People Recommendations

[davidjwave]

Hello,

I'm after some people recommendations again

I have had the good fellows at DB Marine look after my engine/s and have some guys taking care of my boating electrics, but now I'm looking for someone that can do all the other 'bits' from replacing strakes to fitting new bilge pumps and I guess some general boat maintence.

I'm not quite yet ready to try and do this myself! I'm based in Caversham so any one know of I guess it's a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to boat work....

Recommendations appreciated!

 

[Gavin E]

I once asked the same question and was told ‘do it yourself’. And it was great advice.

You may be surprised just how much you can do for yourself - if you’re willing to take your time.

I’ve found that a lot of stuff on the boat sounds scary, but when you actually look into things and see what they involve you will often find jobs to be a lot simpler than imagined… Having said that, you will also often find that although the job may well be simple in itself, it will usually take about three times longer than you expect and you need to transform yourself into a contortionist dwarf just to reach it…

You will learn a hell of a lot about your boat too, and probably find two extra jobs for every one you complete - so your ‘to do’ list only ever gets longer.

We found that other boat owners in the marina are pretty chatty, and usually you can find someone that’s already done the job in question and can guide you on where to get the bits for the job and possible pitfalls - and the folk on this place are always willing to pitch in with advice too.

 

[Chris_d]

I always do it myself, unless you have money to burn and time to wait its by far the best option.
Not a very helpful statement I know but if your not technically minded and practical a boat is not the best thing to buy.
If you do find one of those unicorn boat engineers who will do anything, I can guarantee they will never answer the phone or respond to emails and you will have to beg them to take your money

 

[Portland Billy]

I have approached three 'professional' repairers to fix a small ding on my bathing platform. Each quoted for the job and said it would be done ' next week' . Never heard another thing!
Will do it myself when Spring arrives.

 

[davidjwave]

Thanks all. I'm quite happy to have a tinker about for sure, but some of the more technical things I'm not quite ready to start on myself!

Any unicorns out there?

 

[Gavin E]

It can be tough to find people out there for some things. We wanted the sofa reupholstered - I ended up buying an industrial sewing machine and teaching myself how to sew because I like a challenge.

But learning new skills is always worthwhile. Have since created some new deck cushions, made a few leatherette boat luggage bags, a new dinghy cover, new windscreen covers, new curtains - and I’m currently working on making a flybridge enclosure so we can sit up top without getting soaked like we did last year….

You said in your first post you wanted someone to do jobs like fitting new bilge pumps. I’d start there if I were you - sounds scary and was the sort of thing I thought I’d need to pay somebody else to do, but it was one of the first things I did when we bought our first (and only) boat. You might find it’s just a case of connecting a couple of 12v wires and squeezing a little sealant out of a mastic gun - that’s pretty much what I found on our boat.

Give it a go while you keep unicorn hunting….

 

[Scapegoat]

Try chatting with some of the boatyards that are local to you - especially those who run and maintain hire fleets. Marina staff can also be helpful for recommendations