FAB Dock Fabulous Stories

The boat show weather curse continued again this year when the first few days of the show were literally blown away. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy and the resulting tidal surge, just trying to get to the show was a mission, and would have actually been easier in a boat than a car.

When the sun finally did come out and the wind dropped, the crowds arrived in droves and reminded everyone why this is the biggest boat show on earth. And once you had bought your boat, the car show wasn’t bad either.

Certainly not FAB Dock customers. We are seeing more and more customers ditching the trailer and the launching and retrieval hassle of the boat ramp for the simplicity and serenity of being able to jump on the boat at a minute’s notice and head out into the wide blue yonder. Even if it is only for a quick half an hours fish or ski before breakfast while the water is still glassy. And with a FAB Dock, you get this benefit without the downside of antifoul and associated maintenance costs, not to mention that it is easier to berth your boat in a FAB Dock than getting onto a trailer. Just ask the many spectators who line various boat ramps every weekend watching the carnage and divorces starting.

Cairns put on a beautiful Spring day for the latest installation in the tropics. After seeing a couple of other FAB Docks in a marina on his way around there for a drink, Phil went home to Google this “FAB Dock” to find out more about it. After some further research he decided it was the most cost effective method to protect his pristine Mustang. We ran out of time to share our customary beer on completion, but we will catch up on that when we are back up there to measure up all the neighbours’ boats.

I am always greeted with beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine whenever I venture out West. It is a mirror of the people and the attitude; radiant and positive.

That is, except for the weekend of the one of the largest boat shows in Australia. It absolutely poured down, blew a gale and was freezing cold. Hardly the sort of weather required to entice the general public to part with their hard earned money  and get out on the ocean.

But that WA spirit is hard to dampen and there were queues a mile long at opening time. It is little wonder that it is one of the best places in the world to live and people are flocking there.

The show was a resounding success and enabled us to showcase our product to thousands more boaties who were thankful to find out a new, economical and environmentally sound way to keep their boats clean. A big thank you to Chris Box from Martin Box Marine, our number one WA distributor, for making it all possible.

Three more FAB Docks in the water, a bunch of new boats measured up for FAB Docks and that is before we even start to account for the Mandurah Boat Show. A big thank you to Chris Box from Martin Box Marine for organising a berth at the show to showcase the FAB Dock to the boating fraternity in Western Australia. And what a response we received. Being up to a third cheaper than current alternative methods is always going to make a product very attractive, but on top of that a FAB Dock is portable, works off 12 volt and makes berthing your boat an easy, single handed affair. We look forward to catching up with all those that visited our stand, in the coming months.

Sydney turned on the charm for my recent trip to Australia’s harbour city and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent installing the latest three FAB Docks. And three of the nicest people I have ever met who will fit perfectly into our rapidly expanding FAB Dock family.

Adam and his 265 Sea Ray was first. One of the best small cruising boats built. It has everything you would need for a group of friends to spend a leisurely day on the Harbour or a romantic evening for two under the stars. And now that Adam has it safely tucked into a FAB Dock, he promises me he will use it a lot more. Between a busy work schedule and the drama of having to berth it in a difficult spot, Adam admitted that he hadn’t driven it in a year and a half. After a few demonstrations on just how easy it is to park his boat singlehandedly, he quickly realised that he will be putting his investment to a lot better use this summer. He even admitted to not believing my claim that you can actually park your boat with your eyes closed once you had the bow between the yellow markers, but he does now.

Then it was off to protect Milad’s latest toy. And what a toy it is. If you are in the market for a new runabout, you have to check out this new Cap Camarat 5.5 from Beneteau. It is a ripper. And it looked so cute next to the 45 foot Beneteau Flybridge that Milad nonchalantly explained later was also his. After getting him to waste half an hour of his time showing me his ‘other’ boat, I spent the next two hours trying to weasel an invitation on his next Harbour cruise. How did I go Milad? Anyway, we got his new Beneteau tucked away nicely into its FAB Dock after finishing off some of the delivery details that the dealer had overlooked. Obviously, only owning two Beneteaus doesn’t entitle you to gold star service.

With more and more FAB Docks being installed in South Australia, it is surprising that it has taken this long to get the first one into Adelaide itself. Herb recently  took delivery of his FAB Dock to protect his 40 foot Flybridge from the surprising amount of growth given the cooler waters in that part of the world. With the amount of interest we generated when we were installing it, we would expect to quickly fill the marina with FAB Docks in the near future. I am looking forward to warmer weather the next time I am installing some down there though. Thanks for your help, Herb.