Ft. Lauderdale area recommendations

Hello all,

New to forum and have really enjoyed it. My wife and I just had our offer accepted on a 60' trawler that is located in Ft. Lauderdale. If boat and engine survey turns out ok (there is some deferred maintenance), we will keep the boat in the Ft. Lauderdale area and work our way back to California.

I am looking for a reasonably priced marina with good access to "stuff" and that's not too far away for the multitude of contractors I will undoubtedly need. I plan to stay on the boat for 1 week intervals for the next three months while I coordinate all of the work (and do plenty of it myself).

I appreciate any recommendations you may have and also if you have any ideas of prices. While we are certainly budget conscious, safety and access to services are important.

I would be receptive to space at a private residence if the right opportunity was available. Additionally, we are not tied to the Ft. Lauderdale area. That's just where the boat happens to be.

Lastly, we are looking for a recommendation for a surveyor and a Cat Mechanic.

Thanks for looking!!

Marina Bay is an excellent facility in an excellent location for your needs. Next door is the funkier "old Florida" Yacht Haven, depending on your length of stay, may be more reasonably priced. We used them both and really liked them. Plus the unique experience of navigating the New River.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Almost anywhere in Ft. Lauderdale is close by. It's not really that big a place and a LOT of the businesses are located in one area (right behind Lester's diner).

The problem I've found is the fact that in spite of the multitude of contractors the good ones are few and far between and VERY busy. You might have to book weeks in advance which would make it difficult to orchestrate and coordinate and even then there would be no guarantee that the contractor would even show up. NOT necessarily the fault of the contractor but still...

If you're planning on staying aboard for any length of time will have to make sure that any place you dock will allow it. This has to do with being a "liveaboard". Some places we looked at (behind private residences/condos) allowed ONE night's stay only. Anything more was considered living aboard. As well, some places may not appreciate a hoard of contractors working on your boat.

Hi George and RTF,

Thank you for the quick responses. As I said, I we are not tied to the Ft. Lauderdale area. The ultimate plan is to bring it back to California. I am receptive to moving it (within 200-300 miles) to have availability for contractors at a fair price. I have not spent any time in the Florida area and it will all be a new and fun experience.

All advice is welcome and extremely appreciated. THANK YOU!!

Surveyor and CAT Mechanic.

Official CAT place is Pantropic. You might get promised this week and get service six weeks from now. Warranty service forces people there but after most leave. N&G Engineering are former Pantropic employees and good CAT mechanics. Joe Stafford is also a capable CAT Surveyor.

For the boat survey I recommend Florida Nautical Surveyors run by Malcolm Elliott.

BandB has good suggestions for surveyors, plus Marc Slakoff and Associates or MSG (Marine Surveyors Group) for hull surveys.
For the engines, Joe Stafford has done over 5,000 engine surveys and he no longer does repairs so he will not say that he might find something then offer to come back and fix it. There are a few other surveyors that survey only, no repairs, if Joe is not available.
However if the CAT is an older 3208 than call Bruce Hicks 954-661-3208 (note that phone number, he is the 3208 guy in town.)

Thank you to all who responded. Extremely helpful!!

If you are going to be working on a boat, yourself and/or with contractors, there is no place anywhere that gives you the access to parts and expertise that Ft Lauderdale does. You may pay a little premium in price, but the convenience and incredible variety of options more than offsets it.

Hello everyone,

I wanted to update the thread and thank all who have contributed. We did buy the boat, an Offshore 62. We have it in Marina Bay. It's a nice marina and they have been very accommodating. We will be there until November 15th when we plan on cruising to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Fortunately the broker has connected me with some good guys in the trades. They are very expensive, but most have been very good. It seems like everyone charges $95 per hour. What I wouldn't give to find a handy guy who I could par $25 per hour to chase down small plumbing problems etc.

Thanks to all for the insight!

Greetings,
Mr. F. $25/hr ? Um, I don't think so...

The Offshore 62 is one of our favorite boats, in fact I had a picture of one as the wallpaper on my computer at work back in the early part of this century, well before we bought the Hatteras. Congratulations! You do not want anyone who charges $25 an hour on your boat. The good ones get $95 because they are usually worth it and cheaper in the short and long run. There are a lot of workmen in and out of Marina Bay, ask around with fellow boaters there. I had a super Guatemalan plumber and AC guy and a likewise Cuban generator guy I got that way. But that was almost a decade ago I used them.

Start hanging out at McDonald's Hardware, and BOW, you'll overhear some good conversations and get some connections. Last I checked, there is an Offshore branch or dealer in FTL as well.

Thanks for the information. I understand that $95 per hour is required at times, but there are times that do not required skilled labor. I have found McDonalds and I really like it. The Offshore dealer went out of business a few years back.

The boat has been great. It's been a bit of work trying to get it up to the maintenance phase, but we are getting there…..

Just as a data point, the shipyard in Oceanside charges $120 per hour. I found an excellent free-lance mechanic who charges $80. He does engines, electrical, fiberglass.... I don’t know what the Dana Point shipyard is charging these days (I did all my own work on my Catalina 27 when I was in DP) but I know they are making it difficult for free-lancers to work in the yard.

As mentioned the industrial park behind Lester's Diner, across the street from MacDonalds Hardware, is full of marine service companies. I'm not aware of anywhere on the planet that has such a concentration of marine specific companies is such a small area, and if you can't find what your looking for or access to it in that park, it probably doesn't exist.
Might be worthwhile to spend 15 minutes just driving up and down the streets between 2nd and 3rd avenue to see what's there.