Genmar AS owners...A visit to the factory...

[seabob4]

I say we pillage the place.
With the way crimes go these days we may do a day or two?

Probably thank us...  

[gran398]

Bob,
I think that if you ever make the trip to Marine Connection Lquidators you'll know where all the leftover surplus parts are.

OT a bit but...

Pete, thanks for putting us in touch with MCL. They have caller ID....and when I call from NC....they call me by name

They may have to go and dig around a bit...but then they e-mail pics. Their prices....WOW. A good deal of hardware/gauges/accessories/weird stuff for my build has been sourced and supplied by MCL.

Thanks Pete


Back to the plant, thanks SB

[flounderpounder225]

Bob
Thanks for  the tour, it is great to see where our boats were born, it must have been quite a time warp for you.  I can't wait for the ultra stealth MI Aqua-Op, I'll get out my IR gelcoat seeking night vision goggles...  :batman: thanks again for all your energy and motivation in support of our boats and our club.
Marc

[seabob4]

Marc,
It has always been my pleasure. Aquasports are near and dear to me, they always will be.  If I won the lotto tomorrow, and could buy any boat I wanted to, I'd find the cleanest 245/250 Osprey I could, de-rig her and hang a pair of 200 Optis on her, and be fat dumb and happy.  That's it, 'cept for maybe a 14' Jon boat with a 40 Evinrude...

I may email Todd or Sidney at Marine Concepts, see if there is any truth to them possibly moving in there.  If that comes to pass, and they get in there, then they'd probably just let me run around the place, see what I could find...

In the meantime, it's back to business as usual, now it's time for a trip over to MCL.  But like Scott said this weekend, need to get a hotel room over there (or stay with Pete!).  Too much stuff to look at to worry about the drive home the same day.

[icemanbryan]

I say we pillage the place.
With the way crimes go these days we may do a day or two?

Probably thank us...  

I can come back there in a few weeks.
Hell. I need to look for a house back there anyway

[gata119]

Found this in the Bradenton Herald.  How ironic that this was in todays paper.  Enjoy!

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/10/30/425 ... y-old.html

[seabob4]

Found this in the Bradenton Herald.  How ironic that this was in todays paper.  Enjoy!

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/10/30/425 ... y-old.html

Alrighty then!!!  For several of the employees, it will be like going back home!

[Whitewater]

Found this in the Bradenton Herald.  How ironic that this was in todays paper.  Enjoy!

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/10/30/425 ... y-old.html

Sounds to me like the 30 yard roll offs or maybe even 100 yard trailers will be en route soon... that is unless the new owner has intent and knowlege of the value of what lies around the property. Could end up hitting a wholesaler or more low brow craigslist?

Shame really.... prehaps all of the goodies may grow legs between now and then?

[seabob4]

Chris,
The new owner, JRL Ventures, is in effect Bob Long, the best president Wellcraft ever had, revered in the marine industry as well as in the Sarasota/Bradenton communities.  If there would be any company that I would want to see occupy the old place and utilize the facilities to produce a quality product, it would be Bob and his bunch.

Many many builders, for those who may not know, employ the parent company of JRL, Marine Concepts, to design and build their molds.  Despite all the petty crap and oft times shady practices and or dealings that one often hears about in the boat building business, Marine Concepts has always stood above the rest, in both quality and integrity.

Plus I know these guys!!!

[dirtwheelsfl]

They may have to go and dig around a bit...but then they e-mail pics. Their prices....WOW. A good deal of hardware/gauges/accessories/weird stuff for my build has been sourced and supplied by MCL.



Back to the plant, thanks SB

Quite proud of their stuff arent they?! We call it "ronnies rip offs" around here. But theyve saved the day in a pinch countless times!

[gran398]

Bob, glad you're pleased with Bob Long and JRL.

Am sure it's a great feeling to see the old place cleaned up, fired up, and put to use.

Good deal, this has been a great thread. Thanks.

Guys...Bob's wife Maggie took a bad fall earlier. Bob, you are in our thoughts. How is Miss Maggie?

Thanks.

[RickK]

A little update.
There are quite a few cars parked near the north side of the property - must be where all the action takes place.
They have almost gotten "the white house" (HQ) refurbed where I presume it will be sold based on previous discussion.  The lake behind it looks clean again.

The property south of Whitfield down 15th next to Marine Surplus has been sold. The bldgs are being gutted and torn down.  Seems to be a few molds coming out of the bldgs.  If I get a chance I'll take some pics and post them.

[seabob4]

A little update.
There are quite a few cars parked near the north side of the property - must be where all the action takes place.
They have almost gotten "the white house" (HQ) refurbed where I presume it will be sold based on previous discussion.  The lake behind it looks clean again.

The property south of Whitfield down 15th next to Marine Surplus has been sold. The bldgs are being gutted and torn down.  Seems to be a few molds coming out of the bldgs.  If I get a chance I'll take some pics and post them.

Well that's pretty interesting Rick.  That would be Plant #1.  It sat closed and used for storage for the first few years I was there until they shut down the Avon Park plant and moved their production over to Plant #1.  Miserable place, dirty as chit, ungodly hot in the summer.  They moved our line down there in late '98, which was basically a joke as the production lines were in a very low ceiling area, so any one of my boats that got a t-top had to stay on a dolly, as Me and a bunch of my fellow linemates would have to push the boat (225/250 Osprey or 23 Tournament Cat) into like this "hallway" that had a hoist and a ceiling high enough to get the t-top over the console and drop it down...pain in the arse!!  I moved back up to plant #6 to wire Scarab Sports, boy was I glad to get out of that hellhole!

From what I've always heard, there was an incredible amount of ground and groundwater contamination down there.  Many of the old timers said Genmar (at that time) could never sell the place it was so bad.  So either there has been some "cleaning" over the years, or the new owners have taken on the responsibility, don't know.  All I know is that if I bought the place, I'd tear down every building there and start from scratch.  The location on the back side of the airport is ideal for a lot of business types...

[seabob4]

Reading back through this thread reminded me of another former employee and good friend of mine, Mike Brinson.  Mike had already been with Wellcraft 15 years when I started there (although we were the same age), many of you guys who have your original motors, it was probably Mike or Tony (who I mentioned earlier) that hung and rigged them.  Mike was just as good as Tony whether it was O/Bs, I/Os, or I/Bs.  His ex-wife, Lisa, used to work with us too, blonde, busty, good looking chic with a big mouth (but likable)...totally the opposite of Mike.  They got divorced (wonder why), and Lisa left the company, guess she didn't like working around and seeing the ex.

So one day Mike doesn't show up for work (very unlike him, he NEVER missed work), I ask, "Where's Mike?"  This old article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune answers that question...http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 46,3278784

Never forget that day.  Ironically, my ex-wife bartended at that same bar after we got divorced...

[icemanbryan]

Bob,
just curious.
Does this company moving in, have anything to do with the relaunch of Aquasport's?