T&T: Good buys at West Marine

[Lawrence Zeitlin]

In defense of West Marine:

West Marine is often the only retailer that carries a variety of  
marine parts in non-coastal areas. Sure, you can find better prices  
if you shop around or use the internet, but for convenience WM can't  
be beat. If you add up driving time, gasoline, and shipping charges,  
the WM price is often lower than shopping at a variety of other  
places. Also, WM often offers things at a loss leader sale price that  
is considerably less than in competing outlets. Last year Dahon  
boating bicycles were at least $100 less than in a bike store, even  
lower than at WalMart. This weekend I bought 2 gallons of WM top of  
the line ablative bottom paint for $89 each. I can verify that the  
stuff work well in my high fouling area. Micron might be better but  
the price was $199 per gallon.

Very good quality 7x50 binoculars with long eye relief were on sale  
at WM last year at about $40. These were made in China but the  
quality was comparable with Canon glasses costing four times as much.  
My wife calls me a binocular junkie. I have a dozen pairs including  
Leica Trinovids, Nikons, Bausch and Lombs, and Canons. The WM product  
ranks in about the middle of the group - a real bargain. I bought a  
couple of sets to keep on the boat for guests and a few for Christmas  
presents for my nautically interested children.

Larry Z