>So, where do people obtain most of the marine supplies if not West Marine? We keep our boat in Bellingham, Washington, up near the Canadian border. There is a West Marine store in town but we do almost all our marine shopping at one of the two local marine suppliers, LFS and Redden. If they don't have what we need I will sometimes drive over to Fisheries Supply in Seattle on a workday. Fisheries Supply's prices are not the lowest in the world, but they have virtually everything one might need, and no "store" brands. West Marine has been going increasingly to store brands for paint, line, etc. The problem is you have no idea who actually makes the store-brand items. They used to carry New England Rope mooring lines. The store in Bellingham no longer carries New England Rope, they carry a store brand which they claim is made by New England Rope. But New England Rope's website claims that their marine lines are made in the US. The West Marine look-alike mooring lines are made in China. We have also purchased pumps and whatnot from Defender, which has fast service and good prices. The staff at the West Marine stores in our area are great folks and we'd like to support them, but the company seems to have strayed a long ways from its founding principles. The only advantage West Marine has anymore over its independent local competitors in our area is that West Marine is open on Sundays. ____________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington