It's no secret that I'm extremely passionate about boats (Particularly the performance type). It has always been more than just a casual interest, but rather more of a lifestyle, or even a bit of an obsession. It's weird how after you do something for so long that even the most exotic experiences can become "The Norm." 150+ mph rides start to not seem like a big deal, and going over boats that often times are approaching price tags for pretty nice houses here in Havasu start to seem kind of "average" after you see enough of them. I point that out because after you cover enough boat shows, and go for enough rides, it's easy to forget a lot of the things surrounding "new boats" that make them so much fun to begin with.
As a writer, whenever I go out with a manufacturer on a boat, there's several different stories you can tell of the days events. Nine times out of ten the story that I tell is how the boat performed overall, and I try to relay what that experience was like in text, because that's what the manufacturers want. It's like a boat test, but without hard data so we call them "impressions." I have to admit I haven't gone with a manufacturer to actually deliver a boat to a customer before, so it was a different, yet strangely familiar experience.
I got to talking to Bob Sepulveda at the RDP Boat Tests, and I casually mentioned to him, that I had never been in an X-Flight before. He responded that they were building a beautiful Red 29 with a 520 in it right now, and he would let me know when it was finished in about a month or so. As the time drew closer I made arrangements to do my usual outing with a manufacturer, in this case the day before the customer showed up, and water test the boat.
The actual day that we were going to take the boat out, I had a few things come up and I wasn't going to make it until the very end of the day if at all. The weather wasn't being super cooperative (cold and windy), so I called Bob and asked him if we could reschedule. He said the customers are really cool and were coming in around 9:00 am the next day, and so long as I didn't mind I could go while they delivered the boat.
I showed up at 9:00 am (I know... A miracle right?) and got their about 10 minutes before the customer arrived. Advantage was prepared, the boat had been wiped down from top to bottom, and it looked every bit at home in their warehouse as it would on the floor of the LA Boat show. About that time in walks the customers that quickly introduced themselves as "Mike" and "Lin."
Mike was all business as he dove right into checking out every last detail of his new boat. He was eyeing the sides, lifting the seats, opening and closing hatches, and giving it a thorough new owner once over. We had a little time to kill while we were waiting for some of his people to show up. So the staff at Advantage pulled the boat out front in preparation for it's first run.
Pretty soon Mark and Stacy Shuck showed up with their daughter Lindsey. Then Mike's daughter Melissa showed up with what would soon to be Mike's boat bitch Kyle. When everyone arrived the vibe changed completely, and it went from a check over, to "check it out."
As everyone was walking around the boat and checking it out, I was watching and you could see Mike beaming with pride. Everyone was all smiles, and at one point the girls even took a picture of them jumping in the air in front of the boat. Watching this whole program I started thinking back to when we took delivery of our 22 Nordic back in 1998 and how excited we were.
It's been almost two decades since we took delivery of that Nordic and I hadn't thought about that day in years. Watching Mike's family and friends though, it made me remember what it is to buy a new boat. When you buy a car the novelty wears off pretty quick when you are sitting in traffic to go to work. When you buy a boat though, the boat is vacation, good times with friends and family, adventures to new places. It represents all the good things to come and there isn't a lot of things you can buy in life that will make you feel that way.
The guys hooked the boat up to Mike's truck, and I was paying attention as I watched Mike look at his hitch height. He hit the switches on the truck and raised and lowered the back end until the trailer was just perfect. I was remembering back to when I picked up our Schiada and I was doing the same thing in Long Beach. I found myself wondering when all that excitement changed to just slamming it on the hitch and rolling.
A convoy of cars left Advantage's parking lot heading for Windsor, and I watched as Mike was looking at his new boat in the mirrors almost in a state of disbelief. The two other cars in his group were bobbing and weaving getting better looks at the new boat rolling down the road. Obviously I couldn't hear what they were saying in the cars, but I didn't have too, I knew what they were all talking about.
Mike backed the boat up to the ramp, and one by one we all jumped in, and now it wasn't just imagining what it was going to be like to ride in this boat. The five senses almost become overwhelmed with that smell of fresh resin, and the way that vinyl feels on that first day. The Merc 520 fired right up and for the first time it had lake water running through the exhaust. We backed the boat off the trailer, and Mike's family was so excited to go for a ride in their new boat, that Kyle was lucky he didn't get left at Windsor when he parked the truck.
AdvantageBill, was at the helm and he rolled the boat onto plane at the same time talking to Mike about the boat. "Note the lack of bowrise as it's coming on plane, now I'm trimming the boat too..." That's about where I lost the conversation as Bill's voice quickly turned to wind noise in my ears sitting in the open bow. About a mile into the ride Bill put the boat into a series of shallow and sharp turns to show the family the upside to a vee bottom Deck over a Cat.
I remember Bob Sepulveda mentioning something to me about an "Aviation Inspired" check list. When the boat came to a stop, Bill got out a clip board and told Mike they were going to go over a few things, and after that the boat would be officially "his." Two pages of information was gone over with the new owner that varied from things like, what to look at on the boat before you drive it, running the blower, even how to find the best trim angle for fuel efficiency and speed. Some of it is a little repetitive for a seasoned boat owner, but if this was your first new boat you would be way ahead of the game after this conversation as opposed to to just being turned loose on the lake.
Mike took the Helm of his boat for the first time, and away we went for another ride. It was pretty clear this wasn't Mike's first rodeo driving a boat. It was freezing out that morning, nobody cared, and nobody complained. Everybody was laughing and smiling as we crossed the lake for the third or fourth time with no real destination in mind. I was supposed to go for a 10 minute ride with Bill, that had turned into an hour plus on the water with Mike and his crew, and I loved every minute of it.
Eventually Mike took us over to Windsor, and when we came off plane I was listening to three different conversations going on in the boat. The people in the open bow were talking about how much fun the day was going to be, Mark leaned over and quietly said to me that he had brought some bottles of Champagne to surprise Mike with later that day. As I walked back to grab my second go pro, Mike was telling Bill how happy he was with the performance of the boat and how much fun it was to drive. When I got to the back to grab the third camera, the girls were talking about how much fun this next summer was going to be.
Eventually Bill and I got dropped off at the dock, and as we walked to our trucks I asked him "Is it always like that?" He smiled and said "Yes, it's the best part of the job." I have to admit, I've never really considered being a boat salesmen before, but I was thinking about it after seeing what a gratifying experience it is when you deliver a new one to a customer.
An hour or two later the sun came out, and it actually turned into a pretty nice day. As I was driving around Havasu running my errands, I couldn't help but think of Mike and his family out driving their new boat, or maybe sitting in the channel drinking that champagne. I half wanted to head down there to join them, but thought better of it for the sake of imposition.
Thanks Mike, Bob, and Bill for letting me part of that experience, it was one of the highlights of 2014 for me!
Look for "Flight Risk" to be out on Lake Havasu in Summer 2015! If you see them say hello, they are very cool people.
As a writer, whenever I go out with a manufacturer on a boat, there's several different stories you can tell of the days events. Nine times out of ten the story that I tell is how the boat performed overall, and I try to relay what that experience was like in text, because that's what the manufacturers want. It's like a boat test, but without hard data so we call them "impressions." I have to admit I haven't gone with a manufacturer to actually deliver a boat to a customer before, so it was a different, yet strangely familiar experience.
I got to talking to Bob Sepulveda at the RDP Boat Tests, and I casually mentioned to him, that I had never been in an X-Flight before. He responded that they were building a beautiful Red 29 with a 520 in it right now, and he would let me know when it was finished in about a month or so. As the time drew closer I made arrangements to do my usual outing with a manufacturer, in this case the day before the customer showed up, and water test the boat.
The actual day that we were going to take the boat out, I had a few things come up and I wasn't going to make it until the very end of the day if at all. The weather wasn't being super cooperative (cold and windy), so I called Bob and asked him if we could reschedule. He said the customers are really cool and were coming in around 9:00 am the next day, and so long as I didn't mind I could go while they delivered the boat.
I showed up at 9:00 am (I know... A miracle right?) and got their about 10 minutes before the customer arrived. Advantage was prepared, the boat had been wiped down from top to bottom, and it looked every bit at home in their warehouse as it would on the floor of the LA Boat show. About that time in walks the customers that quickly introduced themselves as "Mike" and "Lin."
Mike was all business as he dove right into checking out every last detail of his new boat. He was eyeing the sides, lifting the seats, opening and closing hatches, and giving it a thorough new owner once over. We had a little time to kill while we were waiting for some of his people to show up. So the staff at Advantage pulled the boat out front in preparation for it's first run.
Pretty soon Mark and Stacy Shuck showed up with their daughter Lindsey. Then Mike's daughter Melissa showed up with what would soon to be Mike's boat bitch Kyle. When everyone arrived the vibe changed completely, and it went from a check over, to "check it out."
As everyone was walking around the boat and checking it out, I was watching and you could see Mike beaming with pride. Everyone was all smiles, and at one point the girls even took a picture of them jumping in the air in front of the boat. Watching this whole program I started thinking back to when we took delivery of our 22 Nordic back in 1998 and how excited we were.
It's been almost two decades since we took delivery of that Nordic and I hadn't thought about that day in years. Watching Mike's family and friends though, it made me remember what it is to buy a new boat. When you buy a car the novelty wears off pretty quick when you are sitting in traffic to go to work. When you buy a boat though, the boat is vacation, good times with friends and family, adventures to new places. It represents all the good things to come and there isn't a lot of things you can buy in life that will make you feel that way.
The guys hooked the boat up to Mike's truck, and I was paying attention as I watched Mike look at his hitch height. He hit the switches on the truck and raised and lowered the back end until the trailer was just perfect. I was remembering back to when I picked up our Schiada and I was doing the same thing in Long Beach. I found myself wondering when all that excitement changed to just slamming it on the hitch and rolling.
A convoy of cars left Advantage's parking lot heading for Windsor, and I watched as Mike was looking at his new boat in the mirrors almost in a state of disbelief. The two other cars in his group were bobbing and weaving getting better looks at the new boat rolling down the road. Obviously I couldn't hear what they were saying in the cars, but I didn't have too, I knew what they were all talking about.
Mike backed the boat up to the ramp, and one by one we all jumped in, and now it wasn't just imagining what it was going to be like to ride in this boat. The five senses almost become overwhelmed with that smell of fresh resin, and the way that vinyl feels on that first day. The Merc 520 fired right up and for the first time it had lake water running through the exhaust. We backed the boat off the trailer, and Mike's family was so excited to go for a ride in their new boat, that Kyle was lucky he didn't get left at Windsor when he parked the truck.
AdvantageBill, was at the helm and he rolled the boat onto plane at the same time talking to Mike about the boat. "Note the lack of bowrise as it's coming on plane, now I'm trimming the boat too..." That's about where I lost the conversation as Bill's voice quickly turned to wind noise in my ears sitting in the open bow. About a mile into the ride Bill put the boat into a series of shallow and sharp turns to show the family the upside to a vee bottom Deck over a Cat.
I remember Bob Sepulveda mentioning something to me about an "Aviation Inspired" check list. When the boat came to a stop, Bill got out a clip board and told Mike they were going to go over a few things, and after that the boat would be officially "his." Two pages of information was gone over with the new owner that varied from things like, what to look at on the boat before you drive it, running the blower, even how to find the best trim angle for fuel efficiency and speed. Some of it is a little repetitive for a seasoned boat owner, but if this was your first new boat you would be way ahead of the game after this conversation as opposed to to just being turned loose on the lake.
Mike took the Helm of his boat for the first time, and away we went for another ride. It was pretty clear this wasn't Mike's first rodeo driving a boat. It was freezing out that morning, nobody cared, and nobody complained. Everybody was laughing and smiling as we crossed the lake for the third or fourth time with no real destination in mind. I was supposed to go for a 10 minute ride with Bill, that had turned into an hour plus on the water with Mike and his crew, and I loved every minute of it.
Eventually Mike took us over to Windsor, and when we came off plane I was listening to three different conversations going on in the boat. The people in the open bow were talking about how much fun the day was going to be, Mark leaned over and quietly said to me that he had brought some bottles of Champagne to surprise Mike with later that day. As I walked back to grab my second go pro, Mike was telling Bill how happy he was with the performance of the boat and how much fun it was to drive. When I got to the back to grab the third camera, the girls were talking about how much fun this next summer was going to be.
Eventually Bill and I got dropped off at the dock, and as we walked to our trucks I asked him "Is it always like that?" He smiled and said "Yes, it's the best part of the job." I have to admit, I've never really considered being a boat salesmen before, but I was thinking about it after seeing what a gratifying experience it is when you deliver a new one to a customer.
An hour or two later the sun came out, and it actually turned into a pretty nice day. As I was driving around Havasu running my errands, I couldn't help but think of Mike and his family out driving their new boat, or maybe sitting in the channel drinking that champagne. I half wanted to head down there to join them, but thought better of it for the sake of imposition.
Thanks Mike, Bob, and Bill for letting me part of that experience, it was one of the highlights of 2014 for me!
Look for "Flight Risk" to be out on Lake Havasu in Summer 2015! If you see them say hello, they are very cool people.
