8/18/04
Sorry I haven’t written in so long. This is the time of year where I do a lot of business travel and it’s been hard to get my head above water. Let’s see, since 6/28 we found out that Tim’s Rivershore Restaurant will operate for at least another 2 years. After that it depends on what he and the developers of the property surrounding Tim’s want to do.
To me, Tim’s provides a service to us Occoquan boaters by giving us an easy place to go to for lunch and partying. At the same time please pay attention to the fact that Tim’s II is now open at Fairview Beach. This takes me back to my days growing up on this river. Until Fairview Beach opened up we all went to the crab houses at Pope’s Creek near the 301 bridge for lunch. In the 1970’s we sold mostly inboard cruisers that cruised at 17 MPH where today we have a lot of sterndrive boats in the marina that cruise at 30 and even our inboard boats today cruise at 25 or so. Even though it took 2 1/2 hours to get to Pope’s Creek we went several times a year. Then when Fairview Beach opened we cut that time by at least a half hour each way. I still went to Pope’s Creek though. Robertson’s was where I grew up eating crabs (and when I was a kid played slot machines).
Even if Tim’s closes eventually we’ll only have to run another 15 miles to get to Tim’s II and even Pope’s Creek is an under 2 hour run. Oh darn, more boating! To me it’s like the discussion about the Occoquan River’s no wake zone. If that should upset anyone it should upset me. We used to test run boats between the 95 and route 1 bridges for crying out loud! But look what we get in return. We get to put so many more people on the water enjoying their boats. We have a new transient dock in Occoquan. We get a leisurely ride up and down a river so beautiful you’d take pictures if you were a tourist. You get the boat all the way packed up on your way back to the dock and then button her up and leave. But most importantly you are boating. Always remember-boating is having a cookout at the marina with your chums. It’s going down the no wake zone. It’s going to a crabhouse, or swimming or to one of the transient marinas. It’s relaxation. Put your watches away.
OK so what would I like to see on this river? The new pier in Occoquan is a great start and so is the dredging to occur this off season. I wish Maryland would put slots back in the crabhouses because it would encourage new restaurants (do any of you readers remember River’s Edge?). I need to take a look at advertising the snack bar and leaving B pier tee open (lunch only) to give boaters one more destination. I’d like to see a way that boaters could use the Belmont Golf Course- get a round in before heading out for the afternoon-serious play!
By the way we had a hurricane come through, thank goodness it was a pass by and not a direct hit. The Chaparral dealer meeting got rescheduled because it was going to be in St. Petersburg and the hotel closed for the weekend! It’s a shame too, because we’ve got some exciting product to talk about. But that will wait until the next newsletter where I’ll give you all the latest product news. Stay tuned!
CONTACT INFO:
Joe Hoffmaster—Sales Manager, General Manager, Sales Specialist new boats. Office hours M-W, F 8-4, Sat 10-4
Martha Hoffmaster—Chief Financial Officer M, T, Th, F 830-11, 1230-3
Kathleen Walker—Billing questions Accounts Receivables, Boat Sales M-F 830-4
Terry Verity and Jeff Atwood—Parts and Service questions Parts Manager, Service Writer M-F 8-4.
Charles T. Hedrick—Sales Specialist M, W, Th, F 830-4, Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4 or by Appointment
Sam, Steve, John, Dave, and Julian are techs M-F 8-4
For Service and parts orders and follow up call Terry or Jeff. On the weekends leave Terry notes. Parts order forms and work order forms are located on the parts counter. Anybody in the store can assist you in this.
To put your boat up on brokerage or to get a value call Chuck.
If you have a question about your bill call Kathleen.
Hoffmaster's—Welcome to the Family—Growing Since 1954
1214 Swan Point Rd. • Woodbridge, Va. 22192
Phone 703.494.7161 • Fax 703.494.8786
Open 8-4 M-F, 10-4 Sat, 12-4 Sunday