Author Archive
Posted on February 10, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Atlantic Yacht Basin
We pulled into AYB last year on our way down from the Chesapeake expecting to stay for a night before heading south. Then Mel got news that her mother was having health issues so she had to hop on a plane and leave Radar and I to fend for ourselves. My friend Peter had also tied up here waiting to head south. Pete had told me these guys were good boat fixers… Expensive but worth it. He was right.
It’s an old boat yard, but you can just tell by looking around these guys know what they’re doing. So I decided to have a few things done while waiting for Mel to return. They also give a special break on dockage if you have work done.
I needed a transducer replaced, which meant I must pull the boat, and I wanted to replace an old display with a new one I had in spares. They had good craftsmen and they did an excellent job of cutting in the new display.
Pulling the boat from the water was an experience. They didn’t let me drive into the lift, they asked me to get off the boat and they literally pulled it into the slings by hand, taking care to not scratch anything. About an hour later the transducer was replaced and the boat was going back into the water. Very quick work. While out, they cleaned my hull and scraped the running gear and keel coolers.
James Taylor, the Service Manager is a good fellow and made sure I had my boat back in the water by Friday so I could leave Saturday.
They had recommended Ayers Marine Electronics to do the wiring for the transducer. Ayers sent a nice young fellow to do the wiring and while there I asked him to look at upgrading the software on my Raymarine gear. He did both of those items quickly and professionally.
(I had problems with Ayers Marine Electronics, but I’ll write a separate review for them later.)
Our opinion of Atlantic Yacht Basin and it’s staff is another good one. Professional and seasoned veterans on staff. James Taylor is a fine fellow. We had a communication hick-up concerning billing and Ayers Marine Electronics, but all in all, it was a good experience and we hope to tie up at AYB in the near future.
Posted on February 10, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Florida Yacht Interiors
And again, the pics below are what he brought us back. This shot was the best attempt of the three.
and this…
We paid Mr. Camacho off and sent him on his way. We hope to never see him again. We paid him his premium price because he was supposed to deliver a high quality product. Our opinion is that he didn’t, he didn’t even deliver a near quality product… They just don’t fit. The lack of detail should be an embarrassment to FYI, but probably not. I did ask him if he wanted to put these pictures on his website. He just laughed. I didn’t.
So our opinion of Florida Yacht Interiors is a very negative one. He did do an adequate job on the barrel chairs and bar stools. Passable, but not that good either.
My bad for hiring him. That is not opinion, that is fact.
Here is their website… Florida Yacht Interiors… It’s annoying also. (again, my opinion)
Here’s to safe and happy cruises.
Cheers,
Bob
Posted on February 5, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Update: Legacy Harbor Marina… Fort Myers, FL
Update: 4/25/14
Legacy Harbour has just allowd onSpot wifi to install a great WiFi hotspot. This marina is now broadcasting a very strong signal all around the marina. If you’re pass through and want to stay at a first class marina with incredibly fast internet delivered wirelessly to your boat, Legacy is the place.
The fun part of doing these reviews is writing stories about the nice places, the good boat-fixers, and kind folks we run across while we cruise around. Legacy Harbor is one of these places.
We stopped here a few years ago to spend the night and ended up staying a month. It’s a really fine marina and it’s staff is great.
Located right in Downtown Ft. Myers, this is one of the most convenient marinas in the State of Florida. A Publix is a block away, fine restaurants are within easy walking distance. The other boaters who reside there are very nice folks who will go out of their way to help you, loan you a car, or just invite you aboard for a “docktail”, they call them.
A good story: During our last stay there, we had a shore cord plug burn out. Luckily there was a young fellow aboard who was adding freon to our A/C and he had a plug and quickly fixed it. I couldn’t think of why the plug would burn out and while pondering the problem… I remembered an hour earlier smelling something burning all the way up the dock. I had even questioned a few folks about the smell.
So I go into the office and tell Eric, the Harbor Master, about the plug and the smell. He said he would look into it. (I figured that would be the end of that) As I was walking up the dock and saw a friend, I told him about the burnt plug and the smell. He said, “That wasn’t an electrical burn you were smelling, that was Carol roasting coffee.”
I felt really stupid and bad about questioning Eric so I walked back to the office. Walking in, he immediately said he was knocking a hundred bucks off my bill. I told him about the coffee and apologized for questioning him, told him to forget the hundred bucks, but he insisted on reducing my bill.
Nice folks. Nice facility.
Posted on February 3, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Nordhavn South East, Stuart, FL
We’ve been working with Andy Hegley and Nordhavn SE for almost 10 years now and they have always been good folks. Before and after the sale of Istaboa.
We were a brokerage boat and Andy had found me such a good deal that there wasn’t much profit for Nordhavn, but they still treat us the same as if we had bought a new boat. Always very courteous and professional.
The whole crew at the Stuart office are great. Robin is always helpful at finding those Nordhavn specific parts, John and George are great sources for info regarding these boats, and the other sales reps Ray and Ted are also knowledgeable and helpful fellows.
Case in point: Remember that watermaker line that burst and sprayed fresh water all over me in the engine room? I call John, the Service Mgr. for Nordhavn SE, to do the repair. He sent a nice young fellow to fix it who accidentally broke the pump housing.
The kid comes up from the engine room wearing a look of despair and tells me our problem just got worse. He owned up to breaking it and apologized. I told the young guy… “don’t worry, shit happens, I appreciate your honesty.”
John searched for the pump housing and called to tell me they didn’t make it anymore… said they would replace the whole pump at no charge, he then also apologized.
The next day John called back and said he had found the housing and asked if repairing the old one was acceptable to me. I agreed and they fixed it.
That’s good customer service.
Our opinion of Nordhavn South East is a very good one.
Posted on February 1, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
RG Marine, Palm Beach, FL
Can’t really say anything bad about Ryon, the owner and operator of RG Marine, except he rarely returns his calls.
Ryon called me a few weeks ago and introduced himself, seems James Knight of Yachtech had mentioned to him that we wanted an Isolation Transformer installed, he seemed a personable enough fellow and was quoting prices that were very attractive and James recommended him… so he got the job. Got a deposit. Now seems he just forgot about us. Maybe out of sight out of mind kinda thing. Maybe he under-priced the job and now doesn’t want to do it. Maybe he read my post on this blog about accountability and doesn’t want to deal with us. Who knows.
The last time I talked with Ryon was a week ago and he said he would be calling me right back. Notta word yet. I left him a message telling him to tear up the deposit check as we were cancelling it.
Again, Ryon seems like a nice fellow, he just needs to work on his customer service skills. My opinion of Ryon is not so good. Won’t be doing business with him as a result.
Posted on February 1, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Rialto Marina… Paradise found
Already written about this marina. It’s truly a unique little Shangri-La in Central FL.
We have a very high opinion of Rialto and the folks who own and operate it. Check the link.
Rialto
Posted on January 31, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
River Forrest Yacht Facility
Clean, professional, and a state of the art facility.
I’ve already written this review. Had a great experience and will go back when I need them.
Click here… River Forrest
Posted on January 31, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Tom Sawyer… Finish superb!
Let’s get this out of the way first… Tom is not an inexpensive boat refinisher!
If you have a boat that’s got a few years on it and needs it’s fiberglass brought back to a new look… Tom is your man.
In a previous life in the Bahamas, where he was born, Tom owned and operated a dental lab. So why would a fellow who owned a dental lab be polishing boats? His answer was, politics in the Bahamas and out-sourcing. Makes sense.
Tom applies his knowledge of polishing teeth to your boat and the results are stunning. He’s always very professional and he takes his time. At the end of every work day he’ll wash your boat and clean up after himself. You step back on the boat and you can’t tell he’s been there. Can’t say that about any of the others we used around here. Usually polish and rags are strewn around and dust from the buffers is everywhere. Not so with Tom.
Watching Tom do a friends boat… and he didn’t know I was watching… He’s a perfectionist. If the sun hits the finish from the wrong direction… he stops and works another area that he can see. I’ve seen him stare at a portion of boat for 15 minutes before going back to redo it.
He takes his time and does it right.
Posted on January 31, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Sunset Bay Marina
Update, 07-2013
All the info below remains the same, but what a difference a year makes. We left Sunset Bay after being dealt with rather harshly. Without going into details, we realized we’d overstayed our welcome there and it was time to move on. Management, in our opinion, treated us and others poorly. We think that being an always full marina put the management staff into a position of perceived power which they take advantage of. This had nothing to do with their rates which are very low for the fine amenities offered.
Also, the current is treacherous and growth in your waterlines and on your hull will reduce the savings of the low monthly rates significantly. e.g. Divers, A/C issues, all circulating raw water related issues.
Still, if you can get in and you don’t mind the long run up the river, the Zebra Mussels, management attitude, and you don’t want to make it home, It’s a fine place. Read the former review… Stuart is a nice place.
Sunset Bay Marina is a little oasis down here in South Florida. It’s location is ideal. A scenic walk away from the old historic downtown Stuart area, restaurants, and shopping. Sailor’s Return, though very busy, is a very good eatery with a great bar outside overlooking the marina. Because of the restaurant’s success the parking was an issue, but they have that under control. No matter what time we come in, we get a parking spot… might have to circle the lot once, but we always find a spot.
If you’re looking for peace and quiet… This marina may not be for you. Sailor’s Return has live music almost every night and on the weekends they rock, but we like to hear the good bands and when we don’t we just shut the doors on Istaboa and their gone. We rarely find it annoying.
Stuart itself is quite nice. Not too big, but large enough to have pretty much whatever you need within a few miles. Stuart, we have always said, is a very boaty little town. Unlike Ft, Lauderdale, which is Yachty. Not that that’s bad… we’ve realized it’s just not for us.
If you’re into mooring out … You’ll love this place. Good moorings and plenty of them. The marina has a lot to offer those in the anchorage; a huge grill in the comfortable common area, great shower and laundry facilities, and a large Captain’s lounge with comfortable furniture and a large screen TV.
The staff here at the marina couldn’t be nicer and go out of their way to be accommodating. We’ve become good friends over the last few years. We call this marina home. See update (that’s all changed)
Almost every night we get one of these.
Posted on January 30, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Where do we start? Oh yeah… accountability
I’ll get to the point in a moment…
I was talking with a friend last week who had just recently sold his boat and he was lamenting his dream of life on a boat. When I asked him if there was anything he didn’t miss about the cruising life he didn’t hesitate for a second with his response, he said, and I paraphrase because my memory is for shit, “I really don’t miss having to deal with the boatyards who most times overcharge and under deliver, I don’t miss the high dollar servicers who tout their expertise then contract the job out to someone else while I’m not aboard, the marinas that offer a special deal until the bill arrives that’s loaded with hidden charges. All of this became the rule rather than the exception… I don’t miss any of that stuff. I loved the boat, I miss the boaters, and I miss the lifestyle, but I don’t miss those in the business of servicing my boat.”
I totally understood, I’ve argued my way out of more than a few boatyards, and no, not all of the marine servicers are that way. Some are dishonest and trying to take advantage of the cruisers who are traveling out of their area and in a bind. Others misrepresent themselves and just aren’t very good at what they do, but quite a few are genuinely trying to help out in the most efficient and least expensive way possible, trying to do the right thing —but— unfortunately they are few and becoming fewer.
Some of you may remember I was in the marine biz for almost 10 years. I started that company (Boatronix) mainly because; on the Tennessee River at the top of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, there were few (read next to none) good marine service organizations, and nary a soul knew anything about marine electronics. I started that company out of necessity.
My business model was and still is… Deliver good dependable services at a fair price and always, if at all possible—even when it costs you money—do what you say you will do…. no matter what.
It has always worked for me. I don’t think any of my old Boatronix customers or any of my company’s customers today would deny that we live by this maxim.
Okay… so what’s the point of this very lengthy diatribe?
Like my friend who just sold his boat, I too am tired of these types of business practices. I wanna out the ne’er-do-wells and tout the honest professionals. I’m gonna to post my experiences with these companies and individual contractors in a section of this blog I’m calling “Marine Services Review”. My intent is to express my opinions and recount my experiences in short concise narratives; relating the work, attitude, and overall experience while dealing with these marine services companies as we travel and find them necessary.
The objective is to show this post to any boat fixer before he works on Istaboa and explain: there are usually between 100 to 150 people a day who look at this little blog, most of these people are boaters and majority of those are boaters on the east coast.
Mr. Boat Fixer, this is your clientele. If you do a good job at the agreed upon price I will sing your praises and probably render a generous tip. View this as a good opportunity, a free organic little advertisement.
If you deliver less than desirable service… I will write a detailed account of my dissatisfaction and make my opinions perfectly clear to quite a few folks that care.
Now, do you still want this job?
Some will walk away… I will let you know who does.
In this section, (which you will find in the column on the right side of this blog) anyone, including the subjects of praise or the opposite of, can make comments that are in agreement with me or not. Fellow boaters who have had good or bad experiences can share them here. Every boater that keeps a blog should do the same thing. Speak up! Word of mouth is cool, but our words will carry further online. Maybe we will find more positives than negatives and share those experiences and contacts for our common good.
- Will this make a difference? Maybe, probably not, but you gotta try.
- Why am I doing this? Accountability… There’s certainly a lack of that in the marine biz.
- Am I crazy? Can be. Ask some of the boat fixers.
- Is this unconventional? Not really.
If this works it’ll just be another form of crowd sourcing… Kinda like Active Captain, which is a great source of information. (Istaboa has built up over 800 points with them) They have a section called Captain Rated that hasn’t been totally turned on yet. I look forward to the completion of Captain Rated and wish the Active Captain folks success on it’s implementation. (Then I can go back to just posting pictures and writing short narratives about our happy experiences while cruising.)
My motive is not to profit from this…
- I just want decent service at a fair price.
- I just want accountability in this little niche industry.
- I really just want a better boating experience.
We’ll see what happens.
Adios,
Istaboa
Posted on January 1, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Welcome to Marine Services Review
So what’s the purpose of this blog? It’s not for profit… not for spite… you’ll never see an ad and it won’t be used to gain favor.
It’s about accountability in the Marine Services business.
I wanna tout the honest professionals and out the ne’er-do-wells. I’m gonna post my experiences with these companies and individual contractors in the posts of this blog. My intent is to express my opinions and recount my experiences in short narratives; relating the work, attitude, and overall experience while dealing with these marine services companies as we travel and find them necessary.
Within the posts of this blog anyone, including the subjects of praise or the opposite of, can make comments that are in agreement with my opinions or not. Fellow boaters who have had good or bad experiences can share them here. Every boater that keeps a blog should do the same thing. Speak up! Word of mouth is cool, but our words will carry further online. Maybe we will find more positives than negatives and share those experiences and contacts for our common good.
This can be a good thing, could be fun.
Please make your opinions known and comment here… publicly or anonymously, they’ll show in the comment section.
We’ll see what happens.
Here’s to safe and happy cruises,
Cheers,
Bob