Andrew,
I sumtwat agree with you. The only West Marine in my town sells fishing gear for bass boats and knee boards. . . but how ironic, my last purchase at a West Marine store was a product called Formula 27, and get this, it was purchased when I was down for the Alter Cup, the store is in your back yard, in one of the nicest most complete stores I have ever been in. The purchase before that? guess? . . .
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West System epoxy resin. (oh my)
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Philip
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How much line do you need for a Harken Roller Furler?
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Posted: Mar 25, 2010 - 12:39 PM
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Posted: Mar 25, 2010 - 01:12 PM
I guess you "sometwat" agreeing with me, is as close as i will ever get :)
the one in clearwater on gulf to bay has very friendly, nice employees. i have been in other W.Marines that were much smaller and less friendly. they also have mini-w.marines i think (i drove by one but didnt go in).
one time i had a frozen lug nut they broke free for me.. that only cost me $75 (the genesis of my dislike for them)
and i agree the store actually has a decent selection of boating and trailer goods, but very little selection of lines.
Besides harken blocks and Davis Marine parts and they very limited on parts that we could use.
They are very overpriced (perhaps i am spoiled with other sources)
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Posted: Mar 25, 2010 - 01:20 PM
west marine is the 7-11 of boating...convenience pricing$$$$
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Apr 08, 2010 - 12:21 PM
I have to say that I have been very pleased by the attitudes of the staff at the 2 stores I have been in,(Barrie & Kngston, ON). The gal in Kingston has always gone out of her way to help me, giving me short pieces of line to see what fits best, & calling several competitors to locate an FX03 98" hiking stik.
They don't have a great selection of line, but were certainly willing to order in whatever I wanted, even if it was only 10' of something. Our stores have zero fishing gear, & quite a good selection of general sailing stuff, like custom made rigging, shackles, blocks etc. They are not big on catamaran specific items, but I found the prices competitive on gloves, shoes, general parts, although we tend to pay more up here than you guys do.
For some of the specialty item, ie the Torlon bearings, you just have way more competition in the southern States, hence better prices.
Don't get me wrong, I have been really happy with vendors such as Sailing Services, & Salty Dog, but West Marine has been OK too.
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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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Posted: Apr 08, 2010 - 12:29 PM
West Marine is pretty good about price matching, take in the Defender catalog or a print out a webpage from some other company.
Their return policy is stellar.
They also gave me a toolkit for signing up for their West Advantage program.
Watch the sales, take advantage.
Regular prices are a huge con for WM, but their are some pros too. You need to work the system. -
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Posted: Apr 08, 2010 - 01:34 PM
i love going to west just to paw the merchandise, i'm old school about stuff. its a sailors walmart for us because there isn't much competion on the mississippi gulf coast. i'll say it again, west system epoxy is the bomb. i like using the coiloidal(sp) sillica with it, that stuff is bullet proof and tools beautiful!
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Apr 08, 2010 - 04:25 PM
That seems mighty fancy to add new to a 5.7. See if you can pick up a used H18 furler and a swivel. My H18, H20, and F18 furlers were pretty much a drum and a swivel up top. I used 1/12" flag halyard on all of them except the F18. It was smaller with a spectra core. -
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Posted: Apr 13, 2010 - 09:47 AM
I bought a used H434 system, & changed top & bottom bearings to Torlon, making it an H435 system. Total cost was under $150 bucks, that's essentially what a new FX03 hiking stik costs! I posted a writeup in the Tech Help section of changing the bearings.
I will be doing a bit of solo sailing, if the conversion saves me grief once it's worth it.
I understood the Hobie systems didn't have the same fittings, the Harken was available, & the system fits better.
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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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