  The "looking around" phase took over a year, and involved a lot
of time on the Web, reading reviews, talking to people, and visiting boat shows
and dealer showrooms. Each source of information had its own set of Pros and
Cons:
|
| Source |
Pros |
Cons |
| Manufacturer websites
|
Direct source, technically accurate |
Not always up-to-date, photos and other information not complete, difficult to
judge quality and design points, obviously biased
|
| Boat Shows |
Hands on, direct view of features, quality & construction |
The model you want may not be there, dealer reps are not always knowledgeable
& the manufacturer reps may not be there |
| Dealer visits |
Hands on, direct view of features, quality & construction |
May not be a dealer near you, salespeople are not always knowledgeable or
interested in selling the model you want |
| Owner feedback |
"Real Deal" |
Owners are not always unbiased, either for or against, and sometimes let their
personal situation affect their opinions (e.g. how the dealer treated them).
They may not always have had realistic expectations when they purchased the
boat. |
| Magazine reviews |
Broad range of manufacturers, sometimes very detailed analyses of
performance |
Very rare to find a truly critical review. Most magazines review the products
of their advertisers, so tend to soft-peddle the boats and gloss over major
issues. |
| Boating websites |
Broad range of manufacturers, sometimes very detailed analyses of
performance |
Combine "Owner Feedback" and "Magazine Reviews" |
One bright spot was the discovery of Powerboat Reports (www.powerboat-reports.com) . PBR
is modeled after Consumer Reports. They accept no advertising, run
quantitative tests, and report the results in an unbiased fashion. Definitely a
useful publication.
Another bright spot was finding out how many people already fish offshore in
small boats. |
While not commonplace, there are more than a few
people doing this. Talking to them, trading e-mails and participating
in discussion board threads provided a wealth of information.
But it also pointed out that there was no forum like OSJ where we could
exchange ideas withgout being harassed by "big boat" owners calling us crazy.
|
|