At Blackfish Marine, there is a reason we ONLY represent “Luxury Yacht Lines”. The Manufacturer’s who are focused on building a Luxury Yacht, tend to focus more on quality (including ride comfort and sea-keeping abilities) then on price point. While a manufacturer can certainly save a lot of money by building a flatter bottom boat with smaller engines, we have found that the ultimate satisfaction of the customer is compromised when they hit some seas (which every active boater will) for the first time and have a bad experience. If there is one thing we can tell you, a boat with good sea-keeping abilities is absolutely PRICELESS when you and your spouse are happily cruising through a normal 3’ Puget Sound chop on a beautiful sunny day. The option of “crashing” through the waves and being scared can (and has) turned great people away from boating. In our minds, that is an absolute shame! If those people had owned a hull with good sea-keeping abilities, they would probably still be happy boaters enjoying the beautiful waters of Puget Sound.

Q. Service after the sale is very important to me. How can I know I’ll be taken care of down the “road”?

A. Every dealership in the world claims to have great service. Unfortunately, industry surveys show that many dealerships fall far short of their customer’s expectations after the sale. Blackfish Marine has grown, in part, due to our reputation for excellence in Customer Service. With highly trained and experienced service personnel numbering equal to or greater then our sales force, we believe in providing the absolute best in passionate service care. Our in-house and mobile service team isn’t just comprised of the best mechanics in the industry, but they truly care about you and your yacht. We recommend you go right to the source, existing customers! At Blackfish Marine, we strongly encourage our potential customers to talk to our existing customers about their experience, the service they have received and their overall satisfaction with our dealership. We will be more then happy to provide you with a list of clients who purchased boats similar to the type of boat you are considering. Needless to say, we work VERY HARD to make sure that ALL of our customers would give us and our product a positive review.

Q. All the Luxury Yacht Manufacturer’s you represent are privately owned. Why don’t you represent Yachts built by the big public companies?

A. At Blackfish Marine, our combined experience of over 100 years has taught us that there are some major advantages to doing business with privately held Yacht Manufacturer’s. Primarily, they are usually owned by passionate boaters who are striving to produce better yachts at a competitive price. In our experience, BOATERS tend to build better and more functional Boats and Yachts. Many of us have represented boats and yachts built by public companies in our careers and have found that pressure from stock holders often overemphasizes the “today profit” vs long term vision for high quality yachts. Management teams in most of the public companies hold accounting and marketing backgrounds (vs boating backgrounds) focused more on Wall Street then on building the absolute best Yacht they can build. Not only is Blackfish proud to represent Manufacturer’s who are privately owned, but the owners of Blackfish Marine personally know and have sometimes even gone boating with the owners of these Manufacturer’s. This results in direct improvements to the Yachts we represent! We have also found that in down times for our industry, privately help companies are willing to continue to invest in new product development for their future and the continued improvement of their Yachts, while public companies tend to pull back to keep stock prices acceptable to their stock holders.

Q. How important is it that I have enough power in my boat?

A. The absolute worst thing you can do to a boat is under-power it. Not only will this mean you have to run your engines harder (causing more wear and tear), but running them harder will also cause you to go through more fuel then if you have larger engines and run them a little easier. Making sure the boat is properly powered is also relative to the items mentioned above regarding “cruising speed”, and “sea-keeping abilities”. To answer this questions as easily as possible, think of it this way, “as long as you have plenty of power, you can always pull back on the throttles to cruise slower and/or put less wear and tear on your engines. If you don’t have enough power, there is no way to reasonably add power to an under-powered boat”.

Q. What kind of financing is available for boats?

A. Boat financing is much more like a home mortgage then a car loan. If you are financing over $50,000.00, the typical term is 15 years. If you are financing over $100,000.00, the typical term is 20 years! Not only that, but you can typically (check with your tax advisor) write off the interest on your taxes as a second home. For most clients, this can save you thousands EVERY year in taxes making the boat payment much easier to bear. At Blackfish Marine, we offer both “in-house” financing and financial outsourcing for your convenience. For current rates or financing programs, please contact a sales consultant at Blackfish Marine.

Q. Where do I use a boat like this?

A. Most of the clients who are considering investing in the types of boats and Yachts Blackfish Marine sells are considering 28’ to 70’ yachts or larger. To best answer this question, let’s break this into two categories. First, I’d like to talk about the 28’ to 32’ size ranges. Most of these boats are designed for somewhat protected waters. For example, a 300cxi Cruisers would be a comfortable boat to cruise South Sound, the Seattle area and the San Juan and Gulf Islands. That’s not to say that some clients wouldn’t take a boat like this all the way to Desolation Sound or beyond, but most people will do more local cruising with a boat like this. The 33’ and beyond is typically a heavier boat with inboard engines and more “livable space” for extended cruising. Although most people do 90% of their cruising from South Sound to Desolation Sound (About 200 miles North into Canada), these boats are designed to go all the way to Alaska if you want to consider a trip like that some day. The larger Yachts (45’ and up) are very well suited for the inside passage to Alaska. This is a trip many of our out of state boaters like to experience at least once or twice. Our boats are NOT meant for Trans Atlantic or Trans Pacific crossings! The main thing to remember is that an evening on the boat at the dock or an overnight at a nearby marina can be just as relaxing and rewarding as the more extended cruising if you have the right boat. Here at Blackfish Marine our staff has been cruising the Pacific Northwest waters for a combined total of over 100 years and we’re still exploring and finding great new destinations that are right here in our own back yard. Our experienced sales staff will be happy to discuss your goals and visions with you to help determine and equip your boat to meet your needs.

Q. Boating in the Northwest is a year round activity. What should I consider to make sure I can comfortably boat year round in Puget Sound?

A. At Blackfish Marine, we offer many of our boats with the “Northwest Edition” package. This package varies on equipment depending on which model you are considering. The basic concept of the package includes a fully enclosed bridge with very high quality (we don’t recommend you use the cheap stuff) canvas and “straraglass”. We heat the bridge so you can be comfortable year round in our Northwest weather. On many of our bridge boats, we install a “seaview” solid glass insert in the canvas with a windshield wiper and washer for good visibility when running in mist or rain. On our larger boats, we upgrade the anchor rode to 300’ of ALL CHAIN for better holding power when anchoring in medium to higher winds or currents. The cabins of our boats are all heated and many of them are also air conditioned. The most important thing to consider if you want to boat year round in the Northwest is a boat with good sea-keeping abilities. The Fall, Winter and Spring can have beautiful cruising weather, but winds and seas can kick up in a hurry. A boat that will keep you warm, dry and comfortable when the weather is “borderline” will keep you happily boating year round!

Q. What are the most popular “dealer options” I might want to consider?

A. At Blackfish Marine, our boats come very well equipped from the factory. However, there are some items that are specific to how you plan to use your boat that are usually added by us prior to delivery. The first item to consider is your electronics package. Many of our cruisers come already equipped with electronics, but some of our models offer different uses and therefore different clients will need different electronics. Therefore, on a boat that does not already have electronics, we will help you pick a package that suits your needs. If you like to fish, we’ll do a fish package. If you mainly cruise, we’ll do a cruising package. If you are just going to boat locally, we can do a more basic (and less expensive) package. The next most popular option is an inverter package. This allows you to have 110V power while out at sea without having to run a generator. For example, if you like to anchor out a lot the inverter will allow you to make coffee in the morning or watch TV at night without having to fire up your generator and disturb your neighbors who might be anchored next to you. If you’re the kind of person who will be mainly going into marinas at night, an inverter probably isn’t that important to you. Another popular option is a dingy and davit system. This is an area where you can spend a little or A LOT! There are many different styles of both dingy’s and davits. The most popular style of dingy today is the inflatable. Be sure to talk to your Blackfish Sales Consultant before selecting your dingy. A dingy that is too big or too heavy for your boat can affect the boats performance dramatically. There are also many different options for the davit to hold your dingy when it is not in use. Depending on the type of dingy you want and what is important to you in a davit (looks, function, style, etc.) will depend on the style of davit you choose. Again, talk to your Blackfish Marine sales consultant for details on your various options here. Although these are some of the most popular options, here at Blackfish Marine we strive to “exceed our customer’s expectations”. In many cases, this can include an almost unlimited list of options (Satellite TV, Custom displays, Custom interiors, Satellite phone, Custom hull colors, Trash compactors, water makers and about anything else you can think of). 

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We hope you have found this section of our website informative and helpful. While it is only a small part of what will and should go into your decision making process, we believe education is a big (if not the biggest) part of our job in helping clients to make the best decisions for their needs. In spending time with one of our trained and experienced sales consultants, you will learn this and a lot more to help you make a good decision. Please let us know how we can help YOU in your education to high performance Luxury Yachts.