The folks at Back Creek and Drum Point Marine treated us very well during our 15 month stay. Back Creek is a “rustic” boatyard that allows you to work on the boat yourself or have them do the work. We chose both.

From the time the boat was picked up until it was launched we were treated with fairness and professionalism. The yard “techs”, Will and David, were friendly and helpful. Billy, our painter, did an awesome job painting the accent strips and transom. Gary (Drum Point Marine) helped as much as possible to solve our refrigeration problems. Meredith and Fred managed our stay and were always available for help.

Thanks to everyone. We have received lots of complements on the paint job!

I was down on Lewmar for a while but they are back on my recommended list.

Lewmar Ocean 1 Windlass

This is a Lewmar Ocean 1 windlass. It’s probably at least 12 or more years old. The motor has rusted considerably and I figured I might be able to clean it up and repaint it. When it was taken apart the casing literally fell to pieces. Inside it was full of caked “grease”, salt and who knows what else. It was a mess and everything broke when touched. No rebuilding here. Evidently the gearbox that was attached had blown a seal and the oil had leaked into the motor. I have no clue why it was still working but now the whole thing had to be replaced.

Throw a boat buck out there and “voila” here’s a new motor and gearbox assembly ready to be installed.

When trying to replace the motor on the windlass I found some online at Pyacht and one other place. Price was about $1300 or so. I wasn’t sure about the part number so I called Lewmar. I got through right away and actually talked to people who knew their product line. I asked where I should buy it and they actually warned me not to buy from Pyacht and recommended Crowley’s. I told them there was no way I would order from Crowley’s again so they recommended Defender.

I have to say that this experience with Lewmar was excellent.

I’ve bought a lot of stuff from Defender and they are first rate. They treated me professionally and I got the windlass motor and gearbox for $850! It showed up in less than a week. They told me that even if I don’t see it in the catalog to call them. They’ll find it and get me a good price.

Lewmar Racing Footblocks

The delrin ball bearings had literally dissolved in the sunlight. I needed to replace them. The Lewmar rep said that it was impossible. There was no way they would erode the way I described. I contacted Crowley’s in Chicago for replacements. They were backordered and I waited. I got tired of waiting, so measured the balls from the underside and drove over to Harken and picked up what I needed. Three months after ordering the balls from Crowley’s arrived at about four times the price I had paid at Harken.

Just want to let everyone to know that our Radio Labs RV antenna has died for good. We have had issues with it or the software since purchasing it about a year and a half ago. It was always something we were doing wrong since Radio Labs never acknowledged any fault what so ever. Their customer service is a joke. Stay away from them!

5/21/2009
Just an update. We have met quite a few cruisers that have had the same experience with Radio Labs. BEWARE!!!

Having been in a sales oriented business most of my life I’ve been amazed at how far customer service can go to make a customer not only very happy but a spokesman for your business.  Having had such bad experiences with canvas people made this experience all the better.

December 2007

We had stopped in Daytona Beach for a 2 day visit with friends.  I awoke one morning to see a couple of guys installing canvas on a yacht across the dock.  I asked them if they could give me an estimate on a bimini.  No problem and they were over as soon as they finished what they were doing.  I explained what I wanted so they measured and prepared an estimate right then.  It seemed fair (compared to what I had been getting) and they explained that if I made a decision real soon they could get it done in a week and half if I extended my stay. I told them I wanted to check around a bit and see what their customers had to say.  No problem, and they pointed out some jobs they had done.  I checked with these folks and they gave rave reviews.  Yes, they were more expensive but they delivered on time and as promised.

I gave the go ahead.  As promised, the job was installed ahead of schedule. The craftsmanship was excellent and it has held up well in the last six months. 

August 2010

Bimini is now almost three years old and is still holding up well. The canvas has faded but that is to be expected. We have washed it thoroughly and “Scotchgarded” it. We occasionally lube the zippers.

We sent our unit back to Marvin Nye for repairs. Initially communication was fairly good but all that has stopped. He said he was going to replace the unit but now I can’t get in touch with him by phone or email.

It is a shame that our relationship turned sour as I still feel that EZ Kold has the potential of manufacturing a good unit but I can’t tolerate a lack of communication.

August 2007

After a thorough analysis of a lot of different systems, we chose EZ Kold.  Very affordable and great people to work with.  The units are well built and we have had no problems with the unit itself.

Although we have 4″ of insulation all around, the placement of the box itself is not conducive to cooling.  Wedged between the hull, engine room and the stove, it is hard to keep the freezer side cold enough to really freeze anything other than on the very bottom.  We now use the refrigerator side for perishables and the freezer side for drinks and highly perishable items that don’t require freezing.  This scheme works great.

January 2009

An Engel MT27 was added as a freezer.  Energy efficient and compact, we use it to keep meat, make ice and even keep ice cream on occasion.  We have installed it where the head use to be in the aft cabin.  Atlanta Solar (use Engel link above) is the best price we found and has great service.

August 2010

The EZ Kold is beginning to wear out after three years. We have been having some problems with the unit freezing over and the water cooling is getting kind of “iffy”. Marvin, the guy who owns the place, has been very helpful in troubling shooting the system. I will remove the unit from the boat and check things out.

The Engel is still going great.

Late September 2011

The refrigeration unit is back at EZ Kold and has been for the last month. The condenser had a pin hole in the refrigerant line. After some research on the Internet I have learned some distrurbing news that this isn’t a freak occurrence.

Makes me very leery of using the water cooling option.

August 2007

We installed a Garmin 3206 chartplotter with GPS and radar.  Radar unit is the GMR18.  Installation was very easy and setup was even easier. Very intuitive and easy to use while underway.  I set up a buss bar to handle the NMEA interface.

While underway in Lake Huron the chartplotter froze up.  We turned around and went back to our anchorage since it seized in heavy fog.  Garmin customer service was relatively easy to get a hold of but could offer no real help.  It’s either working or broken.  No fixes available.  Send it back and they will evaluate and replace if under warranty.  Sounds ok but can take weeks that most cruisers don’t have.  They consented to send one out immediately if I purchased it from them right then.  They would refund as soon as they received mine and evaluated it.  I managed to get them to move me up to priority status.  I sent the defective unit out Priority Mail and traveled several days further before receiving a replacement.  The replacement had no maps installed.  After another week they managed to get me a new unit and finally refunded my money from the purchase of the second unit.

My advice is to bite the bullet and buy from West Marine and get the replacement insurance.  That way if it breaks, WM will replace on the spot.

Our Garmin GPS76 handheld continues to work like clockwork after five years of use.

May 2008

No other issues have been experienced other than a brief power outage as a result of a loose cable. Still learning radar capabilities.

August 2010

Still going strong. Added an Explorer Chart chip for the Bahamas. Wouldn’t show up on the plotter. Finally figured it out. Turn off the internal source and turn on the external source. Common sense but it is nowhere in the manual. The Explorer Charts are awesome and a must have for Bahama bound cruisers.

August 2007

Wherever you go, boaters can be overheard complaining about customer service in regards to their toys. Can’t get anyone on the phone and when they do the techies have no idea what’s going on. Well if you want a switch, try the Navico West companies of Brooks and Gatehouse and Simrad.

First off, you get a real person answering the phone! Then when you get the techs on the phone, they are helpful? If they don’t know the answer the switch you to someone who does. All this without an hours wait listening to elevator music. Very helpful people and I can’t recommend them enough.

May 2008

No complaints.  Everything has worked fine with no glitches.  It would be nice to have the depth only display have the nice BIG digits that the speed display has.  Added the wind transducer to the masthead while in Marathon.  Nice to know how hard the wind is actually blowing.  Direction was a little hard to get used to as it’s relative to boat position only.

The autopilot is phenomenal.  Not a bit of trouble holding its heading no matter what kind of seas.  It has become my best friend.

May 2009

Well enough of the good comments about our B&G and Simrad products.

Since being acquired by Navico customer service is slipping. Now expect long waits on hold. I was on hold for an hour while in the Bahamas. I was lucky it was at 15¢ a minute instead of $2.99 a minute. Once you’ve made contact they are still helpful and located in the States.

The interface unit for the speed and depth (H1000) went out for the second time. This time in the Bahamas. A new unit was received promptly but what a hassle. The sea temperature is also not functioning.

I have been informed that the H1000 series instruments were obsolete when I bought them (news to me) and customer support will soon be unavailable. No customer support for units still in warranty? Unbelievable!

The autopilot (Simrad AP26 with AC10 computer and hydraulic drive) has now taken to wandering aimlessly. The compass does not stay in sync with the ship’s compass and as a result will sometimes lock into an unwanted heading. They are working on this.

August 2010

The fix on the depth is still working. I think they sold me a returned item originally. The cable had been trimmed. The instructions say not to trim the cable but it was real short. The new one is the same length as the speed.

The issue with the display size was a dumb ass moment on my part. All fixed. The autopilot issue was also my mistake. I had changed the bilge pump located near the flux gate compass. Apparently the magnets were bigger and affected the compass. Moved the pump and the pilot works fine.

April 2007

As if I hadn’t learned my lesson with Sailcovers and More, I once again entered the realm of mailorder. This time it was a dodger for the 40 that was needed.

I had started by talking to Boat Tailors in Racine. I was ignored the first time and the second time, but did manage to get them to measure the boat on the third try. Then it was like they disappeared. I’m guessing I didn’t match their customer profile.

I found Genco Marine on the internet and emailed for more information. Nat stirred some interest so I gave him a call. Price was right, product looked good enough and he did guarantee it would fit so I bit. It was ready for delivery pretty close to the promised date so I was excited. The excitement soon faded.

The freight estimate of about $200 turned to $386! It was next day air (still don’t know why) but I didn’t get it for five days. Genco was totally disinterested in providing an explanation other than “it’s not our fault”.

Well I unpacked it and couldn’t wait to install it. I was told the instructions were very complete and call if I had any questions. It was to be mounted on the cabin top but the main tube was too wide by six inches or more. The instructions were vague at best. I called and was told to mount brackets as told (on top) and bend tube to fit. Lo and behold, it worked! Their stock was going up. I fitted the top and the front glass. So far so good. I positioned the tubes with the webbing supplied. Looking good! Now to fit the sides.

Oh, oh! The sides cover the ports and drape around the winches. I email pictures to Nat. He will send me pictures of a local O’day 40 but it’s still covered. A week later it’s still covered and still no explanation of how anything short of recutting the sides will cure the conflict.

Stay tuned …

Well, I guess when all else fails, dispute the charges on your credit card! That got their attention and Nat actually called me. I marked up the canvas and sent it back (at my cost!) to have it resewn. I got it back about a week after it was promised and it fit. Well, sort of. I had to redrill the holes for the snaps so I now have about 12 or so holes to fill when I get around to fixing gelcoat.

May 2008

So far the dodger has held up well.  When the bimini was made and installed by Marine Seam in Daytona Beach, they managed to get the dodger tighter.

September 2009

Well I guess two years is about the life of the quality in a “Natty Dodger”. We removed the dodger for a thorough cleaning and found many of the seams were rotting and coming apart. I had the entire dodger resewn with V92 thread. We’ll see how this holds up.

August 2010

We were unable to sew around the glass last year and now all of these seams are ripping out. I plan on replacing the entire front glass section.

About four years ago, I bought a sailcover for the 23 from this mom and pop outfit in Phoenix. I bought it off eBay and used PayPal so I didn’t really fear getting ripped off. It took quite awhile to get it but was I surprised when I saw what quality was built into it. What a bargain!

Well, several years later I needed a sailcover for the 40. I returned to Sailcovers and More. I should have seen the clues but basically I’m a pretty honest guy and see most evryone else as pretty straight too. They were no longer on eBay. They no longer took Paypal. So like a dumb ass, I sent them a check. The rest is pretty easy to figure out. No sailcover, no money, no Sailcovers and More! The Attorney General’s Office did nothing and the Better Business Bureau could only tell me I wasn’t alone.