Carver Owners Forum

Marina Stories

No kidding there we were...

We had a 1988 Catalina C 25 sailboat that we kept at marina in a land locked 5,000 acre lake. The wife and I would stay and we'd have 3 kids and Butch the Cockapoo aboard for the weekend. I bought a 5 hp Briggs and Stratton air cooled outboard which lasted 3 seasons. She started right up and did things that 5 hp outboards are supposed to do, until she started just falling apart. So, I pulled the 1977 Johnson 15 hp outboard out of the shed. I used to call that 15 hp, old unreliable" for the many times, it would just die on me or wouldn't start. I installed the electic start on it this time, and she worked like a champ. 15 horsepower was fine in the C25, I could tear around the lake pretty good with it. Then it needed some service work. The shop there at the marina sent their guy and his boat with a hoist to service it.

After he took it off my boat and got it on his, his assistant motored away, and the mechanic, Marty was his name, began walking back to the marina office and as he went by another boat owner, who rented a slip there a few years longer than us, he went, "cha-ching!" My knees may be bad, but my hearing is pretty good.

That wasn't the only issue there, but when we pulled the boat out for the season, we told them we weren't getting winter storage or renting next year. The wife went by Marty and said "cha-ching!" as we left.

They lost their lease a couple years ago.

Karma

Hope he was a better mechanic than he was a marina ambassador. His smarts bit him in the rear. As Red used to say...DA! er

A tech or marina will never hit their full potential with that attitude. In this type of business, showing you really care about the customer's season and boating experience will always be worth more to you in the long run than you would ever make on any one job. Some guys just always have it backwards.

Yep heard that before....all too common, too bad really.... Karma ......

I still get emails from my previous marina asking for updated insurance info, lol.
My mechanic though, is great. He's mobile. doesn't charge me for travel even though he lives an hour away. He busts his butt to get my projects done before planned trips (I always share my schedule with him). He doesn't cobble things together, he always recommends the best possible parts, but I trust him because:

A. half the time he will have me buy the parts so he doesn't mark them up, or he will get a discount on parts for me
B. he always starts with less expensive solutions "just in case" before needlessly buying parts we dont need for a repair.

He's incredibly busy. has far more work than he needs and I believe this is why. He also really gets to know his customers boats intimately and remembers everything he's done on the boat for years so he also knows how to retrace his steps.

And do you pay him for those extra cost of travel and/or pay a higher hourly fee because he does not mark up the parts you need?

All too often - not saying that he or you are in this relation - these are the guys who are too good for this world and are taken advantage of. After years of working for little money and taking the extra effort, they end up without a decent income or healthy body left to enjoy their later years.

Again, not an accusation to you in this thread intended. The topic just brought it up in my mind that we sometimes take help and support for granted and forget the bigger picture.

I had a man like that work on my car recently and when he presented the bill I recalculated it using the dealer's hourly fee (double). Because he is worth that fee and they are not. He's too kind to charge what he is worth, motivated by getting the job done succesfully and a happy customer who can go with his or her plans. Many forget to value against having it solved elsewhere. Doesn't make me a saint, did not see it happen many times with jobs done for me but when I did see it, I'm happy I did the right thing.

Phrancus wrote:Source of the post And do you pay him for those extra cost of travel and/or pay a higher hourly fee because he does not mark up the parts you need?

All too often - not saying that he or you are in this relation - these are the guys who are too good for this world and are taken advantage of. After years of working for little money and taking the extra effort, they end up without a decent income or healthy body left to enjoy their later years.

Again, not an accusation to you in this thread intended. The topic just brought it up in my mind that we sometimes take help and support for granted and forget the bigger picture.

I had a man like that work on my car recently and when he presented the bill I recalculated it using the dealer's hourly fee (double). Because he is worth that fee and they are not. He's too kind to charge what he is worth, motivated by getting the job done succesfully and a happy customer who can go with his or her plans. Many forget to value against having it solved elsewhere. Doesn't make me a saint, did not see it happen many times with jobs done for me but when I did see it, I'm happy I did the right thing.

Since he is mobile I always try to work my schedule around so that I can meet him at the boat and help him with absolutely everything. including docking if a cruise is required etc. he's capable of handling it all alone but I try to help him wherever I can. I basically work as his assistant lol. which is fantastic OJT! last project he and I did, I spent 3 hours prepping all the new metal parts that were going in for the exhaust and cooling job so all he had to do was mount it up and work the hoses. Then followed him the hour out to his house to buy a new shore power cord off him cause he had extra and mine was shot. He starts to calculate out the hourly rate to tell me what he's going to charge and I say you don't have to rush it right now and figure it out on the fly. count it out, send me the invoice and I'll pay you the very second it hits my inbox. I try to always be an instant payer with him so he knows I'm always good for the project.

oh I did give him front row / suite seats to a baseball game last month for him, his wife and kids. I forgot about that lol. that was sorta a combo "thank you" and "hey I see you as a friend now, enjoy this gift".

I feel like he really appreciates the extra appreciation I give him as a customer (and countless referrals) because when he's booked up he always finds a slot to save my bacon lol.