Boatyard Reccomendations

[chinita]

I would not suggest Morgan's at Brightlingsea. They took nearly 4 weeks to tell me they couldn't do the job on my boat!

Amen to that and another + 1 for Kings.

 

[chinita]

How big is the engine bay in a She 31

Ya little tinker!

 

[Burnham Bob]

regardless of who does it, its worth getting a fixed quote. you'd be amazed at what crops up that wasn't expected 'so we had to charge extra..........'

 

[tugger]

regardless of who does it, its worth getting a fixed quote. you'd be amazed at what crops up that wasn't expected 'so we had to charge extra..........'

The problem there is that if you do have any genuinely unforeseen problems that arise that are un budgeted and affect the cost substantially, the yard are going to be un willing or indeed unable to deal with them without being able to pass on the costs... not wholly unreasonable really. Leaving you with a boat on the hard without an engine that's going nowhere.

A bit like the building world, but without the boats and engines

 

[Sniper]

I can't let the opportunity pass for another positive vote for Kings at Pin Mill

 

[pvb]

regardless of who does it, its worth getting a fixed quote. you'd be amazed at what crops up that wasn't expected 'so we had to charge extra..........'

I'm not convinced that's a truly cost-effective route. If you do insist on a fixed price, the boatyard is going to have to include a considerable contingency amount to cover the odds and ends which inevitably crop up when working on older boats. The result could well be a higher price than if you'd just accepted a basic quote and negotiated extra costs if and when they arose.

 

[Koeketiene]

The problem there is that if you do have any genuinely unforeseen problems that arise that are un budgeted and affect the cost substantially, the yard are going to be un willing or indeed unable to deal with them without being able to pass on the costs... not wholly unreasonable really. Leaving you with a boat on the hard without an engine that's going nowhere.

That's why I leave the boat with the yard for a week or so whilst they are preparing their quote.
This gives them ample time to look over the boat and find the 'unforeseen problems'.
I also take them step-by-step (on the boat) through exactly what needs doing and how I want it done.

Lesson learned the hard way.
It can be a time consuming process of negotiating/arguing and revising but a quote should be a quote, not an estimate.
In the end, I expect to pay what it said on the quote, and not a penny more.

 

[Independence]

How big is the engine bay in a She 31

'Engine bay' sounds very grand.......big enough for Gerald to get to......so quite big I guess

 

[Rosie1963]

I would certainly NOT recommend Gerald. He installed a shaft gland on my yacht that failed and almost sank her - loose hose clips and wrong size hose. . He has also "serviced" my engine where the fluid levels where well UNDER the minimum recommended level required by the dip stick. Lastly, my gearbox is worse than it ever was after an "alleged" complete bearing change.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Try Felixstowe Ferry Boatyard on the Deben, speak to Andrew.

 

[sailorman]

This is a 2yr old thread

 

[Lucky Duck]

Indeed, the boat in question is now under new ownership down on lake Solent

SYH did an excellent job of lifting the engine out and back in while the boat was in the water. However the overall time taken to get the issue sorted was truly painful