Tomcat

Thanks Da Nag, but Les and EQ Marine are no longer selling Tom Cats, just C-Dory :(
Has Thataway or Discovery have a scale weight of bmt as I think it is more the my tundra is rated for. :oops:

Thanks
Don
 
C-Dory list the following dealers on their web site for the TomCat

Alaska Mining & Diving Supply
3222 Commercial Dr.
Anchorage, ALASKA 99501
Phone: (907)279 6113
www.akmining.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Boys Play Toys
272 Highway 17 South
East Palatka, Florida (East Coast) 32131
Phone: (386) 328-4510
www.realpagessites.com/bigboysplaytoys/
e-mail: I_BIG@bellsouth.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boatline
2535 Savannah Hwy US 17 South
Charleston, South Carolina 29414
Phone: (843) 852-9111
Fax: (843) 852-9118
E-mail info@boatlineboats.com
www.BoatLineBoats.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bulldog Boatwerks
17771 N. Tamiami Trail
North Fort Myers, Florida (West Coast) 33903
Phone: (239) 731-8736
www.bulldogboatwerks.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lake Union Sea Ray-Fife
7700 Pacific Hwy East
Milton, Washington 98354
Phone: 1-877-732-7296
e-mail m.youngren@lakeunionsearay.com
www.lakeunionsearay.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lake Union Sea Ray-Redmond
17351 NE 70th St
Redmond, Washington 98052
Phone: 1-877-732-7296
e-mail m.youngren@lakeunionsearay.com
www.lakeunionsearay.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lake Union Sea Ray-Seattle
2500 Westlake Ave N.
Seattle, Washington 98109
Phone 1-877-732-7296
e-mail m.youngren@lakeunionsearay.com
www.lakeunionsearay.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long Island Yacht Sales
41 Degnon Blvd
Bay Shore, New York 11706
Phone: (631) 665-5144
Fax: (631) 665-5120
www.longislandyachtsales.com
E-mail LIYacht@aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Master Marine Services
333 East Blackburn Rd., Ste C
Mt. Vernon, Washington 98273
Phone: (360) 336-2176
www.mastermarine.com
e-mail: dickc@mastermarine.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mobile East Marine
13398 Hwy 55 E
Alliance, North Carolina 28509
(252)745-5615
e-mail: mobileeastmarine@earthlink.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Lyme Marina
34 Neck Rd
Old Lyme, Connecticut 06371
(860) 434 1272
e-mail: olmarina@oldlymemarina.com
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Outboard Motor Shop
333 Kennedy St.
Oakland, California 94606
(510) 533-9290
e-mail: outboard98@aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sportcraft Marina
1701 Clackamette Dr.
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
(503) 656-6484
e-mail: sportcraftmarinainc@comcast.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wefings Marine
131 Highway 98
Eastpoint, Florida (Panhandle) 32328
Phone: (850) 670-8100
e-mail: marc@wefings.com
www.wefings.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Y-Landing Marine
108 Powers Road
Meredith, New Hampshire 03253
(603)279-5050
e-mail: dave@y-landing.com
www.y-landing.com
 
Sea Wolf wrote:

Tom Cats are now only sold through the Factory Dealership?

Joe:

FYI
Starting October 2nd Scott Mathews of C-Dory Marine will be working for Lake Union Sea Ray as per phone conversation with him.
I quess we'll be heading for the big city now.

Don
 
Grumpy Man":6zqiqr9d said:
Sea Wolf wrote:

Tom Cats are now only sold through the Factory Dealership?

Joe:

FYI
Starting October 2nd Scott Mathews of C-Dory Marine will be working for Lake Union Sea Ray as per phone conversation with him.
I quess we'll be heading for the big city now.

Don
Click to expand...

Don-

Thanks!

I misinterperted this line initially:

"Thanks Da Nag, but Les and EQ Marine are no longer selling Tom Cats, just C-Dory."

to mean that only the C-Dory factory was selling Tom Cats,

instead of that Les and EQ were no longer selling Tom Cats.

You can get either meaning out of it.

Thanks!

Joe.
 
I believe it was Dive Cat who had a Scale weight--it was in the high 9000 range. We are figuring on 11,000 for our tow vehicle--which is right at the max of what I have. The 7.3 diesel Ford Excursion tows the Tom Cat very well--but the fuel mileage about halfs! I am also putting auxillary springs on the rear axle.
 
I have no idea what an alliance with a large Sea Ray dealer and C Dory means. However, Max Marine (HZO a publicly traded company on the NY stock exchange), was born out of a merger of a group of Sea Ray dealers and is spreading all over the US. Although not many on the West Coast (13 in California), Most of the East Coast dealers have been taken over by Max Marine. To make matters a bit more interesting, Max Marine has partnered with Brunswick Corp. (maker of Bowling balls and many lines of boats, including Bayline, Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Hatteras etc) and has begun to buy up marinas. We are seeing shortages of slips due to condo waterfront developement. So in some areas in order to get a slip, one has to buy a Brunswick Product, sold by Marine Max in a marina run by . For example from Marine Power Europe (the semi shell corporation):
"“This is the first of what Brunswick hopes will be further initiatives to partner with our entire network of dealers to provide our customers with access to water, and to provide an exceptional boating experience,” explained Dustan E. McCoy, chairman and chief executive officer of Brunswick Corporation. “This partnership with MarineMax, with their customer-centric strategies, is a great place to start. Going forward, we will continue to explore means to advance the interests of boating and of all of our dealer partners.” This is in reference to a developement in St. Petersberg--but there are a number of marinas which are quietly being purchased.

I would hate to see C Dory gobbled up by a larger parent company.
What is the implication of Scott Mathews working for Lake Union Sea Ray?
 
I spoke to Scott Matthews last month at Deer Harbor Marina and he updated me on the goings on. Apparently, the factory decided that they were no longer going to have a retail dealership at the factory any longer. He also mentioned that he had been offered a job with Lake Union SeaRay but until now, I didn't know if he had decided to go there or not. As to the actual reasons, I'm not sure but I believe Scott mentioned something about the factory wanting to concentrate on manufacturing boats and wanting to get out of the retail end of things. As to Lake Union Sea Ray, they also sell other boats beside Sea Ray; Boston Whalers and JetCraft to be specific.

At the Boats Afloat show two weeks ago, I saw the CD-25, TomCat and CR-25 displayed under the Lake Union SeaRay banner. I was quite surprised to see Mercury Outboards mounted on the TomCat and CD-25. I asked a rep from the factory about that and he said that part of the agreement with C-Dory stipulated that Lake Union SeaRay could equip C-Dorys and TomCats with Mercurys. I asked if buyers still had the option of equipping with Hondas and Suzukis. He responded that Lake Union SeaRay had a reciprocal agreement with C-Dory to equip CD's and TC's with Hondas, I don't believe it included Suzukis.


As far as the implications of C-Dorys being sold by a SeaRay dealership, your guess is as good as mine.

Peter
 
Lake Union SeaRay has had a Tomcat parked at the dealership at Fife for a few weeks now. Last night on the way to Seattle, I noticed that they now have a C-Dory 25 parked next to it. Had me puzzled until I looked at the C-Dory web site. Looks like they are selling them. I don't recall seeing outboards on either boat. That dealership has super exposure to both directions of I-5. Those boats will be seen by a gizillion folks every day. Robbi
 
I wonder if the Hondas will come pre-rigged from the factory? Brunswick (Sea Ray - Whaler et al) also own Mercury--so I would expect them to push Mercs.

I taked to Scott Reynolds this PM--about the issues with my boat. He confirmed that about 55 Tom Cats have been built--but about 70 are on order. He also pointed out that the numbers are not sequential in production. That numbers were assinged as per orders. That was a little surprising to me, since I had always thought that hull numbers were sequential for building on the assembly line.
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but I am a little sad that the C-Dory factory is no longer going to be retailing its boats. We have bought two (and maybe three, who knows? :lol:) boats at retail directly from the factory. A large part of the C-Dory mystique, at least for some of us, was watching and photographing the production of our boat(s) at the factory, and the day(s) we took delivery. It was dealing directly with the people whose pride was on the line - for our CD22, Gene and Buck, who now work for the BrandX® boat company, and for the CD25, Andrew and others. Buck called us on a Sunday in February 2003 right after we took delivery to tell us he woke up in the middle of the night, with a feeling that something was not right, and would we please check to make sure that the Wallas exhaust hose was properly connected to the thru-hull...it was not, and that Sunday call could have saved our lives. Who at Lake Union Sea Ray will know or care? It just seems adding a dealership layer will add one more complication to getting issues big or small resolved (I know that most of our Right Coast folks have bought from dealers all along of course), which has been one of C-Dory's greatest strengths to date.

Taking delivery of the CD22 at the Kent factory February 14, 2003
tion_at_C_Dory_Factory_Ready_to_Roll_2_14_03.sized.jpg

CD25 emerging from the birth canal at the Auburn factory on delivery day, May 13, 2005
PICT0010_001.sized.jpg


 
Jeff may pop in here and give you the "official" line but in the meantime I thought I'd post this.

As of Sept 5th, 2006 Lake Union Sea Ray became an official C-Dory dealer and the factory ceased retail operations. According to the information I was given they felt the time had come for them to concentrate on manufacturing. With their growth and the growth of the dealer network having a "factory outlet" in the mix was a bit uncomfortable at times for the dealers and for them and since that arrangement isn't typical for the industry they decided that it was in the best interest of all concerned to step fully into the role of being the national boat manufacturer they've become.

Retail and wholesale operations are quite different and streamlining for one usually has a negative impact on the other; they chose to concentrate on doing the best job they can in the manufacturing and wholesale aspect of the business and leave retail operations to dealerships whose operations are soley directed toward retail sales and customer service.
 
Dealing directly with the factory was one of the attractions of Tom-Cat. I have always bought my boats and motors from a one or two horse shop or directly from the factory. I get a whole shop full of parts and then try to make something out of it. It is what i do both at work ( electrical - electronics technician of water, wastewater, and composting facilitys ) and at home. :D
After returning from Deer harbor this weekend for herring swiming lessons, I have a meeting with Scott Mathews next week , so I will have a better idea as to what and how Tom-cats can be ordered, or maybe it will be another recycled Fosters beer can tin lizzie.

Don
YSMB
 
No doubt that it was nice having the option of dealing/buying a C-Dory directly from the factory, but for quite a while I've felt that it was just a matter of time before they dropped the retail end of the business. The ever growing popularity of these boats probably dictated that the time has arrived.

I really don't see a problem with this and I can see a lot of advantages from a business standpoint, so to me it just seems like a natural progression.

I have confidence and trust in C-Dory, Scot, Jeff and the crew to continue building great boats, back them up with great service and at the same time
continue to build and enhance their dealer network. I think it's a smart business decision which will be appreciated by their dealers, and in the long
run by us C-Dory owners, present and future.
 
Mark-

I'm sure you're basically right, but I'm thinking that a lot of their retail customers really felt that they were much more likely to have any problems be taken care of because they were dealing directly with the manufacturing source.

Progress has it's price!

How's the weather up in Fairbanks?

Is Dan doing duty on the pipe?

Joe.
 
Joe, you're absolutely right, it would only be natural for a person to feel that dealing directly with the factory would place them in a better position to have any problems which might arise be resolved more expediantly.

It does't have to be a problem though and I really feel like C-Dory will do everything they can to make sure that it isn't.

You are correct in that "Progress has it's price". Change is a constant, and
after almost 74 years, I'm getting into the early acceptance stage.

Hey, after a cold wet summer (most all of it) we're having a great September.
Only a couple days so far with a light frost. I'm going to take my grandson and my good buddy Jazzman out in the morning and see if we can find a few
birds.

Dan is busier that a one eyed dog in a butcher shop! Yeah, he is definitely doing double-duty on the pipe. Someone has to keep your car and boat running.

Take care, see you at the SBS

Mark
 
The decision to stop retailing boats is not a decision that we took lightly. We made our decision in order to better support our dealer network and ultimately our customers by concentrating our efforts on manufacturing. In June we began interviewing the top dealers in the greater Seattle market. There were several things that we were looking for in a dealer. The ability to have a mixture of boats in stock for customers to view and ultimately purchase. A dealer that had a professional sales team that were enthusiastic about our boats, and most of all we were looking for a dealer that knew the importance of servicing our customers after the sale. Lake Union Sea Ray stood out as that dealer. They are locally owned. They have their Master Dealer designation in service for both Sea Ray and Boston Whaler. They have some of the highest CSI ratings in the industry and are very serious about taking care of the customer. This starts with the owner of the company and is echoed throughout their organization. We have been conducting a comprehensive training program this week for Lake Union Sea Ray. They not only sent over their entire sales team, but included their service managers (from all three locations) and the heads of their rigging departments. Every one of the 20+ Lake Union Sea Ray employees that that visited our factory this week have not only been professional, but have been enthusiastic about our boats.

Lake Union Sea Ray is a full line Mercury dealer. They will stock C-Dory boats with Mercury motors. They have also committed to selling and servicing Honda motors as a package with C-Dory boats.

Scott Mathews, our Sales Manager, has accepted a sales position with Lake Union Sea Ray. Scott will report to the Fife location on Monday October 2nd. I am pleased that someone from the factory will continue to represent our boats both during and after the transition of Retail sales to Lake Union Sea Ray. Scott has worked at the factory for 2 1/2 years and is a fellow C-Dory owner. I am also very excited for Scott on a personal level. We wish Scott the best of luck!

As many of you know I personally love the interaction with our customers and look forward to continuing to work with all of you through our dealers and through personal interaction. Feel free to contact me at any time.

Thank you,

Jeff
 
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