Andy T: I wish I'd never sold my Avon Rover to you with the boat!

Steve C Cronin

Steve C Cronin

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The Plastomo I bought as part of the new boat deal was, well, OK but Gill never liked it's red colour and it's tubes were rather thin. The "Wetline" Chinese cheapie has always let water in, probably because the "Rubber" flange around the tubes where they connect to the wooden transom isn't glued to the wood, at all. The "aerodeck" has expanded and appears to have ripped a hole into the feft airchamber where it joins the floor and transom - looks irrepairable to me!

So, shall I try to repair it or shall I get something decent?

Avon are now only in the RiB business and one of those isn't practical as the tender on a 44' sailboat with only a 60+ couple as a crew. A "Caribe" looks appealing but availability in the UK and overall cost, including carriage from the Carribean are against it.

So, I'm thinking Zodiac. the 260 aerodeck Cadet looks ideal but if I find that they too are manufacturing in China (or environs), then no way!

Anyone bought a Zodiac VERY recently and can allay my fears? Where are they made?
 
Steve
Take a look at the Lodestars or Honwave. Both pretty tough in my experience.
BTW it's good to see you still cruising in Greece. I'm jealous!
Duncan
 
dk said:
Steve
Take a look at the Lodestars or Honwave. Both pretty tough in my experience.
BTW it's good to see you still cruising in Greece. I'm jealous!
Duncan
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Hope you are both well?

Do you remember the young Germans in Sami who thought that the "little numbers all over the chart" were distances to the nearest land?

There's a pretty ropey Honwave lying unloved and UV degraded at the end of our pontoon in Gouvia!
 
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Steve C Cronin said:
but if I find that they too are manufacturing in China (or environs), then no way!
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What's your problem with the Chinese? They build some pretty good things (almost everything these days in fact). The problems you have faced are with the company you bought from having shoddy quality control, shoddy materials, or just that you're trying to buy cheaper than a quality product can be made. None of this is the fault of the Chinese who build exactly what they are told to and just like every other manufacturer on the globe, will try to get away with sending out lower quality goods if nobody checks them.
 
lustyd said:
What's your problem with the Chinese? They build some pretty good things (almost everything these days in fact). The problems you have faced are with the company you bought from having shoddy quality control, shoddy materials, or just that you're trying to buy cheaper than a quality product can be made. None of this is the fault of the Chinese who build exactly what they are told to and just like every other manufacturer on the globe, will try to get away with sending out lower quality goods if nobody checks them.
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THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTTjCIE2ks

is my "Problem" with the Chinese
 
Steve C Cronin said:
THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTTjCIE2ks

is my "Problem" with the Chinese
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I'm still not seeing it. The Chinese in this instance made a dinghy to a cost half of what a quality dinghy would be because the English wanted a cheaper dinghy. There are many nations on the planet doing just this including the British. If you want quality then pay for quality. If you've had a bad experience with Wetline then by all means come on here and have a go at them, but try not to bring racism into it because the Chinese also make quality goods like the iPhone, Samsung phones/TVs, the list goes on. Wetline could have easily done more quality control, insisted on better glues or better process on the manufacturing line but they didn't because their customers don't want to pay for the extras like that. Their customers also by the look of it decided to do no maintenance in 4 years, and when the corners started to peel off decided to pull up rather than glue down!
 
lustyd said:
I'm still not seeing it. The Chinese in this instance made a dinghy to a cost half of what a quality dinghy would be because the English wanted a cheaper dinghy. There are many nations on the planet doing just this including the British. If you want quality then pay for quality. If you've had a bad experience with Wetline then by all means come on here and have a go at them, but try not to bring racism into it because the Chinese also make quality goods like the iPhone, Samsung phones/TVs, the list goes on. Wetline could have easily done more quality control, insisted on better glues or better process on the manufacturing line but they didn't because their customers don't want to pay for the extras like that. Their customers also by the look of it decided to do no maintenance in 4 years, and when the corners started to peel off decided to pull up rather than glue down!
Click to expand...

If you are bringing "racism" into this, I'm sorry but I just couldn't continue a conversation with someone like you. The Chinese state wants nothing more than to destroy the commercial life of the west and people who buy this junk which is not fit for purpose just to own something for which they are either perfectly well able to pay the proper rate or shouldn't be aspiring to own in the first place. Either way, they are contributing to the ultimate intentions of the Chinese Communist Party.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
If you are bringing "racism" into this, I'm sorry but I just couldn't continue a conversation with someone like you. The Chinese state wants nothing more than to destroy the commercial life of the west and people who buy this junk which is not fit for purpose just to own something for which they are either perfectly well able to pay the proper rate or shouldn't be aspiring to own in the first place. Either way, they are contributing to the ultimate intentions of the Chinese Communist Party.
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I can see where you are coming from and agree with much of it. But you are pi55ing into the wind. Brits buy cheap. Thats why we have adulterated food and cr*p restaurants. Its what happened to Rover and to our white goods industries. Its what happened to our computer industries. I could go on but I wont.

Avon made extremely good dinghies out of good materials but we werent willing to pay north of £1000 for a tender. The company got broken up with the tyre business, again a very good one, being flogged off to the yanks and the dinghy bit to that carp french company zodiac. Given a choice between the french and the chinks, give me the chinks any day. And much of what you say about the chinese also applies to the french anyway

P.S. Irony - there simply is no one more racist than the chinese.
 
Steve C Cronin said:
If you are bringing "racism" into this, I'm sorry but I just couldn't continue a conversation with someone like you. The Chinese state wants nothing more than to destroy the commercial life of the west and people who buy this junk which is not fit for purpose just to own something for which they are either perfectly well able to pay the proper rate or shouldn't be aspiring to own in the first place. Either way, they are contributing to the ultimate intentions of the Chinese Communist Party.
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As I said, you bought a cheap dinghy from a company with poor quality control. That has nothing to do with the Chinese. You're now telling the rest of us not to buy products made in China rather than telling us not to buy cheap crappy products made by companies with no quality control and I'd say that's a race issue. They don't want to destroy the commercial life of the west, they just want to make a profit just like British companies do except they are far better at it right now as evidenced by our lack of manufacturing but make no mistake it's the fault of the British not the fault of the Chinese.
 
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