"Genmar Pushing Daisies" -interesting Pascoe blog

cheap and easy money brought in people who wanted the flash without the substance. boat builders catered to that chasing the bucks, nothing terribly new here. damned if you do, damned if you don't to an extent. the builders with nothing but flash will go the way of free credit.

pascoe prognosticating about the future of business...zzzz. i though he was strictly a critic.
 
Cry all you want about the glitzy new boats but few people would buy yesterdays boat today.
Those old 30- 40’ boats had small engines, a compass and a radio, that’s it. If you went offshore a RDF was added. Interior was plywood panels and upholstery was canvas over foam. Because heads were manual and pumped directly overboard they were cheap and simple. Alcohol stove, an icebox and manual water systems were the rule in the galley. Showers??? They were on shore. Heat and A/C were unheard of; boating then had more in common with camping than Marriott.
People had a lot of fun in those boats. Hot and sweaty was the rule in summer cold and wet in spring or fall, try and sell that today.
 
Fellows the key is Genmar is a production boat company, highly leveraged at that. When times were good Jacobs took the profits. And now with the "slow down", the banks and creditors get the left overs. Whats new about that? The custom boat builders I know, are not hiring new people right now, but they are also not laying off anyone.
 
Many obviously disagree with Pascoe for reasons which probably nothing to do with these comments, many have a "thing" with anything Pascoe says.

One thing thou Pascoe makes some points that many would honestly find hard to disagree with?
 
Bruce... not quite... there are many old Hatteras or Bertrams out there to name jsut two, 70s vintage, around or under 40', with air, genny, showers,electric heads, nice galleys and all. some look a little dated, others not as much especially sportfish. Oh, and tons of teak, mahogany and exotic veneers... not plywood.

National liquidator is bursting out with late model boats featuring gold plated trim, electric seats and sofas, high gloss cherry cabinetry, touch screen electrical panel, thrusters and the latest gadgets.

that didnt' work out too well, did it?
 
I guess we need to agree when yesterday was. :D I described my boat that sailed to Nantucket in summers from NY but it was smaller.
 
Well I like my old/new 93 Sedan Bridge 40' Mainship. The only huge negative is I am with Boatbum it needs a pair of Yanmar 4cyl diesels so what if I creep along at 7-9knots and so what it the top end it 17-20 knots it is lower safer fuel usage I need. I am convinced if I am to stay in boating a diesel conversion is coming before the government takes most of my money. Good points on oil Rduhon I am in it as well. OPEC not the oil companies set the prices now the government will also be setting prices to teach us children how to behave. Pasco has been wrong before I think he is a bit of a snob himself and really set in his ways.
Regards Bill
 
I spent a total of about 40 hours with Irwin Jacobs working on the "First Mate" program and never saw him in "black Armani suits with a hanky in the pocket." Rather, I saw the man investing heavily in new technology like computer controlled rotary molded hulls. A production process that results in less than half the emissions than the standard process. There's no doubt in my mind that Genmar will emerge, as did Delta, from bankruptcy a stronger company.

Pascoe reminds me of an old food critic that never has a good word to say about anything except times gone by.
 
Apparently, I like my boat a lot more than Mr. Pascoe does. Which is probably why I own it, and he doesn't. He is kind of bitter. Despite my boat's imperfections, It has been great for us. I hope Carver can hold on. I think America will recover if people don't all become as cynical as Mr. Pascoe. It's not productive.
 
IMO the industry was due for a shakeup.

It's quality it's price and it's a glut of options. Look at the number of gas powered cruisers in the 30-34 ft range. How many boats of the same type and size can the market support? To say nothing of the re-buildable nature of well made boats of 20 years ago that are not going away.

As to Pascoe's comments. He's a bit of a snob who doesn't acknowledge that there are places in the market for boats that are not named Hatteras or Bertram.
 
I think Pascoe is a big cynic, but I have to agree that boats and boating are getting beyond the means of average working people, which is why I will never own a new boat. True nobody wants a boat with no ammenities, but there has to be a middle ground where you can get a 26-30' boat with A/C and a decent V-berth that doesn't cost as much or more than your house. I beleive in keeping things as simple as possible, especially in the harsh marine environment. Thats why my new to me boat is a 1989 Sea Ray. I could have bought newer for similar money, but at that vintage, I got a wider beam (11 feet) , no molded in seating or swim platforms (more cockpit space for fishing), a manual head with holding tank(cheap and easy to work on), and carbed GM 350 engines I can work on myself. I still have A/C and heat, hot water and shower(no need to straddle the toilet) and a large v-berth and comfortable sleeping for 6. And all this in a 30' boat. The fact that the interior and most of the cockpit, deck and helm fittings and switches are origional and functional is a statement to their simplicity and initial quality/ruggedness. I could have had a generator and central vac. system if I wanted but didn't need them or want the maint. Is it a perfect boat? of course not, but my family and I don't feel like we are camping in a pup tent either.
I don't understand why some things on boats today are considered better than their predecessors. Take that manual head I have. Its simple, works well and I could replace the whole thing for under $200 if I had to. Many newer boats have vacuum assisted flushing toilets, or fancy high tech "poo burners" that need lots of maint. and cost big bucks up front and big bucks to fix. Lets not loose sight of what these things get used for, you **** in them. Is the experience enhanced by not having to pump the fixture when finished?
The K.I.S principle applies here, the more complicated you make the machine, the more failure points you have and the easier it is to break it.

I realize that builders make what the customer wants (to a point they try to tell you what you need) but alot more units could be sold if the potential customer base were borader and that could be achieved by taking a page from Henry Ford and building reliable affordable boats. This would lower per unit costs that would make manufacturing the boat less costly for the builder thru economy of scale. The boat building industry has fallen victim to its own greed.
JMHO
 
"The boat of the future will be more like a 1980 Chris Craft Catalina pictured above."

I love Pascoe!!! Nothing like giving my boat the props it diserves. :) Good luck.
 
Pascoe is never boring, never afraid to put his opinions out there. He is right on the edge of being a nut, but is certainly correct a fair amount of the time, if a bit over the top most of the time. As far as where the marine industry is going, I don't know how much will change in the short term, other than more builders going belly up. There is too much imitation, no question. The industry has certainly offered production boats in the past that are better suited for a world where the supply of oil is headed down and money is much tighter: http://www.mainship34.com/documents/Mainship34-Cruiser.pdf The Mainship 34 was first built in 1977 and was a very successful boat, they made a bunch of them. My brother and I liked the idea of a 34' boat that can cruise at 7 knots on 2 GPH of diesel so much that we bought a 1977 Mk I a few weeks ago. We like it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Audrey II

David Pascoe is not the end all know it all he would like everyone to believe. I hold little stock in his opinions, in fact if I did I would never how bought my boat. He pan the Trojan that I own and yet I still love it.
I agree that times are tough but don't agree that the end of all we know, is near. Things will bounce back after a major correction. Yes many companies will not survive but once confidence is regained things will turn around.
At the moment we are living out a self fulfilling prophecy.

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I certainly have to agree with this. Pascoe is so impressed with his own importance that he thinks everyone else should also be impressed.

Several years ago I asked marine people in this area what they thought of him as a surveyor. Most did not even know him and those that did really did not want to comment!!!

G
 
"As to Pascoe's comments. He's a bit of a snob who doesn't acknowledge that there are places in the market for boats that are not named Hatteras or Bertram."

not really, there are many other positive reviews on his site, including Maxum for instance.

the thing about his site and his reviews is that it is now very dated. most of the boats he reviews are 10 to 20 years old so his observations cannot be applied to current or recent production boats.

over the top, yes... but pictures dont' lie and at least some of his comments make you think and jump into a boat with your eyes open.
 
It is always easier to be a cynic than an optimist, which is what Les alluded to. Pascoe thinks he even understands rudders on an Airbus for crying out loud.
 
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