Our Sea Ray Dealer

[AMFM3]

The Kelowna Sea Ray dealer Dockside Marine changed ownership last year. The new owner group moved the dealership from the north end of town to our marina. They've rebuilt the existing building and moved the lot out into the front parking lot. Nice job really.

But this is what the lot looks like. A whole whack of Harris Flote Boats. These things are taking over out here. They do have a few Sea Ray deck boats and used stuff. But there's nothing over 30 feet here.

Thought you guys would be interested to see.

Grand opening bash is Friday at 3.

Mark

 

[Gofirstclass]

Mark, there's a lot of can boats in our area now and they're getting more and more popular all the time. I can see why. Little maintenance, you can ski or tube behind them, they hold a whole bunch of people and they're relatively inexpensive. They're great for what they're designed to do.

 

[Tonka Boater]

Can boats are taking over...it's crazy. I refer to them as floating minivans. They're horribly ugly but they're functional. I can't stand them personally but I am clearly in the minority.

They must be cash cows for the manufacturer and dealers though. There's nothing to them but they're asking upwards of $70k for some models. Granted, a good chunk of that is in the engines but it's otherwise all aluminum and plastic.

 

[MonacoMike]

What many of us would call true boating is of no interest to most of the world. They want big sq footage, a place to grill, (with a home BBQ), and swim off of in the lake. We thankfully don't deal with them on Lake Michigan, it's a real lake for real boats and not very can boat friendly...

MM

 

[Woody]

What many of us would call true boating is of no interest to most of the world. They want big sq footage, a place to grill, (with a home BBQ), and swim off of in the lake. We thankfully don't deal with them on Lake Michigan, it's a real lake for real boats and not very can boat friendly...

MM

Hmmm, what is it that you do, this 'true boating' thing... :smt043

 

[Mike Blake]

You really mean Wal-mart boats!!

 

[Chris Nowell]

I remember as a kid seeing a few smaller versions of patio boats on some of the larger rivers and the more remote lakes. They were popular with the folks who owned cottages, I guess because a person could load them up with all kinds of supplies and still have room for a family of five. Yea,,,,, just like a mini van. So there we have it; can boats are the mini vans of the water and jet skis are the dirt bikes of the water. A colleague of mine recently bought a can boat and I was surprised to learn how little he paid for it. We'll see if there's much of it left after sitting on a mooring ball for a few years. Looked like a lot of unprotected wood on the underside to me.

 

[Molson]

The cottagers have them around here, and just use them to fool around with in the bays and such. There is a rental place that offers them too. I laugh, often, when they go out in the morning on a nice calm day, and have to return, crossing the "gap" with a good chop on hte way back, they usually come back soaked.

 

[John_Gault]

I had a can boat on my stbrd, that kept veering into my path - conversation and kids around the helm prevented attention I guess.
After a few pointless horn blasts, I accelerated past and went down to a local dock restaurant. An hour later, and in a bit of a rush back, I met the same can boat, he didn't pay attention as he crossed my wake at took it 2 feet over the bow. I stopped to make sure they were ok, but was greeted by hostile hand gestures.
Now, reading this post, I realize they are minivans of the water - and piloted the same way!

 

[Night swimmer]

I like the idea of having all that room and some of the nicer ones have lots of cool options like slides and bars. It's just the quality is terrible. Some of the higher end better known names still just have such cheap construction. I'm sorry using 1/16 inch plastic with tiny bolts to hold seat bases and sun pads on is just not gonna last.