Yard Reviews

I drive by A&J every day and the yard is usually full of yachts. I'm amazed at the size boats they haul given the tight confines of the approach canal and small turning basin in front of the yard. It is a busy place.

I went by Willis the other day in my center console and the docks and yard looked much less full than when it was owned by American Custom. There were no yachts in the covered floating dock area and only three or four under tents in the yard that I could see. But it looked neat and tidy.

+1 for A&J...have been in there twice and both projects were done on time and to the estimate.

Living in Va Beach, I use Bluewater in Hampton (safe harbor owns now) for my yard work. They are painting my hull right now. They service many motor yachts and sport fish alike. Craig, the service manager is great, very knowledgeable.

I hope your experience continues to be a pleasant one. While they are capable of good work I know someone who wasn’t impressed when his invoice came in considerably higher than estimated after a recent change in yard ownership. Some sneaky things occurred with billing and suspect charges hitting his CC .

It will be interesting to see how the big boys (Safe Harbor, etc) will do running boat yards. Marinas are one thing yards are quite another. Private equity and other big money outfits have been buying mechanical, plumbing, contractors in my home town. In my experience and observations trades based contractors struggle when management/ownership is dominated by bean counter accounting types. To me boat yards are essentially trades based contractors. Contracting is a different animal.

Yep. You nailed it.

Last year things were proper. Will examine the yard bill in a couple weeks. It's a very detailed invoice, so if something appears incorrect, I will be all over it. If I have ever questioned things before, they have been pretty honest about it. YMMV.

I want to give a second recommendation for Bluewater and in particular, Craig. The only issues Ive ever had with their billing was not getting one for work done.