Where do y'all buy from?

[Simi 60]

.

Simi - you've probably heard a lot about Defender over the years. Anything equivalent in OZ? What's the landscape for marine parts there?

Peter

Not that I'm aware of
Several small in comparison chain stores mainly aimed at trailerable boats and smaller yachts and cruisers
These guys as an example are one of the biggest players here, take a look at their piss poor selection of inverters

https://www.whitworths.com.au/electrical-lighting/electrical/inverters

I bought my inverter from a Victron off grid power store, anything big in parts I buy online from wherever offers the best deal

Online stores, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba etc

Engine parts, raw water pumps, batteries mainly Alibaba as NTA855 Cummins are made in China.
Parts get here faster or as fast as parts ordered from Cummins Australia.
And, they are a fraction of the cost.

 

[GoneDiving]

Not that I'm aware of
Several small in comparison chain stores mainly aimed at trailerable boats and smaller yachts and cruisers
These guys as an example are one of the biggest players here, take a look at their piss poor selection of inverters

https://www.whitworths.com.au/electrical-lighting/electrical/inverters

I bought my inverter from a Victron off grid power store, anything big in parts I buy online from wherever offers the best deal

Online stores, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba etc

Engine parts, raw water pumps, batteries mainly Alibaba as NTA855 Cummins are made in China.
Parts get here faster or as fast as parts ordered from Cummins Australia.
And, they are a fraction of the cost.

Up here (Northern Queensland) I've found Whitworths to be very expensive and inline with dedicated Chandleries. Better are the fishing and camping box stores (BCF, RTM etc) or online for the true boating equipment. Obviously, online can be a race to the bottom wrt price and quality so buyer beware.

Where possible, I shop at general industrial stores (electrical, paints etc) rather than anywhere with yacht photos on the wall.

As usual, YMMV.

 

[twistedtree]

Nobody has mentioned Sure Marine. They are excellent for heating, cooking, and cooling stuff. And although I've never used them, Hamilton Marine is often mentioned.


In addition to all the places mentioned so far, I have always found other local, more specialized shops that are very good. In Seattle I have found a number of places that I frequent. Tacoma Screw is excellent for hardware & tools. NEBAR for hydraulics and all manner of hoses and fittings. SeaMar (Seattle Marine) is an excellent all-purpose marine supplier. And in Gloucester, MA, Rose Marine is one of my all time favorites. Don't let the small retail area fool you. Ask at the counter. The guys are all very knowledgeable, and if you ever go "out back" you will see there is much more to the place. And you would never expect the high tech machine shop that's on the lower level. They are also a complete hydraulic shop. No water toys or mugs with anchors on them, but anything to make your boat float or go, they have.

 

[twistedtree]

DIY has been mentioned, which of course goes hand in hand with knowing good parts suppliers. Like some others, I probably do 95% of the work on my boat vs hiring it out, and I think it comes down to 3 reasons.


- Work quality. There are some excellent tradesmen, but they seem to be few and far between. Maybe I'm unlucky, but it seems more often than not, you end up paying for someone's training or practice, and/or they do the job wrong or break something else in the process. Who wants to pay someone to come break your boat? My boat and I are already quite proficient at that.


- Availability. Especially when something important is inoperable, I want to get it fixed and move on. Tracking someone down and actually getting them on the boat can take days, weeks, and even months. I almost always find it takes less of my own time, and certainly less elapsed time to just do it myself rather than chase other people.



- Cost. I don't begrudge people making a good living, and certainly understand the cost of living, especially in coastal areas. But the cost of hired projects is eye-watering, and it's all about the labor costs. There are some things that I either hate doing, or suck bad enough at that I'll hire them out. But if I had to hire everything out, I don't think I'd be in boating. I could still probably afford it, but I definitely couldn't stomach it. Thankfully I enjoy projects and enjoy working on things.

 

[rslifkin]

DIY has been mentioned, which of course goes hand in hand with knowing good parts suppliers. Like some others, I probably do 95% of the work on my boat vs hiring it out, and I think it comes down to 3 reasons.


- Work quality. There are some excellent tradesmen, but they seem to be few and far between. Maybe I'm unlucky, but it seems more often than not, you end up paying for someone's training or practice, and/or they do the job wrong or break something else in the process. Who wants to pay someone to come break your boat? My boat and I are already quite proficient at that.


- Availability. Especially when something important is inoperable, I want to get it fixed and move on. Tracking someone down and actually getting them on the boat can take days, weeks, and even months. I almost always find it takes less of my own time, and certainly less elapsed time to just do it myself rather than chase other people.



- Cost. I don't begrudge people making a good living, and certainly understand the cost of living, especially in coastal areas. But the cost of hired projects is eye-watering, and it's all about the labor costs. There are some things that I either hate doing, or suck bad enough at that I'll hire them out. But if I had to hire everything out, I don't think I'd be in boating. I could still probably afford it, but I definitely couldn't stomach it. Thankfully I enjoy projects and enjoy working on things.

I'm absolutely in the same camp. People ask me why I do things like change my own oil on a car. It's mostly about convenience for some items like that. It's faster than taking the car somewhere, costs the same or less, and most importantly, if I have time to deal with it at 9 PM on Tuesday, I can just do it then and not work around someone else's schedule.

 

[hmason]

Warning, thread drift (just a little).
What really nibbles at my cookies are charges for "travel time." There is really no means of validating travel time or the associated charges as they are at the whim of the vendor.

Case in point; I needed a plumbing repair and called a marine plumbing company whose truck I have seen at the marina numerous times. They arrived at 8:30 AM and did the repair. I then noticed their truck in the marina parking lot just about all day.

When I received the invoice I was charged travel time. I called the company's owner and asked why I was charged travel time since they were servicing other boats at the marina as well. He replied that the first call of the day pays the travel time for coming to the marina and the last call of the day pays the travel time from the marina back to their shop. I suggested that the travel time should be spread across all the customers at the marina that were serviced that day. I was told that if I was unhappy with their fees not to call them again. I'd bet that every customer at the marina that day paid for travel time. Am I off base here??

 

[Delta Riverat]

Hehe, yeah you may not like it, but that's the way it is.

And if you don't like it you can follow the companies advice and not call them anymore.

 

[twistedtree]

Warning, thread drift (just a little).
What really nibbles at my cookies are charges for "travel time." There is really no means of validating travel time or the associated charges as they are at the whim of the vendor.

Case in point; I needed a plumbing repair and called a marine plumbing company whose truck I have seen at the marina numerous times. They arrived at 8:30 AM and did the repair. I then noticed their truck in the marina parking lot just about all day.

When I received the invoice I was charged travel time. I called the company's owner and asked why I was charged travel time since they were servicing other boats at the marina as well. He replied that the first call of the day pays the travel time for coming to the marina and the last call of the day pays the travel time from the marina back to their shop. I suggested that the travel time should be spread across all the customers at the marina that were serviced that day. I was told that if I was unhappy with their fees not to call them again. I'd bet that every customer at the marina that day paid for travel time. Am I off base here??

I understand charging for travel time, or a mileage fee. It all comes back to Weebles observation about the % of billable hours for a traveling repair service. They may spend 4 billable hrs on your boat, but spend 6hrs when you include travel. Not to mention the overhead of a service truck.


I think the real issue is how it gets charged, and whether it's fair. They could simply look at their billable vs worked hours and jack up their hourly rate to make up the difference. But that would put them at a competitive disadvantage anytime someone asks what the rate is.


I think the fairest way would be to split the travel cost across the jobs at any location. But then it gets complicated when there are multiple locations each day, etc. And who's going to keep track of it all.


I think the biggest issue is that you can't verify and are left feeling like you probably got ripped off, as you feel. Perhaps a flat rate visit charge, or a fixed percentage adder? Then at least you would know you are being treated the same as everyone else.

 

[huruta]

We are in Seattle and just bought our first boat in July and so far we've bought stuff from the following:

* Seattle Marine / SeaMar (fenders, line)
* AM Equipment (windshield wipers)
* Amazon (all sorts of little crap, esp. kitchen)
* NAPA auto parts (e.g., Seafoam Engine cleaner)
* BoatUS (lettering)
* West Marine
* ACE Hardware

 

[Capt Ray]

Long time favorites:
Defender, West, Hodges, BatterycablesUSA, locals whenever possible, Amazon, Instacart (food delivery).

Some recent departures for specialty items, (and why):

https://www.milltechmarine.com/ FOR AIS transponder
(price & selection)
https://www.emarineinc.com/ FOR Solar panels, controllers, etc.
(excellent web info and in-person pre-sales information & support)
https://battlebornbatteries.com/ FOR LiFePO4 batteries
(SO much better pre-sales support than Dakota)

I like how fast BatterycablesUSA gets their made-to-order cables out the door.
Defender is good, but does not seem to get their stuff out the door quite as well.

 

[Simi 60]

Hehe, yeah you may not like it, but that's the way it is.

Only if you accept it

And if you don't like it you can follow the companies advice and not call them anymore

.

Works for me.
I will not stand for gouging and deception.
And I deduct the extra charges from the bill on payment
.

 

[Capt Ray]

Long time favorites:
Defender, West, Hodges, BatterycablesUSA, locals whenever possible, Amazon, Instacart (food delivery).

Some recent departures for specialty items, (and why):

https://www.milltechmarine.com/ FOR AIS transponder
(price & selection)
https://www.emarineinc.com/ FOR Solar panels, controllers, etc.
(excellent web info and in-person pre-sales information & support)
https://battlebornbatteries.com/ FOR LiFePO4 batteries
(SO much better pre-sales support than Dakota)

I like how fast BatterycablesUSA gets their made-to-order cables out the door.
Defender is good, but does not seem to get their stuff out the door quite as well.

Addendum 9/29/2022:
I take it back. Tuesday afternoon, I ordered a new windlass from Defender, who had one in stock. "When will this actually ship?" She said it was not too late to get it out this afternoon. I went with UPS Ground. It arrived at the marina yesterday, Wednesday. I was very pleasantly surprised! Now it is time to start installing it!