The designs of those Orkney boats are extraordinary, which personally speaking, hits my hot button. In the Northeast, there were virtually no boats like Orkney available, and besides-- Orkney is made in England, and I think is unavailble in the Northeast. At the time we were looking for boats, we thought C-Dory was going out of business or too risky to purchase, but fortunately, they survived and appear to be thriving now under Triton Marine, and making very good boats again with very good quality control. Nevertheless, we didn't see anything we liked at the time of our search. We found a Quicksilver boat we liked, but it was not available in America. Quicksilver is owned by Brunswick, and is extensive throughout Europe, but not marketed in America. We even wrote to them, and in my opinion, they didn't even care. Actually, every boat we really liked was available only in Europe. It seems like these manufacturers think everyone in America wants gas guzzling boats with a couch, blender and well appointed bathroom. When we found the Marinaut, it was nearly everything we wanted in a boat. Thank God that C-Dorys and now Marinauts are available, because without them, our only real alternatives would be to buy very old boats, or custom build new ones from scratch. So when I hear about all the trouble the boating industry is in today -- the large corporations that is, I don't shed a tear for many of them. They don't understand the changes and needs in the marketplace, and just like the manufacture's of buggy whips, will fade from our collective memories.
I've stated it before and will do so again: my wife and I are indebted to C-Brats, because without this forum, we would not have known that there are actually alternatives to the boating offerings from corporate giants.
Rich
