Fluid Marine Sold!!!!!!!!!!

It will be interesting to see. I agree for the most part. I would want to see the sales figures on the CD22 Angler before a final decision, I don't think it comes anywhere near the CD22 Cruiser in numbers and sentiment is not enough to keep it. If I had to keep just four models, I would probably keep the the CD16 Angler (a 16 is just a bit small for cruising, the CD16 Cruiser is just badly balanced, and the CD16 Angler is the near-perfect day cruiser / fishing / crabbing / shrimping boat), the CD22 Cruiser (the nearly-perfect all around boat), the CD25 (the best balance of price, amenities and performance for extended couples cruising) and the TC255 (an awesome boat in every respect). But of course the old C-Dory companies never took my advice, and I doubt SeaSport will either! If they are smart, they are tuned in here already. Yoohoo - you guys out there?
Sea Wolf":13jpisp4 said:
If I were in charge of it, I'd keep the CD-16, the CD-22 Cruiser and Angler, the CD-25, and the Tomcat 255, and drop the CD-19, the Venture 23 and 26, and the CD-29, just for business reasons. But don't worry, I'm not Sportcraft, so we'll have to wait and see.

Joe. :teeth :thup
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Which models to keep? I would keep the cd22 the venture 26 in original trim and the tomcat. then dump the rest. the 16 is popular on the used market but I have not seen many new ones sold. The price is to high on a new one. And I hope they go back to the wood interior's
As for the out board commit on the sea sports, I have seen 27 seasport with out boards, abut half the 24's have out boards now. I see a lot of them here in everett and also in the SJ's. The out board allows seasport to get rid of the motor hump on the deck.
 
TyBoo":3ev9kagj said:
Well that makes perfect sense now. That's why, as I noticed at the SBS factory tour, the new CD hulls have the upper color stripes going all the way around the point of the bow like the Sea Sport rather than tapering off and ending before the point in the traditional C-Dory fashion. That was the first distinguishing feature us older guys with failing vision would notice when a boat coming toward us was a Sea Sport or a C-Dory.
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The stripes on the hull have not changed. I'm not sure what boat you saw, but the last 22 I saw a few weeks ago had the same stripes.
 
DDenver,
I too bought a Venture. Just a few reasons why, I didn't like the reports of the cold clammy sweaty conditions that reportedly occurs with the 22' cruiser. The noisy hull was another reason to opt for something in the way of insulation. A lot of the standard features were what I wanted, shore power on board battery charger, wash down etc. I have run a 22' and the hull on the 23 rides smoother with out the pounding and the noise as result of the flatter bottom. The composite core while heavier is not prone to rotting as the balsa core. I'm happy with my boat some far. I glad I don't have to engage in back yard insulation projects to cure some unwanted characteristic's of the 22' Cruiser. My own opinion here, aside from the look of the interior for some, I see/ saw the Venture as more of what I was looking for in a boat and a evolution of sorts of 22'. Nothing against the 22' Cruiser but given the choice I took the Bayliner wanta be. :lol:
D.D.
 
Well.

I don't get it. Some of you are already eleiminating models from the line up. Why? Because you don't like it?

I also notice a fair amount of dislike of the vinyl Venture interiors. And yet there are entire poists on here on how to deal with condensation issues, that involve insulating the boat interior.

Which is exactly what the padded vinyl interior on the Venture does. The Venture line is a great idea from the dealer stand point, because it addresses some of the issues that some people have with the more classic boats.

So why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't buyers have a choice- and dealers be able to offer a better selection?

The wood interior is a thing of the past. The fiberglass modules save lots of man hours involved in building them. The fiberglass modules also add strength to the boat when installed.

Change is inevitable. We'll just hang on to see what we can find out. At this point it's all rumor and conjecture.
 
Update-

Just got off the phone with Jeff at SeaSport.

We had a nice conversation, and got some informtion.

I'm sure he will be posting full details here, but at this point, the line up is unchanged, the dealer network is unchanged and business goes on pretty much as normal.

There are still some details to be ironed out between the dealers and Fluid as they wind down operations, but I feel much better no having gotten some things from the "horse's mouth", so to speak.
 
Thanks for the many enlightening comments.

Contributions from the dealer point of view by both Marc and Matt are greatly appreciated and reassuring.

Also tanks for the clarification on your comments Tom, your additional views on the subject Dave, and some info on the legal aspects of a possible takeover Pat.

This website with its many knowledgable and varied contributors, the sometimes differing opinions and friendly (sometimes not so) banter was the major deciding factor for me in choosing a C-Dory.

Hopefully, Sea Sport also fully appreciates the value of the C-Dory line and the possible marketing value of this website.

Take care,
Dan
 
Personally, I like the finished interior of the Venture 26, as did Meredith. I also noted the deeper V would probably improve the rough water ride (even though I've never actually riden in one). We looked at a 26 at Master Marine in Mt. Vernon while searching. It again came down to $$$$$$$. The 25 was within our affordable range and gave us all we were looking for in a cruiser. Yes, I'll personally have to create solutions to some of the issues (condensation etc) but IMO it was/is a small price to pay.

As for Matt's input "from the horses mouth" it appears encouraging that warantee work etc will go on as ususal.
 
I had a long talk with Jeff at Sea Sport/C Dory/ Osprey today .Jeff and I have been talking for a number of years regarding Sea Sport and Osprey boats .
I dont think it could be a better fit for C Dory than to have been adopted into that family . The values and quality ethic are what we need and want , and they quite willing to listen to feedback from dealers and owners , and we look forward to a great relationship with them . There is a lot of turmoil in the boat industry right now and it will be a little while before the new boats in the field are sold , and they realize a glut of boats is not good for anybody . They also realize that you dont need a giant dealer network, just quality dealers. They also realize that boats and building techniques and designs evolve and that is demonstrated by the Venture Series and the Classic C Dorys both having their place in the world. And of course the Tomcat too.
It could have been a bad situation with the brand just going away, it will be happening alot to other brands in the near future , but thankfully not our beloved C Dorys.
So lets congratulate welcome the new parents and look forward to a long and succesful future with all of their boat lines !
Marc
 
And look how fast a Sea Sport goes with two little bitty engines! :shock:

seasport19.jpg


Charlie
 
Its a win win for me all the way around. My next boat was not going to be a c-dory at all. C-dory and now seasport will never make the boat I really want and I can't get the owner of the boat I want (Aviq) to give it up even if I had the cash for it. So my next boat was already going to be a 26 seasport raised pilot house. Now I can get one, some day, and have them stick a c-dory emblem on it for me. See you can have your cake and eat it to. side note: why would you want cake if you were not going to eat it in the first place? weird.
 
Disclaimer - this is just my opinion! Matt Gurnsey is entitled to disagree! C-Dory has too many models to produce and sell them all, this was kind of a hold-over from Tom Latham (the guy who thought the 29 was a good idea, that we would buy C-Dorys lined up beside the freeway like cars, and that molded interiors were a good idea - which they are not. The "cost savings" is not real if it turns off buyers, which it did. No hard evidence, but I am pretty sure the Decragard interiors made a recent used boat a much more appealing purchase than a new C-Dory with the molded interior) and they pretty clearly cannabalized each other's market. I am assuming in the current economic times a manufacturer should pare back to proven winners. You may disagree, but my assessment was an attempt to be objective as to the strengths (and weaknesses) of the current plethora of C-Dory/Venture models, not so much what I like or dislike! If SeaSport decides to keep them all, well, hey I am good with that! I wouldn't, but then it is not my money or company!

Matt Gurnsey":u1lnc9ca said:
Well.

I don't get it. Some of you are already eleiminating models from the line up. Why? Because you don't like it?
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Sea Sport Boats in Bellingham is going to be building the C-Dory, Tom Cat and Orca boats. We are in the process of moving tooling and parts back to Bellingham and we are extremely excited to start building boats. It is a daunting task getting up and running, but I am confident that we will be operational in short order. Sea Sport has stayed true to our niche of remaining smaller and building high quality boats and this has kept us going since 1955. Our intention is to keep the same successful game plan with C-Dory as well. The C-Dory boats are a perfect fit for what we do and I couldn't be more pleased about having the opportunity to build them. I will look forward to hearing from and meeting all you C-Brats as we move forward in this next chapter of "C-Dorydom."

Jeff Lindhout
 
Da Nag":105wku15 said:
Doryman":105wku15 said:
Is there any kind of mailing list or website for SeaSport owners?
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There is now.

www.seabrats.com

:mrgreen:
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Does this mean the new product will be Sea-Dory? :wink: :mrgreen:

If the folks from the new "parent" company are watching, welcome aboard! As you can tell, we are an enthusiastic group of owners. It looks to me like this could be a very good move all around.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

On edit: I see that Jeff from Sea Sport has posted! :thup :thup :thup
 
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