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Old 11-12-2024, 09:51   #1
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East Coast Marine Electrical/Mechanical Recommendation

My wife and I embarked upon a significant series of upgrades to our motor yacht over the past year. Many of those were performed by a marina in Virginia; however, it was painfully clear that the junior technicians assigned to our boat were not properly trained and supervised, yet they nevertheless charged top dollar. For example, our Raymarine installation was performed by a outboard engine specialist who had never installed one previously. That marina took way too long and there were several discrepancies that we constantly had to address with them. They billed us a minimum of one hour if we asked them a question or had them look at something on the boat that took more than 15 minutes. The final bill was certainly not worth what we got. This sort of thing sound familiar to you?

I happened across the owner of Marine Diagnostic Services (MDS), Jake, who was in my former marina performing a LiFeP04 battery installation. I had a good feeling about him after our initial discussion and decided to move the boat to New Bern, NC to begin a massive overhaul of our electrical system. Our new system consisted of 1840 Ah of Epoch LiFePO4 batteries, two Victron Quattro 3000W Inverters, a Victron Power Distributor, a Victron Cerbo GX panel, and associated Victron battery protectors and Orion chargers. It necessitated the entire redesign and reorganization of our tech bay. It was a serious challenge that Jake seemed to relish. When he discovered issues not anticipated, he would talk with me and explain my options. There were no surprise costs. He was also brutally honest. When he suspected that one of his people damaged our wooden cabinet, he called to confirm it had previously been fine and then fixed it. Few marinas I’ve experienced would have taken such responsibility. I was also impressed with his attention to detail. After the electrical system upgrade, he ensured his team torqued all fittings to proper specifications and then conducted thermal testing himself with his hand-held FLIR camera to ensure there were no loose fittings or unusual overheating. Because of this diligence, he discovered massive overheating in the fuse for our bow thruster (800+ degrees Fahrenheit!) and took it upon himself to ensure that it was safe since the manufacture hadn’t adhered to ABYC standards. Many shops would just let you sail away. Instead, he fabricated a new fuse box with double the cables and fuses to lower the amperage and heat. It is so safe now, you can hold your hand on a fuse while it’s engaged. I felt so comfortable with him that we also had him install our water maker and an additional camera. He also doesn’t guess, he is a master diagnostic technician and researches everything he doesn’t know off the top of his head, including calling both vendors and ABYC itself when he’d heard standards were changing regarding the ELCIs we were installing.

No boat work is cheap, and if it is you need to reconsider whom you’re dealing with. The real issue is the professionalism and honesty you get. With MDS, you get this…and a lot of piece of mind. You see, Jake is a former captain of his own 51’ sail boat and spent two years in the Caribbean with his family. He understands that for many of us our boats are our homes and that they must be safe and functional when we are far from a safe harbor. We will use him for any future work we get done. He is our chief engineer. Contact him at marinediagnosticservices.com. While they're based out of New Bern, NC, they do some traveling work.

Robert Ivey
M/Y Espial
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Old 11-12-2024, 13:12   #2
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Re: East Coast Marine Electrical/Mechanical Recommendation

That is a great story, Robert.

Speaking of New Bern, I had very good luck with a couple of vendors there. I could not be present when the work was done, but communication and workmanship were excellent, at a significant savings over what similar work costs on Long Island Sound. I'm always happy to recommend these folks:

Maveryk's Marine--standing and running rigging.

Duck Creek Marina--mechanical and bottom work.

Glad your story had a happy ending!
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1999 Catalina 42
Old Saybrook, CT, USA
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Old 12-12-2024, 05:42   #3
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Re: East Coast Marine Electrical/Mechanical Recommendation

Just chiming in here as an industry person to second the recommendation for Jake at MDS, he's not only an excellent technician, but a great guy who stands behind what he does with his team.
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