The Fog Warning Blog

*** Tesla smart! ***

I. Tesla Smart!

Any fellow Crunchbase readers out there? Reading it is part of my morning routine, along with the Times and my oatmeal and raisins. This week it informs me that Tesla, upon releasing their new broader-market Model 3, has come to understand that service is king. To support their next phase of growth they’re adding a full-featured, nationwide service component. It’s a good call. Frankly I’m not sure how they’ve grown thus far without it.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/tesla-to-triple-service-capability-with-repair-fleet-and-service-center-expansion/

I’ve seen this sort of challenge in the boat biz, where it’s all too easy to get excited and put the cart before the horse (or is that the dinghy before the boat?). Here and there I get calls from European builders looking for advice on how to break into the U.S. market.  I’m always happy to listen to their plans and schemes, hopes and dreams (see PS, below). The calls mostly follow the same pattern — an excited recounting of why their boats are perfect, and perfect for the US market, and that all they need is some assistance with marketing and distribution strategies.  When they stop talking long enough to take a deep breath, I ask the $64,000 question:

“How you gonna service them, my friend [mon amie] [mio amico] [arkadaşım]?

This is usually met with, in Italian: “Passeremo su quel ponte quando arriveremo ad esso.”  

Or a French  “Nous traverserons ce pont quand nous y arriverons.”

Or a Turkish “O köprüya geldiğimizde geçeceğiz.”

Basically, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Na-ah, I say!

Look, we all live this reality. Boats float in a tough world, a challenging environment, with high levels of:

  • Heat
  • Salt
  • Sun
  • Vibrati0n
  • Condensation
  • Poor access to high-maintenance components, and, most of all:
  • Very busy owners who put a premium on quality, hassle-free time on the water.

The last is the biggest and toughest point to get across to some offshore builders. With all due respect to my European friends and clients (and I really do mean this as a quality-of-life compliment) I’ve found that, on average, successful Americans work a bit harder than successful Europeans. Put another way, and with some jealousy,  Europeans just play more.

When asked how I can back that up,  I say look at the same model-and-year brokerage boat in the U.S. and Europe. With a big enough sample it becomes clear that European boats have on average about 15% more engine hours.

Quality time on the water is a more concentrated, scheduled experience here than across the pond.  And when you’ve got just x number of boating days planned in a busy season, you cannot and should not have to tolerate boating time lost to a broken fridge, head, or air conditioner. When you need service, you shouldn’t have to wait. Whether your vehicle of choice rolls on four wheels or none, service is king.

Which is why I’m so pleased to announce that Reliant Yachts has put in place a hefty service plan in eleven states, covering the entire East Coast from Maine to Florida. You can read all about it here:

http://www.reliantyachts.com/reliant-yachts-service-partners/

In the vicinity, skilled, quick, and dependable service. It’ll work for Tesla, it’ll work for Reliant Yachts, and it’ll work for you.

II. Brokerage Update

Some updates from our Brokerage world, loyal readers:

  1. First, the owner of Mahogany Rose, our Vicem 67 listing ….

…tells me that he’s considering going back to sail. So he is now open to quality trades, including of a larger sailboat. Please call me for the details. The boat is in Charleston this month, and I’d be happy to meet you down there most any time. The full listing can be seen here:

The Only Large Vicem FB on the Market!

2. Secondly, I am really happy to report that Reliant, our Commuter 40 listing, will be displayed and available for sea trial next weekend in beautiful Sag Harbor!

She and I will be at the town dock from Friday afternoon through Monday morning. By all means stop by for a beer and sea trial. And if you’re in the area, Shelter Island is just a few hundred yards away. Coincidently, this week the Times had one of those fun “36 hours in…”  articles about Shelter, and you can find it here:

36 Hours in Shelter Island

I can even run you over there by Commuter! So by all means come out to play in the Hamptons this weekend. I can promise you a great time.

III. A Cool Vid

I can’t let an episode of The Fog Warning go by without a cool boating video. This one is prompted by some of the nice comments I got from last week’s posting about quality time on the water, which for me involves fly fishing. Some questions came in about exactly how and where I do that, and the best answer can be found here, in a great new film from my friend Jamie Howard out of Montauk:

https://www.facebook.com/howardfilmsfans/videos/1448804291807343/

My own flats boat, a Sea Strike 160,  isn’t too far from Sag. If any client would like to try this kind of fishing with me, just launch a flare. I’m not a professional guide, which just means I won’t bark at you like the guides in the video when you screw up.

Ciao for now, loyal readers. Coming soon is my long, balanced and candid discussion about jet drives.

Big Wave Dave

 

PS: Hopes and dreams, plans and schemes? You probably recognize that lyric from the great doo-wop song done by the Skyliners in the year I was born. But I prefer this modern Brian Setzer Orchestra version, which really swings. Grab your partner and dance to it. I just did!

More To Explore

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Thrills and Chills, Shows and Tells….

Right off, a cheerful welcome to all my long-time friends, fans and clients. But an especially joyous greeting today to all my brand new fans. 

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