In support of the shop

[brockangelo]

Hey guys

I have really appreciated this site in the short amount of time that I've had my boat, and would like to support the site through purchases on the shop.

One of the things that I learned way back in school is that close to 95% of customers never give honest feedback if it is not positive, but end up telling friends, so the owners never have a chance to make changes. So I'd like to be honest about the shop for a bit.

I've already invested a fair amount of money in upgrading my boat, but I've not yet made a purchase on the shop. I'm new to this boat, and so I am looking for a little guidance on things when I am shopping, and don't always know the right selection when faced with several choices. With my boat in storage, I don't always have the measurements handy. Sometimes I don't really know what I'm looking for, and just want to browse for specific things that I could upgrade on my boat.

Here are a few specific examples:

I know that I would like to replace some stops in my mast with something easier. When I go to the search, I was able to find these Sail Track Stops. However, the only way that I know which one fits my boat is to go to Catalina Direct and navigate by my boat (the Cat 22) until I get to this page. So now I'm using their dimensions to find what would fit my boat, and I'm torn between supporting the shop here because of the forum, or supporting Catalina Direct because they make it so easy to find things.

One thing that I really like about their navigation is that I can browse by categories and stay with my selected boat. When I browse the shop here, if I select "Shop by Model" and browse under my Catalina 22, I'm sent to this page, which shows me a randomly selected list of various items. I don't have anyway to "drill down" into a category for a particular part. If, from that page, I click on "Ports and Parts", then just pick the first item on that page (as an example), I see Beckson Ports and Parts. There's really nothing on this page that connects me to my original filter of the Catalina 22, so I'm kind of left without any guidance at all.

I understand that many people have been here for years and know the details of their boats, but it just strikes me as pretty daunting to a newcomer, and I suspect your conversion rates for new owners is pretty low.

Things that could greatly improve things:

• Allow the boat model selected to persist, filtering products by the model selected. I see it in some places, but not many
• Provide top-level categories so that I can navigate parts of the boat like I see here on the Cat 22 specific page

I hope this is helpful. I'm happy to provide more help or feedback, and happy to be ignored if this is not valuable feedback. Love the forums!

 

[rgranger]

I too love this site and sometimes have trouble finding what I need on the website...I appreciate the specific examples you outlined and believe they are helpful.

BUT to give a plug to SBO....I have always been able to email or call and SBO has always come through for me. I've had people here spend considerable time on the phone with me helping me figure out what I needed. And SBO has even tracked down obscure parts for me so on the service side, these people rock.

 

[jssailem]

Brock
I found your comments accurate and relevant about the shop.

A generality about boats, often not understood by newer owners. Boats are different than cars. While boats of a specific age and brand were made with like parts, these parts were sourced from available manufactures that promised the builder a volume of parts at a specific price for limited period (i.e 2 years). The builder would build 100-200 boats in the year. Often that part manufacture would change the design or materials. When it came time to plan the next build the parts may or may not be available.

Simply said our boats are an assembly of available parts priced to meet a market price of a hull and deck assembly owned and manufactured by the Branded Company. This makes replicating the original manufactured boat a challenge.

If you explore the item options based on the physical characteristics of the item (i.e. I need a port that is 18" long and 10" high which opens) you can find under ports a variety of available products that meets your specific size. Some with similar or different looks. Often the newer versions have advantages, like better seals and clamp downs then were offered OEM on a specific boat make/model.

Do not hesitate to call the SBO store or ask @Dave Groshong via PM for assistance. While the SBO website is better explored based on the object you as seeking, the team working there are great at matching a price and item to the needs of the boat owner.

 

[rgranger]

Do not hesitate to call the SBO store or ask @Dave Groshong via PM for assistance.

 

[Phil Herring]

Hi Brock, thanks for your input, which is sound. What you're describing is the parts store we have for Hunter sailboats, which can be seen at Hunter Parts . We can do that because we have the data and expertise within the company to organize parts that way.

For Catalina, Beneteau, Oday, and MacGregor, the best we can only highlight the things we sell that fit specific boat models. What we have there is not in any way meant to compete with Catalina Direct, Blue Water Yachts (Mac parts), or D&R Marine (Oday parts). That said, we are in the process of expanding and changing the way we sell Catalina parts and will have an announcement to make about that in April.

What John says is 100% correct... boats are not built like cars. The best analogy is actually a tract home. While the footprints and plans are the same, each crew will build a home a little differently and it's built by hand so a screw pattern in one home is nothing like the next one. It may also have different appliances in it depending on where the builder got the best prices.

But back to boats... with enough inside knowledge and a parts list for each model (which shows what the builder *intended* to install), we can get most of it right and guide users to the correct part when there are options or undocumented changes made by the builder. But without someone who has first-hand experience with that builder, it is very difficult and expensive to pull it off. We're blessed to have our owner, Al (line supervisor, warranty support), Joe (electrical design and other engineering), and Mike (customer service) who each spent 20 years or more at Hunter. Likewise, Rudy at D&R Marine ran Oday production, and the guys who founded Catalina Direct and Bluewater Yachts were dealers for their brands.

Anyway, stay tuned... you'll like what's coming next month.

 

[brockangelo]

That’s super exciting to hear. I can completely understand how it would be nearly impossible to categorize each part to each boat; but I felt like the feedback might be useful.

thanks again for such a helpful site. And I hope to support it more with purchases and feedback in the future!

 

[Steve_Catalina]

Catalina22.org

 

[sailcapt340]

It can be difficult for even the most seasoned of owners to find the part they need. My particular case was just last week. I needed the “Lift Arm” for my refrigerator. Without a working Arm the cover is a guillotine.
I was calling this part everything I could think of (hydraulic, pressurized, the holding thing) you name it. I couldn’t find anything.
Who would have thought something like Lift Arm. WOW
So a quick email to SBO and others on this site and I find the part name.
I‘m sure there will be another part I’ll need someday and it will be as simple as Nut and Bolt, it’s anyones guess what name I’ll come up with.
Thankfully for us this site exists.

 

[brockangelo]

A generality about boats, often not understood by newer owners. Boats are different than cars. While boats of a specific age and brand were made with like parts, these parts were sourced from available manufactures that promised the builder a volume of parts at a specific price for limited period (i.e 2 years). The builder would build 100-200 boats in the year. Often that part manufacture would change the design or materials. When it came time to plan the next build the parts may or may not be available.

Simply said our boats are an assembly of available parts priced to meet a market price of a hull and deck assembly owned and manufactured by the Branded Company. This makes replicating the original manufactured boat a challenge.

I'm just now re-reading the replies to my original post, and this comment resonated with me for the first time. I don't know why I didn't pick up on it when you first replied, but it makes sense now. I have come to learn with sailboats that this is the norm for me; something you don't quite understand doesn't fully sink in until you have the experience to know the nuances of the response you receive, even if the response explains the problem succinctly. If you don't know what you don't know, you aren't going to get it.

Now I get it.

Thank you to everyone for your patience, and I'm happy to report that it has finally "clicked" for me.

 

[jssailem]

Hope you are getting ready to go sailing. When does the ice clear the lake?