Are there Other Large Chandleries Besides West Marine ?

[andreas.mehlin]

Can anyone tell me what more big chandleries (online shops will do as well) than west marine located in US?

Which one is cheapest?

Andreas

[SailFastTri]

Defender.com is one of the best and usually lower price too. Hamiltonmarine.com is in Maine and beside pleasure boaters they do a lot of business with commercial lobstermen, so they have some unique gear you won't find in other chandleries (including better quality US-made alloy shackles for chain).

[vintageray]

Jamestown Distributers is competitve in price with Defender and offers lots of free shipping deals.

[savoir]

If you are on the West coast these guys are often the best deal.

Fisheries Supply

[Weyalan]

I use Mauri Pro a lot. No complaints.
Mauri Pro Sailing - Sailboat Hardware, Sailing Gear and Sailboat Equipment

[HopCar]

Why deal with one of the big chains when go can get personal service and great prices from a Sponsor Vendor of The Cruisers Forum?
www.hopkins-carter.com

[nwdiver]

Steveston Marine on the west coast.

[zeehag]

bacons
defender
sailboat owners
ace hardware
and more

[xymotic]

I work @ West Marine, so I'm a bit biased.

it is, in all seriousness a really good company to work for. Good people at all levels, so I guess I don't understand the hostility I hear about them (us) occasionally.

West marine will also price match anyone local AND on the Internet, and ship stuff to the local store for free.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by xymotic

I work @ West Marine, so I'm a bit biased.

it is, in all seriousness a really good company to work for. Good people at all levels, so I guess I don't understand the hostility I hear about them (us) occasionally.

West marine will also price match anyone local AND on the Internet, and ship stuff to the local store for free.

i am familiar with other types of west marine than for which you work.
the personnel seem to have been hired before rehab and are not knowledgeable nor helpful. that is a sad thing because it gives you a bad name. if all the west marines had helpful and knowledgeable staff and gave more than a 4 percent discount, they would also be used more.
and i remember well the "motto" they used to have when they first arrived on the scene in mdr---" we will put all the mom and pop outfits out of business"--tough to forget for only a 4 percent discount. they may match the RETAIL price, but they do not match the discount given AFTER the retail price .....
and their helpers are not that. i was unable to get around well after i broke my back, but i needed something in west marine-- the store is as large as or larger than the local walmart, and no one was busy at all. i requested something, and they sed--"is on XXX aisle" and continued to buff her nose ring or whatever she was doing, expecting me to hike 2 miles to the other side of the store for my part. very very uncool. no , i didnt buy that particular part there--i found it at ace hardware.
i love ace.
goood luck and happy hunting. i love the online stores and downwind marine and minneys and other online places. defender, bacons, sailboatowners,ebay,craigs list----manufacturers sites...anything but.......

ps....sorry but you asked.

[Katiusha]

Defender (www.defender.com) is excellent, especially if you're in CT and have a chance to go to their warehouse - lower prices and knowledgeable staff. And they can still deliver whereever the boat is.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by xymotic

I work @ West Marine, so I'm a bit biased.

it is, in all seriousness a really good company to work for. Good people at all levels, so I guess I don't understand the hostility I hear about them (us) occasionally.

West marine will also price match anyone local AND on the Internet, and ship stuff to the local store for free.

Good people at all levels??? Let me share with you my experience as a former WM customer.

I had been a customer of the same two WM stores for a long, long time, having spent thousands of dollars while completely upgrading two sailboats. A couple of times the manager of one of those stores was particularly unfriendly, but it did not bother me.

In my spare time I design and build small craft, and I needed a couple of round ports for a kayak I was finishing. I was at the store comparing the three or four models they had in stock when this guy, along with another employee, literally jumped towards me, one from each side of the isle, the perfect ambush. I guess they thought that I was shoplifting (worth mentioning that I am a middle age, gray haired guy, not a teenager)... It was pathetic to see their faces when they realized that I was measuring the ports...

Then, a few months later, on a Friday morning, I bought two cans of antifouling paint. My boat needs less than two gallons, and I had some paint left from the previous year. I went from the store to the marina to paint the first coat. On Saturday I painted the second coat, and with the leftover from the previous year I didn’t need the second can. On my way back I stopped at the WM store to return the second, perfectly clean, unopened can that never left my car during the day and a half I had it with me. This guy goes "what do you want?" I told him that I was returning the can. Without a word he went to the back of the store, returned with an opener, and started opening this perfectly new, clean and unscratched can. I asked him why he was opening it, and without even looking at me he said “because you could have used the paint, filled the can with bricks, and returned it”. He issued the refund without a word, not even a stupid “sorry, store policy”.

I wrote a letter to West Marine headquarters with an account of both incidents, expecting at least a boiler plate reply like “we are sorry….”, but I never got a response. Since then I take my business to Defender, Fawcett, and other outfitters.

By the way, if I had done that from the beginning, I would have saved a lot of money (and aggravation)...

[perchance]

Holland Marine Products in Ontario, Canada.

[nv5l]

I'm also a more or less former WM customer. Actually had an argument with a brilliant older woman who couldn't understand that older boats didn't have internal halyards -- she'd never seen one and didn't believe they existed. I ended up buying my fairleads from someone else.

I prefer defender, but they don't always have what I need. Jamestown is also good, as is Hamilton and Milltech. Just depends on what I need and who has the best price.

[stevensc]

I have to say the local West Marine (Houma, Louisiana) have always given me good service, price matching when I have found lower prices. If I have needed to return something for any reason they have taken it back without question, that is important!. Once I was docked at a marina in Orange Beach, Alabama I needed a shower sump pump they didn't have it in stock but had an employee who lived in Panama City, FL bring one over from the P.C. West Marine and then an employee brought it to me at the Marina in her car on the way home after work. Excellent service in my opinion.
Steve W