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Old 18-11-2019, 11:03   #46
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

Good Afternoon,
I am responding to the comments posted about Oak Harbor Marina. I arrived at Oak Harbor in Jan. 2019, in a project boat. For the last ten months Johnny Clarke and Chris Broman have helped me put her back together. Johnny worked with me to come up with a comprehensive plan for renovations and when I got too carried away with ideas, he calmly explained how my latest idea, would not in his opinion, be worth the time and expense involved. DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A THIEF TO ME. I can say without reservation that i would recommend Oak Harbor Marina to to anyone needing boat work done. Johnny's knowledge of boats combined with Chris's superior rigging skills, make this a great place to get any type of work done on you're boat.
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Old 18-11-2019, 12:29   #47
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

I lived most of my life on the Chesapeake Bay before moving to Florida and I can tell you from experience that many of the marinas and their service departments are poorly to fraudulently operated. There are many marinas of all types on the Chesapeake; from corporate to mom & pop operations. Pre-2008, business was booming and there were waiting lists to lease a slip even at the lowest level marinas at grossly inflated prices. The marinas were at full capacity and making money hand over fist. The service departments were well run by skilled employees and profitable; I was often alone in the DIY area of my marina in George Town, MD. We all know what happened after the music stopped during the financial meltdown. The Chesapeake Bay boating culture collapsed nearly overnight. 11 years on the industry has not recovered. You have no problem finding a slip on the Chesapeake Bay today. As a result, the marinas pay employees very poorly. If a "mechanic" has ever changed the oil on a Yanmar diesel, he is considered the service manager. Engine alignment, electrical and structural fiberglass skills are nearly nonexistent. You can forget about steel or aluminum.
You will often be dealing with the entitled child of an elderly marina owner who has no concept of the market economy or the skills to perform the services they advertise. They all think that their substandard workmanship is worth much more than it actually is.
They still have the mentality of the wild west economic days of the early 2000's; while their docks and services deteriorate to third world levels.
My only advice is to do the work yourself in the DIY area of any boat yard. If you do have to hire out work, make it a very limited scope of supply with a defined specification detailing what is considered "finished" and the level of quality.
Do not let a po-dunk boat yard do engine alignments or structural work. There are experts that can be brought in for specific jobs if you are not confident enough to do it yourself.
I highly advocate DIY, There is no rocket science on your boat. There is nothing that you can't do yourself with a little research. You will gain valuable skills and knowledge about your vessel that translates into confidence. The moron you are talking to on the other side of the counter is not smarter than you but they will be very happy to take your money for sub-pare workmanship.
The marina culture is not what it used to be.
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Old 18-11-2019, 13:56   #48
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing August View Post
I lived most of my life on the Chesapeake Bay before moving to Florida and I can tell you from experience that many of the marinas and their service departments are poorly to fraudulently operated. There are many marinas of all types on the Chesapeake; from corporate to mom & pop operations. Pre-2008, business was booming and there were waiting lists to lease a slip even at the lowest level marinas at grossly inflated prices. The marinas were at full capacity and making money hand over fist. The service departments were well run by skilled employees and profitable; I was often alone in the DIY area of my marina in George Town, MD. We all know what happened after the music stopped during the financial meltdown. The Chesapeake Bay boating culture collapsed nearly overnight. 11 years on the industry has not recovered. You have no problem finding a slip on the Chesapeake Bay today. As a result, the marinas pay employees very poorly. If a "mechanic" has ever changed the oil on a Yanmar diesel, he is considered the service manager. Engine alignment, electrical and structural fiberglass skills are nearly nonexistent. You can forget about steel or aluminum.
You will often be dealing with the entitled child of an elderly marina owner who has no concept of the market economy or the skills to perform the services they advertise. They all think that their substandard workmanship is worth much more than it actually is.
They still have the mentality of the wild west economic days of the early 2000's; while their docks and services deteriorate to third world levels.
My only advice is to do the work yourself in the DIY area of any boat yard. If you do have to hire out work, make it a very limited scope of supply with a defined specification detailing what is considered "finished" and the level of quality.
Do not let a po-dunk boat yard do engine alignments or structural work. There are experts that can be brought in for specific jobs if you are not confident enough to do it yourself.
I highly advocate DIY, There is no rocket science on your boat. There is nothing that you can't do yourself with a little research. You will gain valuable skills and knowledge about your vessel that translates into confidence. The moron you are talking to on the other side of the counter is not smarter than you but they will be very happy to take your money for sub-pare workmanship.
The marina culture is not what it used to be.
Well said. Here in the Pacific Northwest business is still booming. When I tried to get quotes on painting a year ago I got that same old impression that boat maintenance workers think that they are doing you a favor by working on your boat. With the decline in interest in boating that will change here too. I will have no sympathy for them when the market changes and their outrageous hourly rates and drag your feet working style catches up with them.
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Old 18-11-2019, 14:45   #49
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

I've never experienced a bad marina. All most want is to be paid on time and not have to walk the yard or docks to find the owner and get paid.
Most seem to go the extra mile for those who do.
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Old 18-11-2019, 17:29   #50
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

I believe you can still get excellent service from the contractors who work out of Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard in Annapolis - but be prepared to pay a premium for haul out, shoring and the marine services.
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Old 18-11-2019, 18:17   #51
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Re: *WARNING* Wells Cove Marine - Kent Narrows, MD

I used a yard in SF (Oakland/ on Alameda - Grand Marina) for years for bottom jobs. Many years of being a regular customer... After they charged me triple the amount for a macerator pump replacement ("It's in plain view, not hard to get to."), I seethed. After a week or so, I went in and gave the proprietor "a chance to correct his invoice." After enduring one of his rants for 20 minutes, including a "...you people think you know it all, well let me tell you...". I just calmly asked him if he'd consider correcting his invoice. I'd already paid the full amount.

He ended up writing me a check for the correction. Actually, it was much more than he thought, 'cuz his secretary/office manager knew my reasons and wrote the check amount, he just signed it, 'cuz he was so out of joint (not me, though).

One of the reasons was that when his boyo put the new pump in, the discharge handle on the close-by valve wouldn't travel to close or open the valve, 'cuz he'd neglected to utilize three of the four mounting screws for the nearby pump!!! When I showed it to him, he said "It was thast way when we replaced the pump."


Hardly.


and


Lovely.

Anyway, I wrote a scathing Yelp review, it's still there but "hidden" on page 4,598,287!!!

They still do good bottom jobs, but for anything else...?

Blanket condemnations usually aren't helpful, though.

And I fully agree with the supervise/DIY recommendations. How else are you going to know they did it right? Only three times I let anyone else work on my boat in 21 years, I had to fix what they f-k'ed up.

Close supervision is a pain. I've found that the relationship one builds with the yard manager helps a lot. Unfortunately, the yard manager was NOT assigned to this particular pump kurfluffle.

Your boat, your choice.

Good luck and thanks for the heads up. I think folks in that Chesapeake area have been well served by your post. I agree, Active Captain or its new successor (name escapes me, but they've posted here) would go a long way.

Who knows the name of that new website?
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