What to do when your mechanic isn't working out

[Eluther3]

Had my 400 EC pulled out the water in April. Fast forward to July and the work is not even close to being done. Can't get hold of the mechanic for an update. What are my options?

 

[Little Ducky]

Are you far away from the boat? I'd pay him a visit and see what's up.

What are (were) you having done?

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Unfortunately, you are probably in good company these days. The mechanics have more work that they need and are found juggling jobs that they can complete and the ones they know will be huge time suckers. You just need to track him down and get a straight answer as to his best prognosis and if his answer is not acceptable, pay hime what is fair for his time spent and find someone who is more likely to be able to perform. This is why many of us have taken the time to learn to do most of the work ourselves so as not to have to rely on wishy washy vendors.
Good luck to you getting your boat back intime to enjoy the season.

 

[techmitch]

Had my 400 EC pulled out the water in April. Fast forward to July and the work is not even close to being done. Can't get hold of the mechanic for an update. What are my options?

You should complete your profile with your location as this may help other members that may be in your area to help with recommendations.

 

[b_arrington]

This is why many of us have taken the time to learn to do most of the work ourselves so as not to have to rely on wishy washy vendors.
Good luck to you getting your boat back intime to enjoy the season.

There’s a lot of truth here. I do as much maintenance on my own as possible so that 1)it gets done on my schedule - or done at all , 2) I know the quality of the work, and 3) it saves cost. Not that I can do every possible project, like an engine-out repair.

Example: my generator wasn’t running right when the boat went in - it was shotthbf down from no water flow. I was able to diagnose it and figure out the heat exchanger was clogged up. I was back in business is 2 days for the cost of my time. The marine owner even give me a gallon of Barnacle Buster. I didn’t have to wait for a tech or pay them. Plus I learned a lot about how the generator works for future maintenance.

Not everyone is comfortable doing boat work, it it sure can pay off if you can learn as you go.

 

[FootballFan]

I agree with the flexibility and cost savings that is discussed by doing your own work.

My issue is I prefer to spend my time on the boat relaxing, not doing work. Our boat is remote so I cannot run down to the boat when I have a few hours open. It is a planned trip for a period of time.

That said, for those of us who are using tradesmen for boat activities, for what ever reason. It is critical to take care of the good ones when you find one. Go the extra mile with your trades people in making sure they "stay" in the fold. This has paid off tremendously over the years.

 

[Eluther3]

The boat is about 20 minutes from the house. Been by the shop every day for the last 5 days and have been unable to find him. A couple times I found his assistant, but they were looking for him too

I've been doing a lot of the work myself, but this is beyond my level of capability

bottom paint
transmission work
cutlass bearings
depth finder and transducer

 

[Carpediem44DB]

The boat is about 20 minutes from the house. Been by the shop every day for the last 5 days and have been unable to find him. A couple times I found his assistant, but they were looking for him too

I've been doing a lot of the work myself, but this is beyond my level of capability

bottom paint
transmission work
cutlass bearings
depth finder and transducer

Our local yard was run by a guy that was very hard to pin down as well. He never answered the phone and even if you had an appointment and he did not show he would just shrug his shoulders and say something came up. A couple of years ago he sold the yard to a local ex yacht club commodore, he hired a yard manager away from a big yard in the bay area and the yard's reputation changed almost over night.
Sorry you are having this experience. Unless there is another yard conveniently located that can offer better performance the best you can do is hope for is he gets the job done soon and then move on.
Cheers

 

[mrsrobinson]

My issue is I prefer to spend my time on the boat relaxing, not doing work. Our boat is remote so I cannot run down to the boat when I have a few hours open. It is a planned trip for a period of time.

That said, for those of us who are using tradesmen for boat activities, for what ever reason. It is critical to take care of the good ones when you find one. Go the extra mile with your trades people in making sure they "stay" in the fold. This has paid off tremendously over the years.

THIS, my time on the boat is important to me, all things equal I'll pay the mechanic.

I was ghosted by two diesel mechanics in Maryland before bringing the boat home to Virginia. The boat was three and a half hours away then so I had to rely on them. I decided to bring the boat home anyway without the service done.

Brought the boat closer to home, now it's about 75 to 90 minutes away depending on traffic. Unfortunately there are no mobile diesel mechanics in the area so I am learning, from watching youtube, reading articles, and this amazing website, how to do things myself. I am fortunate my girlfriend's brother-in-law used to be a diesel mechanic as well and has helped me. I spent about 12 hours working on the boat this past weekend, I have the cuts bruises and aches and pains prove it. I did so so that we could use the boat this weekend for a planned trip.

It feels good that I was able to do this work myself, but I don't want to do it again.

I did find a diesel mechanic in Delaware who's driving down next week to take care of a few things for me.

And yes, when you find one you like, pay their bill immediately, do not dispute it or try to nickel and dime them. I don't know how these guys do it on the hot days, I was real close to dehydration and heat exhaustion this weekend.

 

[mwph]

I believe it takes a special, highly dedicated type of guy to work on boats in any capacity. It seems to me, in my limited experience, that most guys "fall into" the job of boat mechanic. They don't love it. It's just a job. If it doesn't work out they will move down the road & start replacing parts on garden tractors.

In my case (location) upholstery or canvas work is out of the question. The finished product(s) I see leaves me thinking that my stuff isn't so bad after all. As for mechanical issues, I was able to keep up with only minor repairs myself. The need for any real maintenance or repair work leaves you at the mercy of your marina's onsite shop which in my experiences delivers multiple nightmares before results.

I believe that geography plays a huge role. Florida and the northeast areas may offer lots of options, but there are lots of boats to be serviced too. In some other areas of the country, we just don't have the right guys in place to have a successful marine business.

Although we as boat owners are more than willing to pay the man, the man can only work so much before he has to sleep. So that onboard charger is going to take 5 weeks instead of 3 hours.

 

[mrsrobinson]

I've had the pleasure of having two great on-site service shops at Marina's in my boating history. Not only did they do excellent work, and always got it right and always diagnosed the problem first time, they got to my boat quickly. I tell everyone this: pay the mechanic as soon as you get the invoice, don't haggle, don't negotiate, don't bicker, don't complain, don't nitpick the price. I have found that always gets me on the top of the list and gets me what I hope is better service.

Knowing they have a long list of customers, and knowing how difficult working in an engine compartment can be, I take care of them.

 

[Gofirstclass]

IKnowing they have a long list of customers, and knowing how difficult working in an engine compartment can be, I take care of them.

When you find a good mechanic/shop taking care of them should be your top priority. I had a great shop I worked with. They would make house calls to come to Beachcomber because their marina/dock was really designed for smaller boats.

To take care of them about once a month I took them a full meal for lunch, brought them cold drinks on hot days, etc., dined with the owner and his wife (I bought) and just let them know I truly appreciated how they took care of me and my boat.

 

[dwna1a]

When you find a good mechanic/shop taking care of them should be your top priority. I had a great shop I worked with. They would make house calls to come to Beachcomber because their marina/dock was really designed for smaller boats.

To take care of them about once a month I took them a full meal for lunch, brought them cold drinks on hot days, etc., dined with the owner and his wife (I bought) and just let them know I truly appreciated how they took care of me and my boat.

I was reading this with a smile. My shop guys are always welcome to cold drinks on the boat. I even power wash their homes for free on my bigger projects. 9 times out of 10 my pullout is free, labor is greatly reduced. I make damn sure they get a bottle and a tip each Christmas.

Once you find a crew you like take damn good care of them