Spice Island Marine

[Keegan]

Has anyone hauled out at Spice Island Marine in Grenada? IF so, how was the service and quality of work?

[osirissail]

I have been cruising and living in and around Grenada for the last 4-5 years and currently Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay is competitive with all the other yards in both Grenada and Trinidad. Not surprisingly, the costs are almost the same on both islands. In Grenada your choices are three - Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay, Grenada Marine in St. David's Bay and TBYH in Carriacou. Since you have a catamaran your choices are really Grenada Marine in St. Davids and Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay. Both places are full service boatyards and service and quality is good. You should be there and supervise any contracted work and have stated in your contract when they must finish the job. Otherwise, you could be there for a long time. This applies to all the boatyards on both Grenada and Trinidad. Depending upon the work you need done you might get it done while in the water through Survival Anchorage Services or Enza Marine. If the work requires a haul-out then be sure to bargain with each yard to see who can get it done in your alloted time frame. There are minor differences in quality between Spice Island and Grenada Marine but they oscillate back and forth with one yard being better for a while and then the other yard being better. So it is really a toss-up.
If you are looking for long term storage during the summer season I would favor Grenada Marine in St. Davids as they have had a better record on surviving hurricanes. But with everything in this world, this always change. For summer season storage I would personnally prefer Trinidad. I priced haulout and bottom jobs in both Trinidad and Grenada and they were within US$100 of each other. You have to consider the cost of supplies along with yard costs to get a total picture.

[Keegan]

Thanks for the nice detailed overview. That is helpful.

[camaraderie]

Ditto what Osiris said... BUT... if I were going to be doing some of my own work, I would favor Spice Island for the simple reason that the Budget Marine store there is within the yard and you don't have miles to go to get something you need. ( http://www.budgetmarine.com/Store.aspx?id=Grenada)

I have had good experiences with BOTH yards though I was NOT happy with a contracted rigger who did some work for me at Grenada Marine. He was not an employee of the yard...but was the guy they recommended I use. All the other work they did for me after Ivan was fine.

[osirissail]

Actually both boatyards have chandleries - Budget Marine at Spice Island Marine (just outside their gate) and Island Water World has a store inside the yard at Grenada Marine.
I would suppose that the timing of when you might be hauling out could be a determining factor. If the haul-out is to be in August to Nov time frame I would prefer Grenada Marine at St. Davids because of its history of surviving Hurricane Ivan. Otherwise, Spice Island Marine is much more convenient to all the other stores, grocery, industrial, etc. as it is only a couple of miles from St. Georges, etc. whereas Grenada Marine is almost an hour drive to the southeast corner of the island. I did see that the quoted rates for yard workers (for sanding and painting) was much better at Spice Island Marine.

[Hud3]

Based on my experience in Grenada, osirissail knows whereof he speaks!

[camaraderie]

Osiris..thanks for the correction. Guess IWW there is something they added after Ivan!

[KatKokomo]

In 2008 we were hauled out at Spice Island Marina. Never again. Office people were very unfriendly and rude. Service was not good and you better check your bill very carefully before you pay so you don't pay for work that was not performed.
I never will go back.

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by KatKokomo

In 2008 we were hauled out at Spice Island Marina. Never again. Office people were very unfriendly and rude. Service was not good and you better check your bill very carefully before you pay so you don't pay for work that was not performed.
I never will go back.

They have new management now. They hired a very experienced guy out of Florida who had run large boatyard operations. He has been there less than one year. I really like him. His name is Jim.

[KatKokomo]

I am glad they changed management. The son of the owner who was working in the office showed everybody that he does not like boaters, but he wants their money.
He is a very unpleasant young man. The 2 girls in the office are not helpfull at all.
One last thing, stay away from Rawle A. Noel, he is a Diesel Mechanic Subcontractor and is a very good talker. He cost me more money and problems then I was looking for. I am still trying to work things out he screwed up.

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by KatKokomo

I am glad they changed management. The son of the owner who was working in the office showed everybody that he does not like boaters, but he wants their money.
He is a very unpleasant young man. The 2 girls in the office are not helpfull at all.
One last thing, stay away from Rawle A. Noel, he is a Diesel Mechanic Subcontractor and is a very good talker. He cost me more money and problems then I was looking for. I am still trying to work things out he screwed up.

Speaking of Diesel Mechanic, I have used a great guy in St Lucia on more than one occasion that is a top shelf Diesel Mechanic. I would bet he is the best one in the Windwards. He is honest and does great professional work. He does not play games with the invoice either. If anyone needs his contact then you can PM me.

[neilpride]

I agree with KatKoKomo , very rude and unfriendly, and very expensive too, the island waterworld brand in St Davis is very basic , just the necesary stuff to finish some work, better budget marine, Enza Marine is a disaster, and the service is fair. Cheers.

[osirissail]

- - Having been in Grenada on my monohull sailboat since 2004 (Hurrican Ivan) with frequent trips to Trinidad each year and also up island each winter season - (whew, that was long) - I have seen the two boatyards in main island of Grenada cycle between good to awful each season. It is almost like they meet and decide who will the awful yard this coming season. So it is important to talk to other cruisers who have experience "this season" with which one is the currently designated the awful yard.
- - Trinidad has 4 boatyards available to cruisers and they also alternate, but usually only one assumes the "awful" role per season.
- - I track the prices of haul-outs costs continuously for all the boatyards from the Virgins to Trinidad. Most of them post prices on the web, so doing a spreadsheet is not a problem. The boatyards from Grenada to Trinidad "amazingly" charge within 10% of each other when all the costs are added up for a one week haul-out. So which boatyard you choose is not going to save you any money (in my size boat the max difference was US$100). But - the independent or yard contracted auxiliary work can vary significantly in cost and quality as can the cost of purchasing supplies. Trinidad has the 15% sales tax on all supplies except those used and applied by a local contractor. Grenada sells the supplies "duty free/ tax free". That difference can add up to significant money and since I am a D-I-Y kind of guy shifts my preferences go to Grenada. On the other hand, in Trinidad, if you know where and how to buy your supplies you do not have to pay the 15% sales tax.
- - Bottom line, almost every boatyard goes through being "bad, etc." and then can cycle to "good, friendly" the next season. Ask around amongst the other cruisers currently having work done to find out who is this year's good/bad. Especially in Trinidad you need to get recommendations from current cruisers as to "contractors" as you can get really seriously burned picking one at random.