Competent workers ease concern!
Watching your boat fly through the air, whether it is a recreational vehicle or your home like ours is, can be a traumatic event. When the people handling turning your boat into an airplane appear to be competent, it does a lot to ease the concern. So it was when we hauled out Frost for the first time yesterday.
While on previous trips to Trinidad we had visited Peake Yacht Services before, we have never had them do any work for us. We have heard good things from our friends though, and up this this point, I can say that those recommendations were not overblown.
Our positive experience began when we were greeted by name at the facility, and welcomed into a nice office to sit down and discuss our needs. Of course there was paperwork to sign and credit card info to pass along, but we were not made to feel as if that was the only reason for meeting.
We were told that we were the first boat scheduled to haul yesterday, and that when we approached the travel lift, people would come running to assist with our lines. Perhaps running was a bit of an over exaggeration but multiple people were definitely there when required. In addition being met at the dock by the yard staff, we were also met by Graham, the owner of Dynamite Marine, the contractor that had been lined up to service our rudder issue. How’s that for service?
I don’t mean for this to sound too negative but when Rebecca quizzed me about our plans for the day, prior to heading to the haulout bay, I told her that I would be “herding cats.” That’s just been my experience with getting work done on boats, regardless of where it has occurred. Could this place be different? It was beginning to seem so!
The one thing I didn’t want to hear yesterday!
The “turn the boat into an airplane” maneuver was carried out flawlessly. It was only interrupted by the various workers coming by to introduce themselves, or to bid us good morning. We even ran into an old acquaintance from Grenada who is now working at the yard. A fellow Amel owner as a matter of fact!
Once the boat was carefully situated, in what I think is the prettiest spot in the entire yard, the work began in earnest. The boys from Dynamite Marine took on our rudder issue without hesitation, as well as agreeing to work on a few other issues of note. When the day’s work was completed, I can honestly say that I am happy with our progress.
What about today? Well, today is a holiday so no boat work will be taking place. It’s worth nothing that Trinidad has more holidays than any other place that I know of. Perhaps that’s why they’re so happy?
What about us? We’ll be liming with our Trini friends, Pip and Harry, who have once again welcomed us into their home. Can life get any better?
See you at Peake Tuesday if you’re still there.
We’ll be there! 🙂
You should review them to give an alternate view to the 1-star review they got recently. They read their reviews the moment they are submitted.
I saw that 1 star review too. I will do that, when the work is done. 🙂
Here is what I posted:
“Although not our first trip to Trinidad, this was our first trip to the island to have boat work done. Recommended by Peake’s Yacht Services, I contacted Dynamite before traveling to see if they could help with our issues. Graham, who answered my messages, said come on down.
When we pulled into Peake’s travel lift bay, Graham from Dynamite was there to greet us. Before we even hauled he came on board, and I discussed the main issue that I needed to have addressed (our rudder’s stuffing box had separated from the boat), as well as a number of other jobs that we wanted to have worked on. Over the course of the next week to ten days, the boys from Dynamite looked after everything that I threw at them.
For much of our stay in Trinidad, we were not living aboard. When we arrived to the yard each morning though, the boys were often already on site, working away.
When launch day came and it was time to splash, we had four of the guys from Dynamite on hand to make sure that all of the jobs that they completed were done properly, and that we were good to go. Even after we splashed, when I found that I had new, unrelated issues that I needed help with, they made themselves available. That included just this morning when Graham came on board and crawled into a locker to deal with a plumbing issue that I was having. This, he did without charge!
The guys from Dynamite get our recommendation, without question.”
I just had my new sailboat hauled a few months ago and it’s always a bit unsettling to see the boat fly.
I love how your wind generator was happily generating power in the video as the cart moved her around 🙂
Nice.