Should we add a sub site for seasport?

O

Ordutch1975

New member
Since SeaSport now owns C-Dorys maybe we could add a sub site for them like we have for rangers. My best friend is buying a seasport and laments the fact that he can't find a similar community or site. (I think he feels left out lol)

I think at one point there was a seasport community site but don't know what happened to it.

Anyways just a thought. Might also bring additional interesting people to the community.

H
 
I do own a Seasport.
I believe it would be a positive addition. The owners ( original ) of Seasport bought the molds for the C-Dorys and now produce the C-Dory boats. Thus they are the parent company to C-Dory.
I looked at the forum list; Marinaut boats are listed, the only connection there was Les's involvement as a C-Dory dealer then as owner of the Marinaut boat line. Ranger Tugs are listed, that connection seems to be Jeff Messmer as a sales leader when working for one of the companies that built C-Dory's. Ranger Tug is owned by the Livingstons family.
I like the C-Dory line of boats, they are pracitical and economical to run. They have captured a portion of the PNW marketplace because of there design factors. This site has been very successful at pulling the C-Dory owners together, adding the parent to C-Dory would be a natural addition.
You have my support.
Thanks
 
I like the look of the Seasport boats but how about Bayliners and all the others.... (that was kinda a joke)

I do not know if supporting the company has any reward to us...the new company does not seem to want much to do with us...I may be wrong..but the old company used to be very supportive....I just don't feel the love anymore...maybe it's just that we are too far away to see...may be just me and I have been wrong before...but that is my feeling..

Sorry but I think we need to keep our blood lines pure.... They are a different sort of boat with a different use and capability with inboards...they should have their own group...They should start their own club is they think there is a need... (I know....Don't bother telling me)

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Generally I don't like to see a site cluttered up with too many sub-forums.
In this case I think it could benefit the site and members.
I agree that we are invisible the current C-Dory manufacturer but this for us, not them.
 
Yes, we are invisible to them except they use the heck out of us for advertising...and they really benefit from that...so I don't feel any loyalty to them....the Seasport boats are so different than our boats...I fear we will become one of those "any boat" clubs...and loose our identity heck there are lots of nice sail boats out there...where do we stop ?

Trust me, If it needs to be said...I will say it..(Navy Senior Chief)...Damm the torpedoes Full Speed Ahead..

Joel
SEA3PO
 
My two cents worth... We have members with lots of different brands of boats. It's not an issue for them to start a thread or ask a question about boating in general, or maybe even something specific about their boats. I just don't feel a need to go beyond that.
 
I dont think it's a good idea either. Totally different hull and powerplant. The only similarity I see is that some of them have the color shear stripe....but many do not.
 
I looked over the "Ranger" owner's forum. A fair number of the posts there were not even about Rangers. I believe that the Ranger Forum was started when the C Ranger seemed like a possibility, and then our moderators provided the Ranger Tug owners a forum similar to our C brat forum.

Recently we all answered a Glacier Bay's owner's question. I have seen other types of boats pop up on the forum.

I vote to keep it for the C Dory actual linage--to include the Cape Dory's//Venture boats, as well as various types of C Dorys.

The decision is the moderator's
 
I prefer to remain a 'C-Brat' and retain the C-Dory linage. Perhaps Seasport owners can form a SeaBrat forum?

I enjoy reading and answering questions from boat owner's of other models, but I prefer to keep the C-Brat forum a C-Dory forum, and often go to the Hulltruth forum for non-C-Dory related 'stuff'.
 
I welcome Sea Sport comments, photos and experiences, which I think would be a benefit. I've been a Sea Sport fan for decades, and offering them a seat at the table wouldn't threaten what we've built for 17 years. If S-S involvement were to become hugely popular, we simply could create a forum for them.

San Juanderer is right. We're now built by the owners of Sea Sport, and having their voice would be a bonus. Last month at Stuart Island I visited with a Sea Sport couple from Oregon on their way to the Broughtons. I came away thinking we're like cruisin'-cousins in the similar ways we use our boats, how we find value in travel, nature and discovery, and our predisposition to steer clear of self-absorbed showboats and snobs.

A thumbs up to greater inclusion, and a hearty shout-out to all the fine craftsmen at NMI, who made buying a boat a wonderful experience. Also, join us for a shop tour at the Bellingham rendezvous in August.
 
I can see both sides of that. I like the C-Dory forum but I think there woud be room for overlap, for instance in catagories like seamanship, or safety, or destinations. Maybe even the best thing on the boat for under $20. But, I like the CBRAT identity we have and prefer to keep that. A sub group, maybe not, but if the manufacture wanted to help support a site fir SeaSports like the mfg of Ranger tugs does, maybe the owners of this site would be willing to set up a parallel site for the SS boat folks.

I agree with Joel, I just don't feel the love coming out of that factory. Brock, I hope I get to do that tour with you, and maybe rub some of the tarnish off.

Yes we do have some things in common, but I think we also have considerable differences, inboard vs outboard, heavy boat vs light boat, cents boat vs $$$$$$$ boat, aft slope windows vs forward slope, are what I think of immediatly.

It would be interesting to hear what the factory would say, and the CBRAT Nerds.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
They both float, are used for the same activities such as cruising and fishing. They have similar amenities aboard. Yes one slants forward the other back, one is heavier than the other, one plows while the other corks. But I would argue they have more in common than the other boats such as rangers on this site. Btw they do make a unicorn outboard seasport http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2008- ... -103090472

As to dollars; yes we burn less of them than they do but I'm not sure why that matters?

As to the factory, how do they support the community? Or I guess I mean how should they? What can they do?
 
Actually, they haven't built an inboard Sea Sport in something like 5 or 6 years, or at least that's what they told me during a visit to inspect by boat progress last year. Also, C-dory offered I/O boats in the 80's, in some of the 27's and Pro-Anglers.

And I agree, seems to me like NMI already is pretty supportive simply by opening their doors to C-Brat factory tours (and during the weekends when they are closed no less!). I think maybe some people would like to see them more actively participate here on the forums, but really I'm not sure how much help they can be since it seems like so many of the technical questions are related to older boats built by previous factories. The current factory has been responsive to any questions I've had about my boat, simply by contacting them directly. Even their boats are constantly changing in unseen ways (different core materials, different options, accessories, etc) so to answer questions they often need your HIN.

Personally I enjoy and appreciate all the contributions from C-brats who don't currently own C-dories...we see active participants here with all sorts of different boats - I think the more the merrier, otherwise the site becomes dull and not worth checking in everyday for updates! C-brats has become a huge online resource (have you noticed that almost any small boating question you type into Google, often spits back top results from C-Brats?). For that reason I'd actually prefer not to create a separate site or forum for Sea Sport owners, but to keep this site as active as possible. If anything, maybe just a field in the profiles where you can enter other brands of boats, since not everyone includes that in their signatures.

-Mike
 
The very reason that this site is so successful and one of the top boating sites, is because it is limited to a very specific set of boats, with very specific issues. Also it is an "extended family". Many of the members travel thousands of miles each year to meet other like minded boaters.

As for the "factory"..maybe boat builder would be a better term. A limited number of boats are built one at a time by hand. I see almost Zero support for our community at this time. There is dealer support, with Marc Grove from Wefing's being the most frequent responder for some specific issues. A couple of years ago a brochure was printed up and sent out on a limited distribution for a few C brats to give out--and for dealers. In the past C Dory has advertised--the current builder elects not to advertise. One of the gatherings is asking for promotional items to be given away as door prizes, or perhaps in a raffle. I doubt that that request will be fulfilled. I have an assortment of caps, koozies, vests, T shirts, sweat shirts and a door mat, which have come either from prior factories or from dealers. I haven't seen any of these offered recently. In fact, the most recent gathering I went to, members donated items for raffles and funding related to donations and memorials.

The build good boats, and the feeling I have is that they don't really want to be any busier. At the very least they could give us, the owners, and their best salesmen, brochures or cards to hand out with their or dealer's info. Most of us have multiple stories of being asked about our boats. We are their salesmen.

C Dory web site--better, but still lacking. Performance for the 16 "coming soon". No prices for options or the boats (used to have that), Many of the pages have "Fluid Marine" at the bottom. Towing weight for the 22 given as 3600# and 4800# for the 25--way off and very misleading to buyers. The 25 is touted as "Economical cruise ranges from 12-20 MPH at well over 5 MPG." !!


If you want to see Factory support: look at Ranger Tugs. They have factory people who browse their forum (provided by our "nerds" also) on a regular basis and answer questions/give information. They advertise. They sponsor gatherings, and promotional items. Their web site is up to date. (C Dory's web site is OK, but many links are old, and I suspect some of the items are outdated. It would be nice to see specific prices, updated features.
 
Just a suggestion but perhaps the Ranger and Marinaut forums could be combined into a SOB---Some Other Boats---forum, for discussion of any boat other than a C-Dory? I see Owners moving up and down and in and out of C-Dory's, and some do own more than one boat, and that might be a place for such discussions. Or not!
 
As a C-Dory owner since 1983 I vote to limit the Cbrats to C-Dory owners only and discuss that boat line only.
It is a dory and has many different properties than most other lines.
Just my humble opinion for what it is worth.
 
I get the concerns and respect that. As to this community I agree it is one of a kind. When I was looking for a c-dory I waffled a lot between sizes, used vs new and this community helped me make my decision. "My IRA" on this forum invited me down among other people to look at their boat. My wife and I drove over 2 hours to go meet them and they spent 4 hours with us and the time flew by. It sold the boat to my wife and helped me make my decision on a 23 Venture (which I am counting the days to delivery on). I wasn't sure what kind of boat I wanted but the community support, the group outings, the friendliness and the lifestyle sold me on C-dory.

To me its not as much about the boat but about the type of boater. If this site was all about wakeboard towers (my wife and I are rather negative about these boaters and they don't seem to respect or care about anyone but themselves) I would be looking elsewhere.

The reason I asked is that I see many people with SeaSports use them in similar ways the community does. And now that they are part of the same family I didn't see why not. Maybe the SOB forum as stated above would work for like minded people with alternate tools/boats.

Someone above stated NMI is not looking to mass produce rather they want to build quality small production boats and I get the sense this is true. I spoke with Ryan at SportCraft Marina (great guy) a bit about this and he said he'd love to do more on the site he just doesn't have time with all the forms of communication he has to keep up with. He responds to emails/calls all day long while also trying to actually get work done and research options for his customers. I will say Ryan provides the best pre and post sale customer service I have ever experienced in any industry. He truly cares about his customer. From his perspective I understand why he doesn't engage more on the site.

My last two cents on this :-)

Harald
 
I always am always amazed at this FREE site. Everyone has lots of ideas but who does all the work? Maybe it's ok if the administrators want to take it on I guess. My vote is to leave well enough alone. I'm sure there is a capable person to be able to start there own site for their particular owners group. It's always the case if you want something done ask a busy person.
HAVE YOU DONATED LATLEY TO THIS SITE?
D.D.
 
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