Alligator Tail. I guess there are a certain percentage of folks that our beautiful oysters don’t work for .Ill take Oysters over Alligator anytime .

They were about to experience their first truly open water of the trip and I was very adamant about their learning about our rapidly changing conditions in the South in the summertime.They were good listeners.  They certainly found out I wasn’t just a paranoid middle aged guy , as they were stuck in our great little town an extra couple days and then had a window to cross to Steinhatchee , where they were stuck with weather again and then Cedar Key where they were stuck once again ! They continued to the Okeechobee waterway to the east and then up the eastern seaboard and on to Canada . Their trip log can be found at

http://www.duroboat.com/SmallBoatBigSumme.htm

Lots more of their story there .We were just a small part of it here .  Glad we met them and happy to be part of the Duroboat Family !

Marc