Super Delegation...2/27

[Capt_John]

Originally Posted by Sea Draggin

I have to sneak my daily sausage biscuit.

Not only that but no wrappers in the trash, cars, truck bed, etc.

The biggest question is....which of the chains makes the best biscuit. Chick, Biscuitville, Bojangles, Hardees. I had a Neeses at the rod show over the weekend that beat them all, but out of the Fasties, who rules?

Bojangle's when they're fresh is hard to beat.

[Capt Josh]

Guys here's some really good info we've been discussing on another board...i'm pasting it in here for your educational enjoyment...

Questions posed to me by friends of mine here on the west coast...

"Captn

As a certified member of the peanut gallery who possesses the same level of expertise on purchasing a $2-3mil sportfisher as a majority of the pundits on this forum ( i.e. none ), I pose these questions for you to ponder during the reflective moments of your quest:

Is a tits-up, handcafted, totally custom, new Carolina sportsfishing machine a good fit for PV as a homebase? You will have this sleek, one-of-kind hot rod a loooong ways from the skilled craftsmen who constructed her as well as the capable boat yards of Palm Beach and Carolina to keep her in shape. As we all know the yardapes at Opequimar can't manage to apply friggin bottom paint correctly. Having a custom boat will make it much tougher to get parts, people who have a clue how to work on it, etc. Trying to go through the warranty break in period on a new Carolina is going to be a major challenge even if nothing major goes wrong (i.e. big f'n headache for El Capitan)

Save your boss a million or so and buy a non-custom, lightly used sportfisher already outfitted and broken in. The depreciation savings alone will pay for your extra fuel burn on the heavier Viking or other. Getting things fixed, warranty work or customer support will be a hassle but not reinventing the wheel.

Good hunting and see you in LB

Clarke"

[Capt Josh]

My reply...

Thanks for the Devils Advocate approach to the issue Clarke...believe me El Diablo does appreciate it.

These are some of the same questions i've asked myself over and over again during the process. Service of any product is shaky at best when you are living and breaking things in latin america, and narrowing your outreach group considerably by going custom is certainly something i've weighed carefully.

This is all part of a much larger equation though, and in this particular circumstance we have a couple of people, ie my boss and i, for whom things like performance, efficiency, unique style, and custom finishing touches are held in paramount importance. These needs and wants, achievable ONLY in the custom boat market, far outweigh my concerns over being able to get these builders on a plane to come patch something up as only they know they can.

Really, when you compare everything between custom and production boats over 50 feet you would have to overlook a lot of compelling evidence in the custom boat corner's behalf to make the decision to buy production.

I could go on and on but i might ruffle feathers. The bottom line is if you are a serious fisherman and demand the ultimate ride, efficiency, appeal, and finish you buy custom and only custom. PERIOD.

Of course that is my opinion...for what it's worth.

[Capt Josh]

Squirtis adds some info....

"I will say though that the Carolina Customs are rarely given away and usually have quite a waiting list for them unlike many production boats. What you have is someone who only builds 4-7 of these a year depending on the builder. The depreciation is much less of a factor compared to production boats because of this. Simple demand/supply economics (like I know what the hell that means).

Also, the builders of these boats take a certain pride in there work that is hard to match when you have 100's of employees. Many of these guys will jump on a plane to make sure something is done correctly.

A lot of these custom's regularly spend there winters from Dominican Republic, to Isla Mujeras, to Costa Rica, to Venezuela.

Just my opinion, but a custom carolina is not just about economics and efficiency as important as that might be....

It's more like a cubano' or a fine bottle of wine....about doing something in style, about running and fishing a boat that is somehow etched in the deep history of boat builders....tied to the esteemed heritage that comes from something built by hand and not by computerized molds.

Curtis"

[Capt Josh]

Clarke adds his response...

"Curtis

10-4 on the quality, craftsmanship, style and performance of the custom Carolinas - they are incredible, jaw dropping dream machines that most of us mere mortals can only dream of. Hell, I hope they pull the trigger just so I can go for a ride someday! It's awesome just to hear about the boats and process.

But I am a tossing in an opinion specific to Capt JT's world - one from a check writing boat owner in PV, albeit a hell of lot poorer than JT's patron, who sees how demanding the PV fishery can be on boats that fish hard. And, blessed be the patron saint of speed, Capt JT fishes them waters hard.

I don't suggest that a Carolina custom vs. a production type boat decision is simply a dollar and cents driven one. For those that can afford to own the best, price or cost is marginally relative. Not to say, however, that a $2mil new Viking is kind of second hand cookie cutter or something. All I am saying is that boats are really just imperfect pieces of metal, wood and fiberglass shit that operate in a harsh, unfriendly environment which
will, without fail, break, malfunction, wear out, fuck up and frenqunetly and unrelentlessly cause the owner to toss painfully large sums of dinero into the floating hole in the water. A finely tuned, high performance, 60' handmade craftman sportfisher in PV is gonna take a HELL of a lot time, resources and money to campaign. I have feeling some of those top shelf customs that spend hard time in CR, Venezuela, St Thomas, etc. also spend some real quality time back in FL or Carolina yards as well. Hell, they're boats!!

Bring some pics to LB

Clarke"

[Capt Josh]

And i add my response...

"You know in my opinion the real JAW DROPPER is the price tag that comes with those production Vikings...i mean, a brand new 58 Carolina custom costs less than a 54 Viking BC Edition by a lot of dollars. 200 - 300 THOUSAND dollars less in fact with exactly the same tower, bow rails, pulpit, windlass, options, interior, electronics, tuna tubes, etc. And that's just the initial price tag nevermind what happens down the road with things like fuel burn, depreciation, etc when you fire up and drive away that Viking.

So, when you get right down to it, can you purchase a customized, more efficient, better fishing boat that has a lot of sex appeal from stem to stern for LESS $$$ than a production boat that's say 4 feet shorter, burns a chitpile more fuel going slower speeds and still has all of the maintenance issues that come along with all the high-tech gadgetry every manufacturer wants to pack into their hulls be them plastic or wood????

The answer, surprisingly, is a liberating and resounding....YES!!!!

What i've learned during these long months of searching is that it's often WHAT WE AREN'T TOLD about production boats that ends up hurting us in the long run. We AREN'T told that they're NOT eco-friendly, NOT efficient, NOT very performance driven, NOT the best buy for your dollar etc etc etc.

Is there more maintenance to think about with a cold-molded custom boat? Well....is there???? Look at the similarities (ie exterior bright work, interior aesthetics, operating systems, equipment, etc etc etc) between the Viking 60 and a brand new 58 custom...i don't see much difference except for what the hull is made of. Both boats can have as much finished wood and flashyness inducing maintenance highlights as you can screw, glue, or otherwise attach to the frame and that, my friends, when you get right down to it is something to seriously think about.

Is there likely more maintenance issues in the long-term to think about when you purchase a custom? Not if you don't go crazy and plaster the outside of the boat with a ton of varnished teak or other such material. Is there less exterior wood on an optioned up new Viking? NOPE!!!

Are you going to have to paint a custom boat every 5 years? Yes...but you are going to have to do a lot of work to a new, fancy production boat too if you want to keep it looking as good as that custom sitting right beside it at the dock.

If you don't go batty and plaster the exterior with fancy, high-gloss varnished woods you are going to save yourself a lot of maintenance trouble whether you buy production or custom because these days the production boat builders are trying very hard to make their boats look as good as custom boats by offering the customer a lot of exterior woodworking options anyway.

Bottom line is it's going to cost you either way to maintain a boat to like-new standards and you can certainly get beat up these days with all of the wood options offered by both custom and production manufacturers.

Do i think it's going to be harder to get someone from a custom boat building company to get on a plane and come help me if i need it???? CERTAINLY NOT!!! In fact given all of the information i think it'll be harder to convince someone from a production company to feel compelled to come and help little ol' me with any problems that may arise.

Really this decision regarding after-sale service is about whether or not you want to deal with a CORPORATE EMPIRE that is largely faceless and detached emotionally from it's customers, or do you want to deal with a craftsman and family of people who have their reputations and pride on the line with every hull that goes out the door.

For me, there's no question about it...i want custom builder Mr. XXXX on the phone when i need him...Mr. XXXX being the actual company owner, artist, craftsman, designer, and person who's sweat is stained into the very hull i'll be riding on and whom has a lot more of a vested interest in making sure the X number of boats he builds every year stay in good shape and under a safe and comfortable umbrella of support.

From a manufacturers stand point, a custom boat builder needs to make damn sure that his one or two boats a year are taken care of and in my opinion...drum roll please...IS IN A LOT BETTER POSITION TO DO THAT NO MATTER WHERE THE BOATS ARE LOCATED. A production builder who has THOUSANDS of boats out on the market place to worry about will inevitably NOT be able to take care of each individual customer as well as they would like to. Little ol' me in mexico is just another production boat owner lost in a sea of others.

Anyway, like lawyers we can argue both sides until we're blue in the face. It's up to all of us to do our own research and make our own decisions. Remember that i was SOLD on production boats until i started digging deeper and really hammering out the research. And what works for some certainly does not work for others.

Be dilligent, do your homework, IDENTIFY YOUR NEEDS AND WANTS, and you'll be that much closer to making sound decisions."

[Capt Josh]

Off to florida in a few hours btw...couple more Carolina customs that i MUST check out...

The real problem right now is there are some very good deals out there and it's too hard to pick just one!!!

Good problem to have though...i'm certainly not complaining.

[Sea Draggin]

You probably won't be giving maintenance a second thought, when the man in the Blue suit is scratching the letters off the back of her.

[Capt Josh]

Originally Posted by Sea Draggin

You probably won't be giving maintenance a second thought, when the man in the Blue suit is scratching the letters off the back of her.

EXACTLY!!! Bottom line is we will punish this bitch hard, hope she'll hold together but in all reality NOBODY had made a boat, production or custom, that i can't destroy in the pursuit of MADNESS...

It is what it is bruddahs...if you fish hard day after day at this level chits gonna break and it's gonna be expensive...but...YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T PLAY and...IF YOU HAVE TO ASK WHAT IT'S GOING TO COST THEN LIKELY YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!!!!

(so go find someone who can like i did!!!)

[BTH284]

Good to see your keeping the carolina boat mindset in your choices. I don't think you or Mr Big will be disappointed with your choice. Besides anything that is made to function properly in the water needs constant maintenance. Custom or production it don't matter. The pedigree of all the Carolina ladies were born and bred in some rough nasty fish laiden water. Cheaper with no to lil exterior wood maint......no brainer there. That equals more time on the water. Besides there is nothing finer than fishing and hard running somebody else's boat

Good luck with the final Decision.