Unfortunate Incident

[Rolie]

Because the rent for the slip I'd been renting for the past several years increased to $2800, I decided to have my boat "racked" at one of the local marinas.
I brought it to them in May when I got it out of winter storage and because of a "communications" error, the boat remained tied to the dock for several days or longer and suffered some pretty serious damage to its starboard side. I was told by the yard manager and the owner that it would be taken care of.
The boat is a 2002 Four Winns 24' Horizon, black on white.
They "took care" of it by wet sanding the side right through the clear gelcoat and, to say the least, the job is far from acceptable. I am awaiting a call from the service manager or the owner to discuss my dissatisfaction with their repair. The sanded portion ( the entire starboard side ) will certainly fade and oxidize and severely impacts the value of the boat now and at trade in time.
Worst case scenario: The marina tells me to take a hike and I put in a claim against my insurance company and "eat" the $250 deductable. I have already discussed the situation with them ) My insuranance company settles with their insurance company and get my $250 back. I have the side of the boat restored.
Best case scenario: The marina agrees to satisfactorily restore the damaged portion of the boat.
My question is this: Who in the area has the best reputation for gelcoat repair ? I have a trailer and can transport away from the lake if necessary.
I would appreciate any and all recommendations.
Thanks

[donnamatrix]

If you are uncomfortable naming the marina that caused all this trouble, can you at least share with us in which town it might be located ?

[PROPELLER]

Although I have never had work done by either one of these repairers, you could look into Unique Boat Restorations on Route 25 in Moultonborough or Lakes Region Fiberglass on Route 106 in Belmont.

Also, if you purchased your boat at Melvin Village Marina or Winnisquam Marina(both Four Winns dealers) ask them who does their fiberglass & gelcoat repairs.

[Rolie]

Donnamatrix,
I prefer to give the marina the opportunity to make the right decision concerning my issues with their attempted repair. At least for now, I'm trying to maintain a positive spin on this by trying to locate the best gelcoat repair guy in the area. Of course, all bets are off if they make the wrong decision. :)

[donnamatrix]

Hi. I appreciate that you want to give the marina the opportunity to remedy the problem, it's laudable. However, if you could keep us posted on the outcome, most folks would like to know which marinas to avoid. It's funny, several years ago, there were many threads about the bad service/attitude at Melvin Village, but we (bought our boat there) always found them to be terrific, and Rob the head mechanic to be extremely talented!!

[PROPELLER]

The issue with Melvin Village was that they refuse to service boats not purchased from them, even Four Winns boats. Their explanation was that they were small & could not provide excellent customer service to customers who purchased from them if they were servicing other boats not purchased from them.

There was never a complaint about Melvin Village Marina service from customers who did purchase from them that posted on this website. I myself dealt with Rob & Melvin Village Marina when I purchased my first boat. They were always accomodating, their service timely, done properly & Rob was always a professional.

The only problems I had was with the manufacturer not the marina. Needless to say they do not sell Stingray boats anymore. I think they had too many complaints & had trouble dealing with the manufacturer themselves.

[Rolie]

I also remember the posts, mostly negative about MVM. I also ended up buying my boat from them and agree that they are exceptional. I think it's safe to assume that the damage to my boat was not done there.

But, we're getting off on a tangent here......if we can back to the original question I'd appreciate it.

Who in the area has the best reputation for fiberglass repairs?

Thanks

[TomC]

A neighbor in my association had his boat trashed by hurricane Floyd in 99. It pounded against metal dock poles for awhile, then after it broke loose, it got pounded some more on the rocks. It was fixed by UFR in Moultonboro and looked brand new. Another neighbor had his donzi painted by them just to improve the appearance of the boat, and that turned out very well also...

[ITD]

I had my jet ski repaired by UFR in Moultonboro also. Was a deep gash into the glass, you could see the mat. The repair was perfect, couldn't even tell it had been damaged.

[Rolie]

.........for UFR. ;)

I give up....who is UFR ?

Thanks

[PROPELLER]

Rolie, look at my first post, its Unique Boat Restorations on route 25 in Moultonborough. Its on the right hand side going toward Moultonborough from Meredith.

[Rolie]

Got it....Thanks

[playinghooky]

Why not bring it back to Melvin Village? I'm sure they would be the best place to handle the repairs.

[dan]

They repaired hull damage on a PWC and cosmetically repaired two Sea Ray"s for us. The work was excellent. As said before Rt 25 Moultonborough.

[ITD]

.........for UFR. ;)

I give up....who is UFR ?

Thanks


Woops, UBR, sorry. :)

[MAXUM]

TomC you mentioned having your Donzi painted by these guys, if you don't mind me asking a ball park figure on what that cost and the size of your boat. Reason being I am in the middle of doing a restoration on a 17' sailboat and the one thing that I'm having difficulty with is determining how to manage the hull portion. I've considered painting it myself (have the tools minus a paint booth) at home to do it, but for the right price it may not be worth the headache. The hull is in great shape just really oxidized past the point of no return.

[TomC]

MAXUM, If you read my message closely, you will see that it was a neighbor that had their Donzi painted by UBR, not my Maxum (curiously enough!). It does look nice, and the neighbors are painters by profession, so they ought to know what a good paint job looks like, I suppose.

i never did ask them what it cost to have done, so i am sorry I can't help you there. there are 10-15 boats out in the yard of UBR, so if you stopped by I am sure you could get a look at their workmanship and a rough idea of price. I work in an industry that paints vehicles. There are numerous hazardous solvents, paints, epoxies, etc involved in this process that MUST be dealt with and disposed of properly or there are whopping fines (at least in MA). So there are numerous fees, storage systems, reporting requirements, OSHA regs for the guys in the paint booth, etc. this all adds up to an expensive process - so to make a long story short - I'll bet it is not cheap. Especially if this shop is in demand, as all indications suggest it is, he won't need to discount either to drum up work...

[MAXUM]

TOMC-

Thanks for the info - I suspect that it's not a cheap thing to get done, especailly if the job is done right. While I am doing a restoration of my sailboat, it does not need to be 100% perfect either, just look good. Ah I'll probably give it a whirl myself and see how it comes out. However I'll ask around for prices just for the heck of it.

Ah another fellow Maxum owner, nice! Hope suggesting in error you owned a Donzi was not too insulting :eek:

[T.H.E. Binz]

Just call Tom at Unique Boat Restoration in Moultonboro. Many of the local marinas would send it to UBR anyway!

[Rolie]

I stopped at UBR last Saturday and spoke with Tom. He came to Meredith later that same day to take a look at the damage and his estimate was literally more that $2K LESS than the dealer/marina. I'll be making arrangements to have UBR make me a happy boater again.
Thanks for all your input and recommendations.
Rolie

[dpg]

Ya, they would have had UBR do it and pocket 2K. for doing NOTHING! :eek:

[Fishin Fool]

I recently brought my 22' shamrock to great bay marine in Newington for transmission work. I was very happy with their workmanship and quality. I know they do all types of boat restorations including gel coat. Give Sandy a call at 603-436-5299