Our boat mechanic stole the joy of owning our Sea Ray 340...!

[almostenuff]

Where do you keep her? I have an amazing mobile mechanic in the Cape Coral area

 

[Hifirush]

scofflaw, I read his post a couple of times. Running or not, I still think the 340 is a great boat and if he lets this get the better of him he'll probably never be able to enjoy it.

The cure? Find a new mechanic, get the boat fixed then go have fun. It ain't the end of the world. This too shall pass and how he reacts to it will determine how long it takes him to really enjoy the boat.

Very well said. Amen

Matt

 

[SWF340]

almostenuff thank you very much for the offer. I'm just south of Bonita Springs, not too far from the Cape. I had my boat bottom painted and detailed up there by a great guy. I think overall you have a better selection where you are. So far, including today's news and updates, my new guy is nails!!!

Btw, I like your style. I have a Proline 25 WA slipped next to my 340. Fish goo isn't welcome in the SeaRay cockpit, but the Proline is well-equipped for just such an occasion.

 

[searsb]

Where do you keep her? I have an amazing mobile mechanic in the Cape Coral area

Care to share? Looking for a good one!

 

[AFD]

i have been shaking my head back and forth about owning our boat. wife and i started a small rebuild of the front deck of our house and it has turned into a $20,000 remodel of the addition on our house we were not expecting because i have been chasing poor craftsmanship and rot around the NEWER part of our house. i am not one of those people that can scratch off that kind of money without consicuence to something else. back in July we lost our port motor to a bad gasket or manifold and have been furious with all the mechanics in our area who toss out numbers without so much as typing on a keyboard or looking in a book and make us wait 2+ weeks to schedule a "look" at our boat and they all want deposits now for the winter work.

we decided to hold off for winter and just use the boat as a floating condo the remainder of this year...

fast forward a few months
i call to take the boat out of the water and transport home. the guys i use ask if we need any service done. i told him the story and he said he would call me right back.
$5500 total for a new engine installed (actually its CPO) with manifolds. sounds crazy right? nope. he makes a few phone calls and calls me back with customer phone numbers who i can call to ask about their service. turns out a couple are dock mates. i call the 2 i know from my marina and they rave about their work. i just never thought to call them because they were slightly further away from our boat but give great prices on hauling. turns out 3 of the bigger charter firms near me use them exclusively for service too. if i had known that price i would have done it in july.
your boat should be a stress release not increase. i found the service i am looking for and it happens to be less expensive too. i am going into the winter without worry now (about the boat at least) and it has made all the difference.

good luck and dont let one person hold you down. sorry about my spelling. new tablet and fat tired thumbs.

 

[AMFM3]

scofflaw, I read his post a couple of times. Running or not, I still think the 340 is a great boat and if he lets this get the better of him he'll probably never be able to enjoy it.

The cure? Find a new mechanic, get the boat fixed then go have fun. It ain't the end of the world. This too shall pass and how he reacts to it will determine how long it takes him to really enjoy the boat.

I really agree with GFC. Letting a mechanic lead you to a decision to sell is just plain wrong. I realize absenteeism is part of the issue for you, but surely with the advice of fellow CSR members in that area you can find one who will put your 340 back on plain.

Also, my theory has always been that no money is put forward until the job is done. There is no way a mechanic or marina is getting a penny from me until the services are rendered. And then if the work isn't done on delivery date promised, then the bill is paid on the same basis.

I think sometimes we forget we're in control, not the other way around. I've been fortunate to have had great service people the whole time I've owned boats. The exception really was with the shrink wrap people last year who waited a month to wrap AMFM. They waited a month for their money.

Good luck with whatever your result is from this. But please don't give up. Jim is right, most service technicians are good people.

Mark

 

[SWF340]

Referring back to my original and then third post, I'm happy to say that my new mechanic has done an outstanding job. What I didn't include in the original post is following the discussion between me and my wife, we told the boat broker that we weren't ready to sell.

Some things to consider that made our journey difficult...being assured the boat was ready only to find out differently upon arrival from the airport... understand we only stay for several days, arriving on Friday. It's not the money...not paying the guy wouldn't have satisfied me. I want my boat to run. Plain, simple. I want the boat to run when I get there. When it doesn't, I'm unhappy. We go down to enjoy the boat. That's why we go. When the boat doesn't run, the joy of running the boat is gone. Plain, simple, easy to comprehend.

To that point, I take exception to what I believe is a very naive statement that no one can steal another's joy. Example....let's say a man loves to take walks with his wife. Absolutely loves nice long walks in the park, on the beach. Really enjoys the time together, the exercise, all of it. He looks forward to it every day. One day while walking in his favorite park a thug approaches him, demands his wallet, and shoots him and his wife before leaving. The bullet lodges in his spinal column, he lives, but his wife does not.

After surgery, he can still walk...but every step is excruciatingly painful. Every single step. So much pain in fact that he can no longer bare taking his walks because besides the excruciating pain walking reminds him of the brutal murder of his wife. Now, if someone can convince me that the joy of walking wasn't stolen from this man by the thug, then I'll stand corrected. Likewise, I'd like see the reaction of that man when someone tells him that no one can steal his joy.

I know this is a fairly extreme scenario...but to preach that no one can steal another's joy is naive. Plain, simple.

 

[Gofirstclass]

SWF, your example was a tad bit extreme and in that situation I can understand your reluctance to agree with my statement. When I wrote it, I was thinking of the more mundane, everyday situations that we encounter.

That's not to say that yours is an everyday situation or that it's mundane, but I hope you get my point.

I'm glad you decided to keep the boat. I suspect your confidence level in it is much higher and I also suspect your level of enjoyment with the boat will be higher.

 

[Hifirush]

Referring back to my original and then third post, I'm happy to say that my new mechanic has done an outstanding job. What I didn't include in the original post is following the discussion between me and my wife, we told the boat broker that we weren't ready to sell.

Some things to consider that made our journey difficult...being assured the boat was ready only to find out differently upon arrival from the airport... understand we only stay for several days, arriving on Friday. It's not the money...not paying the guy wouldn't have satisfied me. I want my boat to run. Plain, simple. I want the boat to run when I get there. When it doesn't, I'm unhappy. We go down to enjoy the boat. That's why we go. When the boat doesn't run, the joy of running the boat is gone. Plain, simple, easy to comprehend.

To that point, I take exception to what I believe is a very naive statement that no one can steal another's joy. Example....let's say a man loves to take walks with his wife. Absolutely loves nice long walks in the park, on the beach. Really enjoys the time together, the exercise, all of it. He looks forward to it every day. One day while walking in his favorite park a thug approaches him, demands his wallet, and shoots him and his wife before leaving. The bullet lodges in his spinal column, he lives, but his wife does not.

After surgery, he can still walk...but every step is excruciatingly painful. Every single step. So much pain in fact that he can no longer bare taking his walks because besides the excruciating pain walking reminds him of the brutal murder of his wife. Now, if someone can convince me that the joy of walking wasn't stolen from this man by the thug, then I'll stand corrected. Likewise, I'd like see the reaction of that man when someone tells him that no one can steal his joy.

I know this is a fairly extreme scenario...but to preach that no one can steal another's joy is naive. Plain, simple.

He wasn’t preaching, and neither am I. People make mistakes and mechanics fail, plain, simple, easy to understand. Boats break, plain, simple, easy to understand. Your response has really struck a nerve with me. You come off as an angry, whoa is me, glass is half full kind of person.

To say that it is naive for someone to preach that no one can take your joy away, and then use an example like you did, makes me wonder about you. GFC and others are simply trying to help you past an obviously disappointing and frustrating time with your boat.

While I can’t speak for GFC or anyone else who may have spoken “against you”, I am NOT going to empower you, or agree with you, in having joy in life taken away from you. YOU ARE IN CONTROL of that. Yes its frustrating. Yes it is enough to make you angry. But if you feel that way maybe long distance boaing isn’t for you.

It is insulting to call someone naive for simply trying to help you see past a difficult time. Believe it or not, more than likely most of us have had weekends, days, even months taken away from us from our boats, and we are frustrated too. I for one have, even though the boat is relativily new to me, I’ve had some boneheaded things done to it and it has failed. But I still had good times on it, saving 2, yes 2 Holidays aboard (and several other weekends), because I wanted to. That is not fact or something I read, it is how I CHOOSE to live my life, you should try it. Stop calling out those who are trying to empithize with you and helping you past it, they are called friends.

 

[ziekman@cox.net]

In the end, safe to say all poster's in this thread can agree on this much: we all place a high degree of importance to the time with our boats?

 

[SWF340]

Your response has really struck a nerve with me. You come off as an angry, whoa is me, glass is half full kind of person.

As your friend, I'd like to point out that it's "woe is me". Also, a glass half full is a positive thing. You probably meant to say glass half empty.

To say that it is naive for someone to preach that no one can take your joy away, and then use an example like you did, makes me wonder about you.

Please, don't bother.

GFC and others are simply trying to help you past an obviously disappointing and frustrating time with your boat.

I didn't ask for sympathy or advice.

While I can’t speak for GFC or anyone else who may have spoken “against you”...

That would be because you are the only one who has made disparaging remarks.

I am NOT going to empower you, or agree with you, in having joy in life taken away from you.

Let's agree to disagree.

.... maybe long distance boaing isn’t for you.

Maybe!

It is insulting to call someone naive...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I said the statement is naive, not the person.

...for simply trying to help you see past a difficult time. Believe it or not, more than likely most of us have had weekends, days, even months taken away from us from our boats, and we are frustrated too. I for one have, even though the boat is relativily new to me, I’ve had some boneheaded things done to it and it has failed. But I still had good times on it, saving 2, yes 2 Holidays aboard (and several other weekends), because I wanted to. That is not fact or something I read, it is how I CHOOSE to live my life, you should try it. Stop calling out those who are trying to empithize with you and helping you past it, they are called friends.

Again, I didn't ask for anyone's help. I simply shared my story. Now you are trying to tell me how to live. Lol...I don't think that's going to work. I can say this... if over the course of ten months you and your wife flew to Florida 5 times to spend time on your boat and each time your plans were thwarted by an unreliable mechanic...you might sing a different tune. Maybe not, maybe you're a glutton for punishment. Me, not so much, although the length of time I endured the previous mechanic might suggest otherwise.

The applicable proverb is, "don't criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes."

 

[Hifirush]

My new friend, I don't have to walk in your shoes to have a comment. I didn't say you were asking for help, but you did come on an open forum, with a title stating you had joy stolen.

Myself and a few others simply are trying to put it in perspective, give you some different thoughts. We are not preaching. But since you did post, we have a right to express ourselves about how we'd handle it and encourage you to do the same.

I am not wishing you any ill will. I fact I'd love to see you on your boat, but circumstances haven't allowed you to do that, and THAT is what WE have been addressing. I don't want you to have bad feelings about your boat. But since there is nothing to be done, then I and others are trying to "share our thoughts" with you.

As for my misprints and typos, thank you. As for disparaging, you know very well what you were saying to gfc, it was insulting and condescending. He was sharing his thoughts too.

You can say what you will about me. I'm not a gluten for any punishment, but I would never have relied on a mechanic as long as you.

Proverb for you think about, "first time shame on you, second time shame on me"

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bucit]

Originally Posted by Hifirush
Your response has really struck a nerve with me. You come off as an angry, whoa is me, glass is half full kind of person.
As your friend, I'd like to point out that it's "woe is me". Also, a glass half full is a positive thing. You probably meant to say glass half empty.

Now that's funny stuff. HIFI tried to bash this guy and literally stuck his foot in his ass, not once but twice! Either way, he's had a bad experience, long distance no less and he was just stating how he feels. Why is that a bad thing? People on here do it all the time don't they? The advice of getting a new, trust worthy mechanic was spot on. Sounds like the outcome is positive and he's keeping his SR.

 

[Westie]

Well in reality on earth there is no such thing as a glass that is half full unless it is in a vacuum.
It is totally full, half of it is water and the other half is air.

 

[Hifirush]

Bucit, you may be right, I may have made an ass of myself in some Freudian way. However, if you look at the whole thread, I'm really not bashing him, quite the opposite.

You're right people share bad experiences here all the time. I get that. By that same token, people give their thoughts and advice. Mine was not to let a mechanic ruin the joy of your boating experience, and there were others that felt the same way.

Where things went south is whe OP said "but to preach no one can steal another's joy is naive. Plain, simple" was rude at the least.

GFC wasn't preaching, he too was sharing, as was I and a couple others.

For the OP to be angry and call out someone else's comment is not what the spirit of any forum is.

While I may not like all he and now you have said to me, you have a right, frankly it is funny (my goofs) but it over looks what we are saying.

He had a raw deal, no doubt about that, but he had a bad mechanic and kept hoping for a different outcome that never came.

His comparison of an illegal robbery shooting and resultant death is criminal (and fictional) and no one would disagree with him. Including me, but that is not apples to oranges.

Frank gave excellent advice, a new mechanic and maybe a full service marina, I agreed with that.

What I am saying, is we all have to keep it all in perspective and never let someone else make you loose your love of your boat.

Surely you can see that?!

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scoflaw]

if the OP perceives that his joy was stolen then who are you to convince him otherwise. Roll with it. His boat his life. Thee end

 

[Hifirush]

if the OP perceives that his joy was stolen then who are you to convince him otherwise. Roll with it. His boat his life. Thee end

Agreed, done

Matt

 

[islandhopper00]

Hey Matt, we do have something in common! When I start digging, I can't stop either! For what it's worth, I am laughing my butt off.....with you! I understand your point, you just ain't getting it across so well.

SWF340, I feel your pain, my mechanics have stolen my joy this year also. I don't understand how they can sleep at night. I couldn't take money for the work they have done for me, and the quality has been terrible. Mostly, and the worse part is the straight up lieing to my face.
Glad you have it worked out and are keeping the boat. Enjoy.

 

[Whit-Ness]

Wow, I was enjoying this thread about a bad mechanic experience and it went from boat talk to an example of a husband and wife being shot? Anyway, bad boat mechanics can suck the life out of you. i'm a walking example. It was very hard to deal with (at that time), but I did not lose my love for boating. I think it only made it stronger and more aware of who I allow to work on my boat. Good luck