As spring officially arrived yesterday, I thought it might helpful to talk a little about things we can do to get our boats ready for the upcoming season. Let’s start with one of the most basic of functions of maintenance, washing a boat. It seems there is a lot of misinformation and misguided ideas about this seemingly very simple task.
Most crews believe whatever they can put in a bucket that makes suds is fine, nothing could be further from the truth. The use of Tide or Dawn on painted or gelcoat finishes removes the dirt and grease but it also removes any wax that protects the finish from the UV rays of the summer sun. In other words, its works to well.
Growing up we always used Tide. Great stuff, really worked well at getting the black streaks off the sides of the house or fish blood off the deck. Little did we know that it was also removing any protective film that might have been there as well. Likewise, Dawn was used to clean anything greasy. Worked great but again there went the wax and in turn the paint.
There are a lot of very good products that are designed specifically for marine applications. Aqua Tech makes a great boat wash, as does Awlgrip but if these aren’t available, make a trip to the great marine supply store (also known as Walmart) and buy a bottle of car wash. If that’s not possible, get a dish washing soap that does not have “grease fighters”. Anything that will clean the boat but leave the wax alone. We all want a clean boat and a well waxed one. Any of these products will do a great job of cleaning the boat but they will also leave the wax in place. Its a simple thing that saves a great deal of time waxing and re-waxing as well as saving money by giving the paint or gelcoat a chance to survey the summer sun.
If anyone has any additional thoughts, we’d like to hear them. Next we’ll discuss stains and how to remove them.
Just returning from a 2 week trip to Europe. Visited the Vicem facilities in Turkey and made a stop on the way home to visit the Cannes Boat Show in France.
The idea was to bring in the dealers and salespeople they have from various parts of the world and teach us what they build and how they build it but at least this broker came away with more. It was great to sit down to talk with the guys responsable for making the dreams of our customers come true. But to get a feel for how they see business and and the desire on the parts of the management team to make Vicem a “player” was a real eye opener. They are looking at this as a growing market. They are confident that boaters are still there and still want to go boating. This seems so difference to the domestic logic and one that gives me hope and a renewed desire to get up and go to work.
Vicem is an outstanding company! These guys have “got it going on”. Vicem is not only looking for business they are putting there money down to do it. The facilities in Tuzla and Antalya are both amazing in both their sheer size but also in the way in they are maintained. Vicem has invested very heavily in our business. They expect the world to enjoy the boating lifestyle again and it’s wonderful to see this kind of commitment in this environment. Vicem and its parent company, Sanko, have been very successful and they don’t take chances lightly. So it very exciting to see them making this kind of investment.
Vicem is doing everything possible to get a head start on the boat market as we see the world economy improve. They have gone out and found some of the biggest and best names in the business to run the daily operations both on in the states and in Europe. They are opening offices, designing and engineering new models and investing heavily in facilities to place them in a position to capitalize on the reductions the rest of the worlds builders are making. It’s funny that here in the states we are closing plants, laying off workers and generally pulling in the reins but in Turkey they are building 46m (150ft) boats on spec.
It was obvious from the start that Vicem was a well managed company. They brought 7 brokers from the states and several more from Greece and Turkey. The accommodations Vicem arranged were very nice and they fed us outstanding Turkish food. They spared nothing where details were concerned, all transfers from hotels, offices and airports ran smoothly and without any real problems. We were joined each day and every night by the management teams from both Tulza and Antalya. This made it possible for the brokers from other companies to get to know each other and the Vicem Team in both formal and informal settings. The experience with Vicem on this trip was beyond my expectations, and I am thankful for the opportunity.
Well she finally went “overboard” Friday and the 61 Chadwick floated well on her lines as expected. The owners could not be more proud. After years of stuggling to get her built, the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be getting brighter by the day (and there are no trains heard).
However, as fun and exciting as these days are, there is quite a bit of work is left to be done before the first fishing day. Robbie Brittingham and his crew are working hard to make that fishing day a reality. The boat is BEAUTIFUL!!
Ready for Hardtop
It is said that no boats would be finished in Carteret County were it not for the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in mid-June. This 61 Chadwick will not break with tradition and should be fishing the 2010 tournament with ease. Of course the builders have been looking forward to the Big Rock for years and this year they will be fishing on their new boat.
Over the last several weeks, the boat has been painted with Awlgrip and Snow White is the color. The job is superb! She’s fair, the paint job was done extremely well and the touch up has been minimal. No orange peel, fish eyes or runs; perfect. This weekend should see the final areas in the cockpit and the foredeck finished and she’ll be ready for the water (at least from a paint perspective).
Installing the hardtop
The Bausch/American hardtop has been installed and the enclosure patterned. Installation of the Rupp outriggers, antennas and the electronics are next. Most of this stuff has been prefit or installed (like the radar scanner) and just needs to be hooked up. But we have no doubt that there will be suttle modifications made as the process continues.
Everyone is very excited about putting her “overboard” but they are trying to hold off until the interior is a little farther along. It’s easy to get in a rush at this point but waiting a little longer will payoff in the end. That said I think we should see speeds and fuel burn numbers in the next 2-3 weeks. Having been 44 knots in a 66 Spencer and this boat having the potential to surpass that number, I can hardly wait! It never ceases to amaze me at the speeds these boats are capable of running these days. Having grown up in the pre-20 kt cruise days, 40+ is unbelievable. And of course if the captain/owner can manage to keep off the throttles, engine life goes up and fuel consumption comes down from boats built just 10 years ago. I’ll have those figures for you as soon as they are available.
The 49th Miami International Boat Show has concluded. We (Caryn and I)visited the show Sat. in the cool South Florida weather and found a mixed response from the exhibitors. It’s hard to tell this year if the visitors were down and if so why. The weather in the Mid Atlantic and North East was absolutelyhorrible. Airlines were cancelling flights from most of the major hubs and leaving passengers stranded. So were their a numbers of potential buyers in that group? Were there a number of buyers who decided earlier in the week to cancel their reservations on the likely hood that they would not be able to get a flight out; I think both are very possible. There were a number of foreign buyers at the show as this show has become a big draw for the SouthAmerican crowd. I guess it easy for them to get around Miami, with it’s very large spanishspeaking population. Overall, I’d say the feeling I got from the exhibitors working the show was an up beat mood. Most have been in the business as long or longer than I have and they have seen the markets dark days for the last few years. Most feel a slight improvement in the market. With the stock markets rebound and somewhat stabilization, people are feeling more confident. Demand has increased and old inventories are starting to fade away.
One of my colleagues recently made the statement that this may be the last “Big” Miami Show. His thought is that because we will see a shift in the way boats are marketed in the future, shows like Miami will have smaller displays from the manufacturers and dealers. Boats will be built and sold on an “as needed” basis and the dealer inventory model will slowly become obsolete. He may be right, time will tell, but what can seen is that the show is already smaller in physical size. Both the Convention Center site and the Collins Ave. display were physically smaller this year. Will this type of marketing strategy be good for the boat business; I doubt it. We need to continue to have the number and variety of boats in these shows so buyers can make informed decisions. Buyers need to be able to come to a show get aboard the boats they have been reading about and form some informed opinions of the boats they want too buy. I hope the manufacturers will continue to bring their entire product line if not to every show, at least to the big Shows like Miami, Lauderdale and Palm Beach.
We are in a very interesting time in the boat business and for those who survive the market there will be a renewed strength and love of this business. I hope we are all able to stay with it and not let the ”Walmarts” of the boat business dominate to the extent that they make this a boater’s nightmare. There is no doubt that the “dealer” model is changing. Banks are not putting the money into floor planning and individuals are not as willing to the amount of resources needed by the banks, at risk. But this does not mean that these Shows should suffer, manufacturers are already making changes to accommodate these needs. Hopefully, we will well see them continue to make the effort and take the risk to market to a buyer that needs to touch and feel before he buys.
Generally, the Show seemed to be a success. With consumer confidence on the rise and the economy on the mend, let’s all hope that we are able get out on the water this season and enjoy the days we have together.
If you are looking for one of our listing, have a look here:
http://www.offshoretoys.com/listings.html
Welcome to the first post on the Total Offshore Yacht Sales Blog. I’m extremely new to this media so please forgive my many faults and mis-steps as I learn. I try to make them as few as possible and deliver as much relavent content as possible.
We are starting this to bring updates on one of our newest listing and while we’re at it bring some news a comments about Total Offshore and the boating community in general. We are a yacht brokerage company specializing in power boats. We have been in the business for better than 20 years helping customers find the boats / yachts of their dreams.
The 60 Jamie Chadwick that has us starting this blog is absolutely incredible. 3 staterooms, 3 heads, mezzanine and a full salon/galley. We’ll be writing about her and her journey to completion as well as sharing a few photos and videos of her as she nears the water. Presently, she is about 80% complete. The exterior is just about ready for paint and should be getting that in the next few weeks. The interior is in the final stages prior to soft goods. Really working on the salon, flybridge and cockpit areas.
Starboard Profile
The video will be out soon, watch here: http://www.offshoretoys.com/videoviewer.php?vid=90
Hope everyone has a good week. We’ll be back with more very soon. Thanks for checking us out.
