Don White wrote:

wrote in message
...

"Don White" wrote in message
. ..

"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
...

wrote:


Umm... Having owned both, I can say that the Porta-Bote is every bit as
seaworthy, has more useful room for a given size boat, has a drier
ride, can be
rowed easily in a straight line, sailed or motored while full of water
without
capsizing, and planes with a very small lightweight motor. Mine eagerly
jumps up
on top of the water with a 3.5 HP motor that weighs 29 pounds. I never
have to
tow it, because I can hand launch and retrieve it without a hoist, and
it folds
up flat in a few minutes to be lashed to the lifelines. It costs half
what a blow up boat costs, and of course the motor costs a
fraction of what is required for a RIB to perform as well. I don't need
a patch
kit, either.



8' Porta-Bote, (List Price: $1895) Factory Direct Price: $1,349
10' Porta-Bote, (List Price: $1945) Factory Direct Price: $1,499
12' Porta-Bote, (List Price: $1995) Factory Direct Price: $1,599
14' Porta-Bote, (List Price: $2395) Factory Direct Price: $1,859

Does that look about right?

Doesn't look like we have a direct dealer in the Maritimes anymore...I
haven't seen one at the Halifax boat show in a few years.
Looks like this Ontario company looks after Eastern Canada. Note his
prices.
http://www.ontarioportableboats.com/...te_prices.html


I have recently talked to Porta-Bote International, 800-227-8882. They
are not too amenable to sell directly to Canadian and have referred me to
the Ontario dealer.
I then contacted this Canadian dealer at 1-877-388-3679.

I asked about their price list and they indicated that their profit margin
was low and did offer any price reduction.

The other option would be to have the Porta-Bote shipped at frontier and
cross over with it at the Canadian Custom.

If I pay for the service of a broker, I could have it shipped directly to
my house. After a quick calculation, I concluded that, for me, the extra
money and effort were not worth it.



For all that expense you could get a nice 10' Walker Bay and a light duty
galvanized boat trailer.



The Walker Bay (and several other ABS boats) can be seen here...

http://www.directboats.com/boats.html