After a year of research and design work, we have begun construction and tooling on our new model, the Monaro 235 Sport. It is designed to fill the void of a low maintenance sport fishing boat that competes with the likes of Boston Whaler and Grady White. We have taken input from our owners to aid us in the design process that we think will result in a very desirable fishing boat. As we did last year with stretching one of our 27’s, we will be producing a series of videos showing the creation of the 235. The first video is complete and available on our website soon. As of May, we have completed the first hull and are currently working on the tooling for the deck and cabin. The first boat is expected to be on display at the Vancouver Boat Show in January 2015. We are now taking orders, contact us for pricing.
2013 brought us our best year ever for used Monaro sales. All models were selling, to the point of the demand exceeding the supply, especially with the 27’s and 298’s. Many of the new owners had us do upgrades to their new purchase and with new sales still weak; this has kept us busy throughout the year. One third of the sales were to existing or former Monaro owners, some who had stepped away from Monaro ownership for many years. We are glad to see they never forgot about our quality product with superior ride.
Back in July, Dan made a second trip to Iqaluit on Baffin Island to finish a project he started the summer before. We repowered a 39 foot East coast fish boat along with many other upgrades. He spent four weeks of working there in rather challenging weather conditions and upon return pledged that he was too old for that kind of work. It was, however, a rewarding and interesting experience working with some of the local Inuit people. The owner of the boat also now owns three Monaros. He purchased a used 21’ and 24’ to add to the 27’ we built him in 1996. Extensive upgrades were done to both boats and shipped east. The 21’ landed in Iqaluit, off loaded from a ship out of Montreal, and the 24’ is presently located in Inukjuaq, on the shores of Hudson's Bay in Quebec. His plan is to drive the boat from there all the way up to Resolute Bay, his home base, this spring. In order to make such a trip in very remote waters, we first extended the hull to add buoyancy, then doubled the fuel capacity. There are now a total of three fuel tanks with a combined capacity of 100 gallons. To top it off, he also wanted 20 jerry cans to strap on the deck railing.
We are very excited to see a Monaro 27 on the cover of May 2014 issue of Pacific Yachting magazine. Also, inside the issue is a report on our company and brief description of the new model. This came as a complete surprise to us but the photographer, Peter Vassilopoulos, knew all about it.
Last summer the Monaro family grew by one. Brad and his wife had a daughter, Kaitlyn Rose, on July 11. Interesting enough, Dan’s boat’s name is Island Rose (no, she was not named after his boat). She is on pace to fit into her first life jacket and make her inaugural Monaro cruise to this year’s Rendezvous! We hope she loves boating as much as the rest of us.