This is a resend. I don't think my post ever appeared. If you have read this
before, I apologize.

There was a Suzuki 115 4 stroke running in a tank outside. The motor is SO
quiet you can't hear it except for water from the pee hole.

Back from the boat show!.. Boy was I surprised to see all the different
boats. My pick of the show was an Allmond. Picked for quality and
construction. Impeccable workmanship, but very plain. Galley and head badly
underequipped. No generator, and diesels no longer an option. The hardtop
was substantial, and the supporting stainless steel structure was well made,
but brush finished to hide welding errors. The welds were all ground, but
not smooth.

SeaRay's offerings of the 280 and 290 Sundancer were a notch down from what
they used to be. Scrimping on real wood in the cabin, and factory installed
amenities. The hulls were a little thinner and the engines a little less
well installed. Wireing was sloppy, and there was no room on the helm
station for additional navigation electronics. The head, now shrunk down a
bit, was suitable for most of Dorothy's munchkins, but, real people will
have a time squeezing their butts in the tiny door.
I looked at Grady White's offerings and was sorely disappointed. Grady used
to be one of the highest quality boats on the marketplace. Cost cutting and
sloppy workmanship have knocked it off its pedestal. In answer to the
original post, the rails were put together from individual fittings held by
allen screws. I think the fasteners will corrode over time making an
eyesore. The hulls all had ripples, and on at least one boat the rub rails
had popped out of the stern "cover". Wiring was sloppy and not fastened and
covered as in older boats. I understand the warranty specifically excludes
blistering, and Grady will not do anything to correct cold water blisters.
As a former GW owner, I must withdraw my recommendation for the brand.

Bayliner, I went aboard a Cierra 28. The Bayliner remains a Bayliner. The
construction meets NMMA specs. Barely. Filled with a lot of mid-grade
accessory items and no generator. Also underpowered. Workmanship was a
nightmare. IMHO you would be better off with an used "needs work" boat then
to buy a new Bayliner.

Monteray: Not much has changed on the Monteray line, except the prices have
gone up, and "Standard" features have vanished. Now, everything is an extra
cost option from the bimini to the generator to the holding tank.

Boat Tree's offerings were not reviewed as I would not send my worst enemy
to buy a boat there. An evil and dishonest business!

All in all, quality was down throughout the industry. Shoddy materials and
poor workmanship spread itself across the show like a nasty fungus. Smaller
boats were no exception! We should be careful or the domestic boat industry
will end up like the domestic auto industry, with all the best stuff being
built overseas.


It was grim.

Capt. Frank
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks