Archive for February, 2012
Posted on February 28, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Marine Plumbing Co. SE Florida
We like these guys a lot. They were on time, quick, and very professional. (they wouldn’t disparage that other company who proceeded them.) Our opinion of Marine Plumbing Co. Inc. is an very good one.
If you’re in their area and need a really good marine plumber, call them, they’re excellent.
Marine Plumbing Co.
1194 Old Dixie Hwy # 13
Lake Park, FL
(561) 841-3000
Posted on February 22, 2012 - by Memphis Istaboa
Classic Marine, Jupiter, FL…
Update 3-21-12
Because of the Google search placement of this post (Yachtblogs does a great job) I have changed the title as well as the narrative. My opinion of Classic Marine is still a bad one and if asked to rate him on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say he doesn’t rate.
With all that said, I don’t think such a harsh criticism should be the first item to pop up on a Google search for Classic Marine, Jupiter, FL. I have removed this narrative on my on, I do this out of sympathy for Mr. Brenner and no other reason.
I hope this proved to Mr. Brenner that he can be held accountable for his actions.
That’s the point of this blog.
Getting to the point immediately, we have a very negative opinion of Randy Brenner and Classic Marine Services.
Classic Marine is a servicing dealer for Dometic-Sealand Vacuflush Systems. I had a pump in that system that would turn on and pump for about 15 seconds every 3 hours or so. The Vacuflush system worked, but the pump noise was annoying. I expected a $300.00 repair.
After almost 2 months, 3 misdiagnoses with the problem getting worse after each repair, $1400.00 dollars in parts and labor, (that I begrudgingly payed in full), excuse after excuse, I finally had had enough with Randy Brenner and Classic Marine and called someone else who quickly figured out the problem and fixed it.
I’ve heard from 3 other boaters, on this dock alone, with complaints about Classic Marine.
A company aptly named Marine Plumbing Company solved our problem quickly and at a fair price.
Marine Plumbing Co.
(561) 841-3000
Here’s to safe and happy cruises.
Cheers,
Bob Taylor
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
