I’ve always loved water – swimming, snorkelling and kayaking. Sadly, I wasn’t spending anywhere near enough time on, in or near the water, so in 2022 I decided to learn to sail and bought myself a Walker Bay 8 Sailing Dinghy. The temperature was 2 degrees Celsius and there I was, stood in freezing cold water on the side of a lake in 15 knot wind trying to rig a sail for the first time. I quickly discovered I am a fair weather sailor.

When I first received my Walker Bay from the distributor, I found it to be missing some parts. I also wanted to purchase some Oarlocks and various other spare parts. It was pretty disappointing to find out that these parts were no longer manufactured. As I dug deeper, it seemed that Walker Bay had left many clients ‘high & dry’. Walker Bay had designed these parts to be replaced, for example, the Walker Bay 10 Rudder Pin has a limited life, and then it must be renewed, or it faces failure.

That’s how Dale’s Boats was born – I opened up my CAD and went to my workshop to start making parts. The community was nothing short of amazing in supporting our work and now, Dale’s Boats is quite possibly the only producer of Walker Bay spares in the world.

There is a question that keeps ringing in my ear – ‘What Next?’ — Walker Bay spares are great, and the community is awesome, but it is not a sustainable business. So, here is my vision for Dale’s Boats.

Do you remember when you could walk into a local store and know the owner? Or ask for a hard to find item and the clerk would actually help you source it? 

Those times are all but a distant memory for most, some stores are still there, but most have closed. For us, Dale’s Boats should be an online version of these almost-forgotten stores. A place where you can call me, my wife (Noemi), or one of our business partners – Bugra or Eris. A place that you can trust to go the extra mile, find that ‘hard to find’ part, or fabricate something especially for you. 

We want to become your ‘virtual’ local boat store.

This year, we will work hard to increase our range of spare parts for the Walker Bay boats, but also, introduce a whole range of marine & outdoor parts, with fair prices and free delivery worldwide. We thank you for being our customer and supporter. 

You can always contact me directly at dale@dalesboats.com or +421 949 126 342