Sea Start

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At Sea

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I am thinking of joining Sea Start, the south coast breakdown service. Would appreciate any thoughts on the value of membership and any holes in the cover that existing members may have encountered.

Thanks in advance!
 
I've thankfully only used them once, very prompt and efficient. Notably so as it was a hot weekend day in August when I'd imagine them to be at their busiest.
 
Used them twice. Both times excellent. Quick and helpful. But, like any form of insurance, you really hope the premium is wasted.
 
When our last yacht had a major (unknown) diesel bug problem, they came out to us three times - never a problem. Tried their hardest to get us back underway, including replacing filters etc with no extra charge and towed us to our marina of choice, not just the easiest one for them.

Only slight disappointment was trying to get hold of them on a winter's Sunday morning when I couldn't start the engine on a small motor boat. Don't know what happened, but tried and tried for over an hour with no answer. That was the only hiccup, they are normally extremely responsive and helpful.

Would strongly recommend.
 
I've used them twice and have been very happy with their service. It gives me great peace of mind knowing they are there if I need them.
 
All sounds very positive, although their terms seem to give them a fair bit of discretion over what they will do to help.

Any views on their charges for spares and consumables used when carrying out repairs following a call-out? I imagine they must apply a mark-up but is it a reasonable amount/percentage?
 
At Sea said:
All sounds very positive, although their terms seem to give them a fair bit of discretion over what they will do to help.

Any views on their charges for spares and consumables used when carrying out repairs following a call-out? I imagine they must apply a mark-up but is it a reasonable amount/percentage?
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It's only around £150 a year for a very good service (used them once). Wouldn't worry me if they did put a small mark up on filters etc - not saying they do, I don't know. Just do it and have peace of mind.
 
At Sea said:
All sounds very positive, although their terms seem to give them a fair bit of discretion over what they will do to help.

Any views on their charges for spares and consumables used when carrying out repairs following a call-out? I imagine they must apply a mark-up but is it a reasonable amount/percentage?
Click to expand...

If you are worried about parts then carry filters with you so that they can fit them, I would be grateful of them attending and getting me going again and willing to pay for that to avoid the inconvenience of having to get it sorted and moved at a later date which would inevitably cost a lot more.
 
They've saved my bacon a couple of times for loss of outdrive and loss of steering. It would have been difficult without their assistance.

I would say that they are always going to be capable of towing you or getting you somewhere safe, and are able to fix common problems that can be done at sea or at a marina, but they are not going to be able to sort major issues i.e they dont carry a vodia or have diagnostic tools, but they are breakdown assist, not an engineering firm.
 
Used them once. V8 Mercruiser petrol single-engined boat just stopped.

We were halfway across Christchurch Bay and got the anchor deployed pdq.

It was only then we felt the effect of a F4/5 swell with a reasonably close lee shore.

They were absolutely brilliant, suggested we call the coastguard just to keep them appraised, they got us to call in every half hour.

Seemingly HUGE rib arrived, tried some obvious "tinkering" in horrible engine room conditions but finally decided to tow us to Lymington.

Didn't just leave us there!!

Tried again and there was this VERY large shout re turning the key off.

A difficult to see distributor was arcing and by now the carb was very smelly.

Luckily Dave Crawford Marine was just up the river, got me a new distributor and we were good to go.

So, not just a tow you home service, I highly recommend them.
 
Personally I think it should be a requirement to be a member as I get jarred right off by the number of call outs for the rnli for a flat battery etc pulling some poor bloke away from a family bbq on a Sunday afternoon when for a small cost per year would save this.
We were at babacombe bay and got waved over by a small speed boat - the battery was flat, I towed him to shallow water to safley drop his hook - he then asked me to tow them to exmouth ! I told him to join sea start - 4 hrs later his mate came up from exmouth and towed him back - the cost of that would be more than a years membership!!!
 
kanajobe48 said:
Personally I think it should be a requirement to be a member as I get jarred right off by the number of call outs for the rnli for a flat battery etc pulling some poor bloke away from a family bbq on a Sunday afternoon when for a small cost per year would save this.
We were at babacombe bay and got waved over by a small speed boat - the battery was flat, I towed him to shallow water to safley drop his hook - he then asked me to tow them to exmouth ! I told him to join sea start - 4 hrs later his mate came up from exmouth and towed him back - the cost of that would be more than a years membership!!!
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No good if you are not in their area though.
 
Thing is, if you have twin diesels and you do your own maintenance, carry spares, etc. - you're not going to be calling SeaStart very often, if ever.
Ok, steering failure could wipe you out.
But why is calling out the RNLI a problem when you get really stuck, especially if you donate regularly as an Offshore member or above?

Whether it's the lads in the Orange Boat, SeaStart or some other independent rescue service, it's still someone's lunch/tea/bbq ruined either way.
 
Nick and his guys work very hard to offer an honest service in return for what is a gamble that their fees will pay for everything, and their costs are considerable.

An excellent organisation, although I must fess up that I sailed with Nick in the Navy and drink with at least two of his call out engineers in my local (Whyte Harte Hamble), so perhaps my view is biased. But still a genuine service offered by genuine people. And yes come the Winter they do relax and let their hair down, but they will still come out to you, regardless of the weather, and sometimes idiotic things they get presented.
 
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