Malibu Boats (@MalibuBoats) Connecticut Dealer Candlewood East Marine is once again giving back to the children in their area with toys this Christmas. Each holiday season Captain Ryan Slater and Candlewood East help families in need by sponsoring their “Boatload of Toys” drive. They collect new or unused toys and give them to the Family and Children’s Aid of Connecticut.
Captain Ryan Slater had this to say about the success of the drive he stated. "Wow, we have had success each year that we participate in this drive and this year we’ve even topped the toy count from last year. Its great to see people sharing like this, and I look forward to shattering last year’s toy count by the 19th (December)!"
If you reside outside Candlewood East's area, there are plenty of local food, gift and toy drives that would absolutely love to receive your donation. Celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and give to those who are less fortunate during this joyous season.
We commend Ryan and Candlewood East Marine for pushing limits and giving all they can this Christmas.
Malibu Boats (@MalibuBoats) Christmas stories have marked the holiday season for us for the past several years. This year we asked Malibu enthusiasts to share their Malibu Christmas stories with us. We chose the best story submitted and are rewarding the writer with a remote control Malibu boat for Christmas.
Matt Beilstein, a Malibu Crew member from Grove City, PA submitted his Christmas story in response to the contest we posted. His story had nothing to do with unwrapping a new boat on Christmas Day or even a new boat at all. Matt wrote about the Christmas he visited his 1988 Malibu Skier in storage and just how much that simple act meant to him.
We bought out first Malibu in late August of 2008. It was a beautiful 1988 Malibu Skier. It was a cherry of a boat and a true Malibu classic. It immediately became my baby. When I wasn't on the water in our boat, I was spending my free time working on modifications and taking care of the boat. That fall I decided the best place to store it was 500 feet underground in a local limestone mine that is used to store antique cars, boats, and RV's in the winter months. It stays 55 degrees underground all year long and would be safe from the Western PA salt and snow.
We pushed the season as long as we could that fall without wetsuits (they soon became first year boat owner Christmas presents. We threw in the towel when the water hit the 40's and I winterized the boat. My crew spent a good weekend with me waxing and detailing the boat before I towed it to the mine to tuck it in for the winter. I spent another hour underground making sure I had enough dry rid in there for the winter and even loaded up the boat with charcoal to absorb any odors that might occur over the winter. My wife thought I was nuts and would remind me it was only going to be down there for "four months". She just doesn't get it.
I left the boat with the sad feeling that all Malibu owners share when we tuck our boats in for the season. I went back to work anxiously awaiting spring with my Malibu desktop reminding me of the coming summer months.
Well December came and as Christmas approached my wife and I took vacation from work. We enjoyed time off and I spent a lot of it here on TheMalibuCrew trying to push through the winter with the "support group" here on the board. It's no doubt the first winter as a Malibu owner is the worst and the longest!
Well the day before Christmas Eve my wife said, "do you want to go see the boat?". "Heck yeah I said!!!" as I ran out to the garage and gathered up some Babes and a bottle of 303 and some Dry Rid refills. She knew I was missing the boat and said it was a good Christmas gift for me to just see the boat.
We loaded up in the car and drove the hour to the mine. The guy at the mine guided us back the mile into the side of the mountain where the boat was tucked away in the dark. I work for a mining company so I told the guy he was fine to leave us there as I knew how to find my way out of the mine. I pulled the cover off and we sat in the boat in the light of the headlights. It was priceless. Sitting in our Malibu ski boat 500 feet below the earth's surface two days before Christmas.
I then spent a half hour detailing the boat with Babes and then put a good coat of 303 on the vinyl. I dumped the water out of my Dry Rid containers and refilled them. My wife helped me to put the cover back on the boat and we headed home.
I was so happy she decided to suggest a boat visit just before Christmas. What a cool idea and it certainly helped me to get though my first Malibu winter! That's my all time favorite Christmas gift and it makes an awesome story that is told over and over!
Matt told us a little more about how he came to be such a fan of Malibu boats. "My uncle owned a Malibu Sunsetter while I grew up and my brother and I looked forward to the "Malibu Weekend" of the summer when our uncle would invite us out on the lake for a day of fun. I would ski until I couldn't even stand. Once I graduated college, got married, and bought our house I knew I had to have a Bu of my own!"
This story really touched our hearts becuase it describes just how powerful a connection people can feel towards water sports and in this case a Malibu boat. At Malibu we feel so priviledged that our boats, new and old, can rank so hi in importance to Malibu owners like, Matt.
We would like to thank Matt for taking the time to share this Malibu Christmas story with us. Santa is bringing you a Red Remote Control Malibu Boat. We hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!
The Malibu Boats (@MalibuBoats) 2011 Boat Show Season is under way. Check out the 2011 Malibus at a show near you this winter. The 2011 Malibu Boats Show Schedule provides the information you need about shows in your area. Visit your local show and take advantage of the Malibu Difference.
Malibu Boats Apparel (@MalibuApparel) is the perfect Christmas gift for the Malibu boaters in your life. At Gear.MalibuBoats.com you'll find everything from simple Malibu logo Ts to Malibu hats to warm stylish outter wear to fun kids clothing. Don't know sizes? Check out the Malibu accessories on the site. You can buy towels, decals, key chains, emblems and coozies as well as Malibu brand trailer guide pads and dock line. Think outside the box with a cool Malibu boating gift this Christmas. Your Malibu boaters will love you for it! Order your Malibu Christmas gifts by Friday, December 17th and if the items are in stock you should have them on or before Christmas Eve! Happy shopping!
The new Malibu Touch Command (MTC) is amazing on many different levels especially function, innovation and price. This dash screen allows you to control everything from ballast tank levels to Power Wedge position to interior and exterior lighting with a touch. Developed with Projective Capacitive Touch Technology typically reserved for high-end personal digital devices, you won’t find a feature like MTC in a high performance car let alone anywhere else in the boating industry. All of this and the MTC with Keyless Ignition is included on all 2011 Wakesetters and Sunscapes as well as the Response LXi and FXi at no extra charge. Get your fingers on a Malibu boat to experience MTC today.
Paul Singer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Malibu Boats, had this to say about the new Malibu Touch Command. "We're not going to lie, we like to keep everyone playing catch up, but our real joy comes from giving our customer our very best." Singer explained, "At some point, the force of innovation overtakes the laws of convention. In the 2011 Malibu line that point is on the dash, which is featuring the first ever 6.5" touch screen for control of a myriad of performance and safety systems. We call it MTC or Malibu Touch Command. We think you’ll call it amazing."
Malibu Boats is making boating easier and more fun with touch-sensitive switching based on intuitive hi-res graphical menus of the boat’s functions. Easily navigate control of Malibu Launch System (MLS) ballast levels in as many as four different areas of the boat with MTC. Command as much as 1450 pounds of hard tank sub-floor ballast. Normally left wondering which switch controls what light? With Malibu Touch Command interior and exterior boat lighting can be turned on and off, theatre style, with a touch of the desired lighting zone. Control the available Patented Power Wedge position. Deploy, adjust or stow the wake-making reverse hydrofoil. Accessories like heaters, blowers, and bilge pumps can also be easily controlled through MTC. Navigate new waters with available GPS. Even start your Malibu without a key thanks to the coded keyless ignition system.
Forget the keys. Go ahead. You won’t need them in a 2011 Malibu boat. Almost all Malibu boat models have keyless ignition standard. Type in your code, touch the “Start Engine” icon and motor. No more worries about getting to the lake and forgetting the keys. Malibu’s got you covered.
Get in touch with your local Malibu Boats dealer to experience the 2011 models and features like Malibu Touch Command. Malibu is pushing the limits of wakeboard and ski boats, get on board.
Bama Belles focuses on the lives of 4 very different Southern women and one transplant. Melissa’s life is filled with her husband Frankie and their son Grayton along with Malibu and Axis wakeboard boats. Since the boat dealership is such a large part of Melissa’s life, boating and water sports are well represented in the show.
Melissa is excited about the publicity Bama Belles can bring to her business, but her motivation for exposure is not just about that. She explained, "There are so many kids that could benefit from participating in water sports. It provides them a positive outlet to express themselves. It is also such a great family activity.”
Melissa is always looking for ways to get more people on a wakeboard boat. “We worked with INT this year to create a Southern Alabama competition and it was a huge success,” Melissa told us.
After purchasing their first Malibu boat from longtime Malibu Boats Dealer Skier’s Marine in Birmingham, Al, Melissa and Frankie were hooked. They become extremely involved in wakeboarding helping out at the local boat shows and events as well as becoming close with people in the industry. “Wakeboarding is what we love,” Melissa told us.
With a Masters of Science in Environmental Analysis and Management, Melissa was tired of the travel and long hours her career in the medical device field required. Melissa wanted to take a passion that she and her family shared and turn it into a business that allowed them to spend more time together. This is how H2O Sports was born.
Totally new to the boating industry, Melissa jumped right in, handling almost everything during the dealership’s first year herself. She courted manufacturers, secured financing and ran the business on her own until Frankie was able to take a more active role in 2009.
Melissa’s fellow Belle, Amie Pollard came up with the Bama Belle concept and pitched it to the production company. Melissa explained, “This is not a show about stereo types it’s a show about how we live. I hunt. I wakeboard. I have a Masters in Science. I own a business. We're not ignorant. We have fun!”
BBC World Wide, the producers of shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Dancing With the Stars as well as Bama Belles wanted women who were independent for the show. That is one of the reasons Melissa was chosen. They really liked the idea of including a female boat dealership owner, competing in a male dominated industry.
The Belles endured three weeks of shooting to create the first three 44 minute episodes of the show. “We worked 6 days a week sometimes for 12 to 14 hours a day,” Melissa said. “And no part of the show is scripted. What was said was what was happening at that moment.”
When asked about the intrusion of the cameras on all aspects of her life, Melissa said, “At first I really tried to watch what I said and did in front of the cameras, but after a while I was comfortable with the crew and it all came out.” She continued, “They said it was essential that we pretend the cameras weren’t there, so that’s what we did.”
The 20-person film crew became such a part of Melissa’s life she taught a bunch of them to wakeboard on one of their few days off. Melissa told us. “They loved it!”
When we ask Melissa what she though of the first episode that aired last week she said, “I enjoyed it. I thought it was hilarious!”
Tune in this Sunday the 12th of December at 7pm PST/ 10pm EST on TLC to watch Bama Belles.
We started the tradition of sharing Malibu Boats (@MalibuBoats) Family Christmas Stories several years ago during the first Malibu Boat Rockin' Christmas Event and we want to keep it going this year with your stories. Submit your Malibu Christmas Story by December 15, 2010 and you may have a chance to put a Malibu boat under the tree. A remote control Malibu boat that is. We are giving away three remote control Malibu boats to the top three Malibu Christmas stories.
Do you have a family Christmas story that’s told over and over especially during the Holiday Season? I’m talking about the kind of story that new friends and family members are excited to hear and then retell as a statement of their place in the family’s inner circle. We have retold a few great stories like these over the years for some of our Malibu Family members. Remember the great Christmas story from Idaho Watersports customers the Taylor's. They surprised the kids with a Malibu boat on Christmas morning. Or how about Sabrina Dierksen, Wilson Watersports, customer who surprised her husband with the Malibu boat of his dreams. Then there was the Isner Family from Seattle who surprised their dad on Christmas morning with a wakeboard boat that would help him really do a back roll. These are all great stories, but we know there are more out there.
We're hoping the incentive of adding a Malibu boat under the tree might encourage some of you to share your stories with us. A remote control Malibu boat, that is. Malibu Boats is prepared to send a new remote control Malibu boat to each of the three best Malibu Family Christmas story authors.
Post your stories on the Malibu Boats Facebook Fan Page, add them to the Malibu Christmas Story thread on TheMalibCrew.com or email them to blog@malibuboats.com. These stories can be about anything that is Malibu Boats and Christmas related. Have you every taken your Malibu out on Christmas? That could be a great story. Was your family surprised with a Malibu boat on Christmas? That could be another fun tale to tell. Or maybe you have a story about another way you enjoyed your Malibu boat during the Christmas season. Have you towed your boat in local Christmas parade? We would love to read any and all of these stories. There is no length requirement, make these stories as long or as short as you see fit. They will be judged on content not composition. The three best stories, as judged by a panel from the Malibu Boats Factory, will be rewarded with one remote control Malibu boat each. Eligible story entries must be received by December 15th, 2010.
Malibu Boats (@MalibuBoats) Connecticut Dealer Candlewood East Marine is once again giving back to the children in their area with toys this Christmas. Each holiday season Captain Ryan Slater and Candlewood East help families in need by sponsoring their “Boatload of Toys” drive. They collect new or unused toys and give them to the Family and Children’s Aid of Connecticut.
