Matt Broze (co-owner creators of Mariner kayak with his brother Cam) used to pop in every so often in PNet way back. Those were the early days of my kayak surfing addiction. Had always wanted to order a Coaster or Elan for their reputation as rough water play sea kayaks, but could not afford (or justify to myself) then. Was sad to hear when they too decided to close the doors at Mariner. I have always kept and eye out for a rare appearance of Mariner kayaks in the classifieds since.
Not being able to get a Mariner, I later decided on a Sterling Kayak (when my financial position allowed). Just before putting the order in, I heard Sterling Donaldson was retiring. Thankfully, he sold his operations to several of his staff. So, I was still able to get my Sterling.
Do I need another “dreamboat”? As much as I would like to finally get an Elan, as is, I have a hard enough time to choose what to take to surf sessions among the 4 waveskis, Sterling Progression, Stratos 14s, Cobra ReVision, Perception FiveO. In other worlds, I probably already have too many surf crafts.
Just a reminder that I’m a consumer and ordered TPB “maroskis” from TPB and CLC Boats. The pump bracket just passed by. Seats and plans from Guilimont. Epoxy and kits from CLC and glass from Duckworth…all small-ish US companies. Online is not all bad.
This Mariner kayak is too big for me, but for a bigger, rough water afficianado, this could be a rare opportunity for your “dreamboat.” Rare for a Mariner kayak to show on the east coast classifieds:
I guess even as the numbers of boutique/specialty builders diminish, future generations of Paddlers, with interest and intention, will still have opportunity to paddle high performance kayaks. Our current generation of paddlers (myself included) are aging out and passing on. We are just custodians/stewards for the kayaks that we can not take with us (unless one wants a “Viking” send off…).
There are myriad reasons why businesses don’t make it. But, blabbing about used boats for sale, boasting about how little you pay for used boats, bragging about how many used boats you bought, advising others to buy used boats isn’t really helpful to boat builders trying to sell new boats and struggling to stay in business.
I disagree as some one who has bought used and new kayaks and waveskis. Yes, builders can close for a number of reasons but the availability of preowned crafts of their line in the market is HIGHLY unlikely a contributing reason.
Personally, I owned 3 used Islander before being ready to commit myself (to the sport) and ordering 4 customed islander waveskis to my size and specifications, followed by a custom Infinity waveski.
No way would I have ordered a customed Sterling ProgressIon until I became more committed to longboat surfing with a preowned Delphin 150 and a Stratos 14s. Probably why I didn’t order a new Mariner early on (with my more limited economic means then).
Won’t even try to count how many preowned touring sea kayaks I owned before buying a new Impex Montauk.
Don’t even need to get Into my white water and fishing boats…
The used market is, in my opinion, crucial to introducing folks into the sport, hopefully good equipment, and then into buying a new craft of their “dreams.”
Ah, yes. All are online retailers that spend an enormous amount of time and resources educating their customer base. Hosting Youtube channels that have online tutorials on the use and installation, providing technical support before and after the sale. Having worked with and for Guillemot/CLC. I know firsthand the investment in all of the supporting documentation that goes along with those items purchased online. All are very specialized in what they offer and online or phone order is the only way to obtain the items you want. The difference in the big online vendors and the ones quoted, you can pick up the phone or drop and email to get a response from either the maker of the item or the person who did all of the “creation” of that item. Nick just concluded a video series for building a Petrel Play. Hundreds and hundreds of hours spent in order to help drive sales on kits and educate builders. The amortization of that investment of time will take years to get back in terms of dollars.
I do stand by my assertion and even I fall into the category of being trained.
People live in houses with families, trucks people use more than a kayak in most cases. People that want to buy 5, 6, 7, 8,000 dollar kayaks are very limited.
GM doesn’t ship cars till they are paid for. I won’t ship kayaks until they are paid for.
CD got out now it’s buy direct when you order one I believe.
I was going to buy a Seaward Passat G3 they wanted paid for it but couldn’t ship it in 90 days. 90 days is past credit card claims. I got cold feet and cancelled the order. Puff 6 + months later they’re gone. Not saying they wouldn’t have done the right thing but I wasn’t going to risk it.
Business is rough I had a masonry company so you bid the job go work at it bill them for what you did to that point and get paid 30 days later if not longer.
I got beat out of about 15 grand in 40+ years. If a company didn’t have an excellent reputation I wouldn’t work for them. Easy to get hammered by rotten people. You’re honest but that doesn’t mean others are.
I did find one “solution” to my inability to find a Mariner Coaster. There is a builder in Italy that offers one with hatches/options though it is expensive to ship/crate up. But still - if you are willing to take a chance - the cost of a new one will still be under $4000. Here is a link:
Pretty cool IF permission was secured from the Broze brothers. Brian Schultz/Cape Falcon SOF got permission with his F1 (Coaster inspired SOF). I think for a short while Seaward Kayaks produced some of the Mariner Designs.
Dan C has built multiple craft for me over the years - he ranks as one of the better builders in the USA IMHO. I contacted him some time back about building a CLC Petrel Play and he mentioned that it had a few tricky parts to the build. (as a first boat to build) I lack that ability - so getting a wood PP would have only happened if someone did it for me.
Unsure about any permission regarding copyright on that score. The pictures sure make it look nice though and they can customize layups, finishes, keelstrips, etc. I think they were asking 1700 Euros to build a crate and ship it to SC. Of course, that doesn’t cover any cost coming through Customs.
