GL: summer storage on the hard in lower Georgia/Savanah area

[Btlifes2short at aol.com]

Morning from chilly (37) Jacksonville,
 
I cant' agree any stronger than I do with Bill's letter below.   Hinckley in 
Savannah was the most professional group of individuals I have ever  had the 
chance to work with.   I won't go into details about our  electrical fire but I 
can promise you they tracked down the issue, got right on  the job, and did 
wonderful work.  They are not cheap but I can't help  thinking that they 
weren't anymore expensive than those "wanna-be" mechanics who  take twice as long 
working on an issue and then bill you for all those extra  labor hours trying to 
figure out where to start.  
 
Mike Pranschke (912-629-2400) is now the Service Operations  Manager
 
Bill is spot-on about his experiences @ Hinckley!
 
 
Todd  & Brenda Lanning
Life's2Short
1985 40' Oceania  Trawler
btlifes2short at aol.com
Check out our blog @ _http://btlifes2short.blogspot.com_ 
(http://btlifes2short.blogspot.com/) 
Currently:  Headed south from Jacksonville, FL on the ICW

"Life is not measured by  the number of breaths we take, but by the moments 
that take our breath  away!"

 
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:32:53 -0500
From: Bill Donovan  <trailersource at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: GL: summer storage on the  hard in lower Georgia/Savanah
area
To: Wayne M Barski  <wbbar at earthlink.net>,foreveryoungboat at aol.com,
great-loop at lists.samurai.com
Message-ID:  <E1LeC0c-0000cU-TU at elasmtp-banded.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Wayne, et  al:

Wow!  I guess Wayne had a shocking  experience....   So, I will wade 
into the fray with a little more positive review of Hinckley  in Savannah.

The Savannah Hinkley Yacht Services is perhaps the most  professional 
yard I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.  Dustin  Hartley, 
the service manager is an energetic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable  and 
very helpful professional.  He is an accomplished former "Coastie"  
and one of the best boat handlers I have ever witnessed.  The service  
staff obviously respects him and they seem to enjoy working at  Hinckley.

The Hinckley technicians are excellent workers who obviously  enjoy 
their work.  The estimates I was given for a variety of  (extensive) 
jobs were very close to the final cost (they were "estimates,"  not 
"quotes").  I was never charged a dime for dockage or use of the  
facilities (showers, restrooms) while there for some 5 months.  By  
the way, they do have limited transient space, and at a very good  
rate.  No fuel or pumpout.

Yes, the work seemed expensive, but I  have learned that marine work 
IS expensive.  Hinckley charges a labor  rate that varies by skill 
set, and all seem to be fair.  And, no, they  don't want you to do any 
significant work on your boat while in storage on  the hard (insurance 
reasons, no doubt).

If you are to be in Savannah,  the only yards that can haul you would 
be Hinckley or Thunderbolt Marine --  only a mile apart on the 
Wilmington River.  I never have had  Thunderbolt work on my boat.

You may want to call each one and talk about  your needs, then decide.

Bill



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