Back from the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show

[wiley]

Back from the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show

Pictures tomorrow and video clips next week.

Was a great Show!

[Menzies]

Did ya buy anything?

[Woodsie]

I spent the day there on Friday. I was kinda disappointed all the way around.. I love being around all the great boats, but I saw an awful lot of problems and oversights on the exhibitors' part. I did not find a suitable boat to replace mine which was stolen & stripped in MeeJammy. All the makers have resorted to putting lipstick on their pigs trying to attract buyers.. That Contender 'Brougham' is an example.. I don't know what to do now..

There was a little Asian guy wearing a Honda polo.. He was videotaping all the larger CC's bottoms and was not discrete at all.. He pizzed off a couple of the builders.. I got thrown out of a display when the owner saw me measuring a transom... It got worked out, but this guy stirred up a bunch of guano.

The transom deal is a long story, but a friend who is buying a 35CC changed his mind when he saw a few with cracked transoms (SKA and tournament boats). Other SKA boats did not have torn up transoms. So, with all the big boys sittin still, I took the liberty of measuring the transoms that support triples.

There was a big difference in them, too.. Still working on a selection with him, too.

Look at the transom of the 41 Hydra Sport with quads. There are brackets attached to raise the outside motors up.. 2 big metal trapezers.. You gotta open your eyes when looking at these boats.. It is too easy to drink the Kool Aid and miss big things..

Woodsie

[wiley]

I videoed almost all the CC displays and received 100% cooperation from the builders/Reps. All of them welcomed me to their display and took the time to explain to ReelBoating.com about their boats. Guess I had the right shirt on!

The HS 42 (if that's what you meant by the 41') was actually engineered and built specifically for quads.

Should have the videos online in a week.

[Woodsie]

Yeah.. the HS 42.. The huge Orca they have brought to every show.. Look closely at the videos for this appliance that was added to both sides of the transom..

No.. I was wearing the wrong shirt, and I never thought about it. RumDum! It wasn't a really wrong shirt,, just a builder of shallow boats. Enuff for the Big-A to send me off. I didn't care, as I have been thrown out of much nicer places.

The smaller boat builders (except a few) did not show up for Lauderdale. Times are that tough.

Perhaps we will see them in MeeJammy Beesh. The large center console boatbuilders were very well represented at Lauderdale.. I was impressed. God ! The Bahamas were finished well. The Sea Vee IPS boat looked new too. Very nice work on their part.

Tell me Wiley, did you video the SeaHunters hull bottoms ?

Woodsie

Edited November 3, 2010 by Woodsie

[wiley]

I was looking for information.... not for flaws.

I bring the info to the forum viewer. From there they can make their own educated decisions.

How small of a boat were you looking for? Some nice 17-22's were at the Show. Tideline Boats had a 19', Edgewater a 15'!

The Bahama line is a beauty... how about that Blackwater 36 SF?

What boat do you build?

[wiley]

Here's the HS 42 transom ....

Click to enlarge

[wiley]

..... Seahunter pictures here:

[Woodsie]

I was looking for information.... not for flaws.

I bring the info to the forum viewer. From there they can make their own educated decisions.

What boat do you build?

And you did a great job of bringing home the Boat Show for those who couldn't get there. Your information is attractive and informative. However, I was there looking to buy two boats, and spend the better part of a half million dollars. That is when you get serious about your investment. I am not a critical-sniper-hater-bushwhacker. I cannot stand those people. I do know quality in boats and saw some stuff I didn't like.. You photographed the back of that Hydra Sport, right ? Did you see the two cheese graters the motors were hung upon ? No.. You were waiting for the people to get out of the way, and get a good shot. (And a good shot you took !) If you took a picture from a different angle of one of the boats, you may have noticed that the motor was hung about a half inch off level on the transom. 6 feet up to the top of the F350, it was noticeably crooked next to the other motor.. My buyer saw it from about 50 feet down the aisle.. We walked over to confirm. Sure enough ! A careless employee. Not a corporate problem, a people problem.

There were a lot of stupid little things, but there were some bad things.. A 34' CC sitting on two stands that had small pads to hold up the hull. The pads were the size of a half sheet of letter paper. Four small contact patches for a rigged boat with 10 tire kickers crawling all over it.. If you took pictures under that hull, you would have seen the big dents in the hull that may or may not leave damage when the boat is lifted off.. The stands the boats were sitting on had funeral tarps spread over them so you could not see. I wanted to see. I saw a significant hook in the hull of a big CC. It was on a proper long-bunk stand.

These are premium boats. They are serious investments. They will be trusted running over to fish in the Eleuthras and San Sal. Trusted to stay together and not suffer an 'employee problem' in the middle of nowhere or Swordfishing at night. We just go the extra mile to look at the boats closely and disregard the lipstick on the pigs.

ME: I want a 23-25' CC with a rock solid hull to live bait off Palm Beach. I want a 3 piece hull that I can billfish comfortably from with lots of live bait capacity. I don't want a wet boat. The choices are surprisingly narrow below $90K

I am not a builder.

Woodsie

[wiley]

Have you looked at Albury Bros?