New Business... wish us luck!! (long)

ksherbine

ksherbine

Active member
Last year my buddy Dave Enos and I built a little 10' sneak boat for ourselves with the help of another friend Dave Wright who's a fiberglass whiz. What started as a fiberglass over plywood boat soon turned into a molded boat that we hand laid fiberglass on then pulled off. That got us talking (mostly dreaming) about all of the "what-ifs". That was as far as it got until about a month ago when Don Warren of Mayo MD listed his business Classic Barnegat for sale on the duckboat page. We talked it over and went down and looked at Don's operation, then decided to jump at it. I'm a huge history buff and really into the "tradition" end of our sport and as a result have been a huge fan of the Barnegat Bay Sneakbox since I was a kid. So this opportunity seemed too good to pass up.

So Dave Enos and I decided to give it a whirl. We've been waterfowlers for years and years and figured what the heck. Dave Wright runs a local high performance fiberglass airplane business, and is going to do our fiberglass work as well as technical assistance. Plus, we all get along great and get together a lot anyways, so we might as well be doing something productive. We're doing this strictly as a hobby or sideline, and none of us have any illusions of getting rich or even quitting our day jobs.

We just finished our website http://www.classicbarnegat.com . It's the first time I've ever done any website designing so comments and suggestions are definitely welcome. We're also currently restoring an old boat that Don gave us to go to the PA Waterfowl Expo this weekend. We're also working on a TON of product improvements such as new floorboards, rubrails, decoy racks, assembly techniques, gun racks, interior shelves, spray shield, etc. Don is a great guy and made a great boat, but maybe cut some corners that we're trying to improve on. In addition, we're currently working with the Coast Guard to get certified, capacity rated, and float tested. We have an appointment in 2 weeks to take our 14' and 12' boat down to get capacity tested and flotation tested. For the flotation test they drill holes in the deck to let any air out, fill it with water, and the boat has to float level for 18 hours.

Lastly, I'd like to send a HUGE thanks out to the members of this site and Eric in particular. Without this site I'd never have had the confidence to give something like this a try (not to mention this is where I found about Don's business). Also, Lou Tisch from LSB has once again shown his true class. I called Lou just to give him a head's up and ended up talking to him for probably a half hour and even getting some advice about the business. As an added bonus we're even going to switch our paint to FME from Lou.

Thanks again guys for all of your help.
Kirk Sherbine
Classic Barnegat Sneakboxes
http://www.classicbarnegat.com
 
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Congrats Kirk,

The boats and your website look great. We got the basic template of our website started when we had a high school whiz kid intern in our archetctural firm a couple summers ago, but nothing since he left, so I am very impressed with your website.
 
Thanks for the comments guys.

The website was actually really easy. There's a template in Microsoft Word where you can create a website. I just monkeyed around with it until I got what I wanted. It's just a really rough start because I wanted to get our name and phone # out there instead of paying the phone company A LOT to forward the calls from the old owner.

The hardest part was actually getting it hosted and on the web. I went with godaddy.com and had about a million phone calls to their support people before I got it.

Thanks again,
Kirk
 
I wish you fellows all the luck in the world.I talked to Don about five months ago before he decided to sell.I was looking for a sailing version of the BBSB,
but didn't find it there.Good idea with the Coast Guard certification and flotation.
Fair Winds
Joe o
 
Yes, we moved the operation to Somerset, PA. We spent about 2 weeks fixing up my barn, insulating it, organizing it, etc. then went and got the molds and equipment on Memorial Day.

We talked to Don about having a sailing version. That's definitely in the works, even if it's on a very limited version (like maybe just one for me and my kids!!).

Thanks,
Kirk
 
Sweet Kirk.
Good looking site.
If you want some good boatbuilding info try Professional boatbuilder. They have a great magazine for the industry and do a heck of a show in FL in October that for you is now considered tax deductable. Your boat would fit right in with the Supper Yachts.

Best of luck on the new production.
 
Good luck to y'all. Looks like some fine boats.

Ed.

P.S. image005.jpg is a dead link on your website.
 
Good Luck in your new venture,

So does this mean you can deduct all your expenses duck hunting as product testing or advertising?
 
Thanks for the comments guys.

Bob- I'll look into that Professional Boatbuilder. It sounds good. FL in October sounds good too!!

Speaking of taxes... A LOT of hunting expenses will now be tax deductable. We were actually talking last night how we'd love to sell just ONE boat a year in North Dakota so we could deduct our annual "pilgrimage" as delivery expenses. Of course if we don't then a "photo shoot" for our website would have to be a good enough reason. I'm sure the IRS would agree that a North Dakota pothole is just soooo much better than the pond on our farm for a picture.

We actually DO need all new pictures for our site. The ones on there came from the old site because we didn't have time to dress up in camo, put out a spread of decoys, take a shotgun, and explain to the warden that we weren't REALLY duckhunting in the middle of June. That's coming though.

I have a friend that REALLY pushes it with taxes though. He donates a lot of his birds he shoots to the Smithsonian and Carnegie museums, plus a lot of colleges. Last year he wrote off his mileage, a new shotgun, a new canoe, plus a lot of birdwatching gear because he wrote an article for some bird journal. He has more stones than I do when it comes to that.


Thanks again,
Kirk
 
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