Failed Boat Deliveries

[BillsWife1]

I am curious how often boat deliveries go off the rails.

We hired what was supposed to be a seasoned "yachtsman", kind of jack of all trades but specialized in rigging to help us redo our standing and running rigging as well as redesign our reefing system. It's part of a HUGE overall refit and this part has seen some starts and stops with his other workload and our other projects.

During this down time we saw him "mess up" another rigging job (standing rigging was too short) on one boat and the owner had to get someone else to finish the job because he had other jobs to take care of. On another boat he had a part manufactured backwards at a local machine shop. The machine shop guys were super cool and fixed the problem right away, but the boat owner was the one to get it fixed. He went to deliver a yacht and ended up only bringing the boat halfway to it's destination, claiming there were too many issues with the boat to continue. I totally believe that to be true.

Today we just learned that a different delivery (2 of 2) he was making fell apart and he walked off leaving the boat owner stranded. In this case it was all aired on social media and I have to say I really believe that it was his problem and not the boat owner. Not to mention that his postings were incredibly unprofessional.

My gut instinct is to turn to another company/person to finish our project. We have seen him work on 4 projects and in all 4 there was an issue (not just small hiccups)where the owner was left to fix to problem. Are we being too harsh? Are these common doings in the marine industry?

[boatman61]

Follow your gut.. 9 times out of 10 I have regretted not following mine..

[Jd1]

No, you are not being too harsh!

I would not trust critical work to someone I can not trust implicitly. Sure, bad stuff happens to the best of us but what you are describing sounds more like normal procedure rather than "bad stuff happening".

[jdazey]

I don't think you're being too harsh. The guy has a bad track record. I'd start asking around for other riggers.



Our experience has been about 50/50 finding good, competent workers/yards, and we've learned the hard way that project management is a critical part of any refit.



And I completely agree with Boatie, if you're uncomfortable, find someone else before you start running up big bills.

[wallythacker]

This isn't painting your bathroom walls. This is doing things that potentially could cause serious injury or perhaps even kill you if done wrong.

When I have a project like that on the go my criteria for the hired experts is no margin for error. It's why they were hired in the first place.

Get rid of him, don't look back.

[belizesailor]

Yes, this kind of thing is all too common, but as your situation illustrates...its usually common with a given individual, not everyone in the industry.

[BillsWife1]

Thanks for the boost. It's tough because he is a really nice guy. Albeit we've taken to describing him as "an unmade bed" kind of guy. He and his family live in the marina attached to the yard where we are refitting, so we will have to see them just about everyday. It will be kind of tough feeling like we took food off of his kid's table.

Having said that, my husband and I are doing 90% of all of the other work. This is one of two areas (the other is a very robust lithium house bank) that we are relying on a professional to help us get the design and install right.

We are keenly aware how critical our rigging is to our safety. Ultimately, I need to know that I can (especially in an emergency) handle our sail plan completely by myself...hence the investment of thousands of dollars to buy a new boom and redesigned our reefing system. At 5'4" our sail is a mighty foe for me.

[Steadman Uhlich]

As I see it:
One should always pick trustworthy crew and a trustworthy rigger.
Your life will depend on their skills and judgement and work.

In the case where you doubt the rigger, or his work, make a change to find one you trust. Otherwise you may suffer from rigger mortis.

[rbk]

If you do buckle and get him to do work for you, make it 100% clear that you only pay for materials installed and that you have accepted as good. This means he has to pay for/credit the materials he is installing and is on the hook for them until you’re happy. Don’t give him a cent unless the work you’re paying for is complete and make sure you keep enough of your budget to pay someone else to fix it. . If he’s not willing to agree that just tell him that’s how you operate, and you won’t be the bad guy just saying no, or just say no . This is very standard procedure and in larger contracts the contractor would be required to give you a cash deposit which you could keep it he didn’t start the work or walked off without completing.

[JPA Cate]

It is common for riggers to be doing many jobs concurrently. It is not common for one rigger to make 4 major errors on 4 jobs, and you would know about it.

It is common for even good riggers to not complete work when you expect it; and they may not bill you in a timely fashion, either. There is nothing to say riggers must be good business people.

I can see how you would feel awkward discharging this guy since you already have an agreement with him. Your decision, but what you've said about him makes sound like a really bad investment. As everyone has said, you should be able to trust your rigger. There is probably one, very busy rigger in your area, whom you could trust, but possibly only for quality work, expecting "on time" is really hard for them to deliver, because they get "emergency" calls, and get behind. Please do not think I am excusing failure to complete by contracted deadline, but I don't imagine you had a written contract with this guy, and have nothing to enforce.... but there it is.

We have a rigger who will do good work. Last job he did for us, he said it would take a week. In fact, the mast was out of the boat for 7 weeks, and he worked on it 7 days.
Not amused, but the work was excellent.

Ann

[Jim Cate]

Otherwise you may suffer from rigger mortis.

Oh, well done Steady!

Jim

[Dulcesuenos]

We sold a boat 3 or 4 years back that was to be delivered by an older "professional captain" I asked him a few basic questions about their route in case there was an issue and his reply really made me doubt his intelligence and ability.
1 week later I was woken up by a phone call from the USCG as they had hit a reef near N Provo and activated the epirb.
As for riggers, out of 6 dealings with well known rigging companies on 4 vessels I have had only 2 good outcomes. 2 almost cost us a rig and another was almost dismasted right at the dock by one who I think retired shortly after....

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by Steadman Uhlich

Otherwise you may suffer from rigger mortis.

Oh Steady... you didn't.

[goat]

Originally Posted by BillsWife1

Thanks for the boost. It's tough because he is a really nice guy.

When you have the choice between two businesses, always deal with the one described as an a-hole; a nice guy can stay in business even with poor workmanship. The a-hole, not so much.

goat

[BillsWife1]

Well...here's the update.

We have decided to ditch the original rigger. After all this is our lives and home we are talking about. Worrying about his hurt feelings is a lot less important than getting this project right.

So, out with the old and in with the new. We are on the schedule of a very sought after rigger. He's sailed over 400k nm including in the world cup and he comes very highly recommended by Hank Hinckley (Hinckley Yachts) whom is our project adviser.

We were never concerned about getting things done on a time line or done the cheapest. It has always been about getting it right. Our time line got ditched about two months in to the refit. I wish some one had told us about what we call "boat months". If you think a project will take 1 week you must multiply that by your "boat month". Ours is a factor of three...so, a one month project will take three months. A one hour task is three hours...and so on.

and...rigger mortis CAN NOT stop laughing!!!