Anyone know?

S

SCORPIO

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Does anyone have any experiences dealing with Al Grover's Marina in Freeport, NY? I'm interested in a boat they have listed for sale, and would like to know how they are to deal with.
Thanks
 
Never delt with them, but I can tell you they have been around a long time and know their sh-t. Now that does not mean squat as far as buying a boat from them, IMHO, if you ever wanted to re-power a boat, they are the people in our area to do that.

My knowledge of them, through friends that have delt with them (re-power) is they are top shelf on knowledge, and quality. But with that said, I have zero to say about boats they sell.

Walter
 
Thanks Walter, thats good to know since the boat I'm interested in was repowered by them.
 
I got my boat repowered by them a little over a year ago. They were great! very helpful, always available and courteous. I would use them again. They gave me the best price too. I highly reccommend them!
-Dan
 
I've been keeping boats there for about 14 years now. Dante (Grover) is a very, very knowledgeable man in the industry and hires only quality people. I currently have two boats there, one of which is for sale by him, a 35 Luhrs convertable that he re-powered with Yanmars 4 years ago. The re-power was done perfectly and I have no issues at all with his workmanship or products and love the boat (we elected to go larger). IMO he wouldn't sell anything that would tarnish his good name.

That said, like all major purchases, buyer beware. Have the boat surveyed by a compitent surveyor prior to plunking down those hard earned bucks.

I'm there almost daily as we keep our boat toasty and in the water all year, if you need any more info.

Good Luck
Rich
 
Rich et al, can any of you recommend any good surveyors in your area? I'd like to use someone local so as not to incurr alot of travel expense.
Thanks
 
Rich,
Did you have gas before and then the re-powered with diesel?

Walter
 
Chris,

I used Maddock Marine Services 631-728-7970 and was happy with him. I spent more than 9 hours with him while he surveyed and sea trialed the new boat and thought he was very thorough. There is also the Marine Surveyor section of this site that may provide additiional suggestions.

Walter,

Yes the Luhrs was originally Marine Power Gas.

Rich
 
I'll second Maddock Marine services, the guy who bought my last boat used him and he was incredibly thorough. Given that I was the seller I really wished he had chosen someone else! After seeing him work first-hand he's the first I'd call for a survey on LI.

John
 
Rich,
I have couple of questions if you don't mind.
When they did the re-power did they have to change:

Shafts
Props
Transmission
Drip less seals
Instrumentation (RPM gauges, etc)
Gas Tanks?

Anything else?

Also what did this cost, ball park, I am thinking 60k.

Thanks
Walter
 
Walter,

Yes, everything was changed out except the dash panel, some gauges and the controls, (needed new set of flo-scans and tachs though) fuel tank, 1-400 gal, remained, as the tank was good and diesel was an option on the boat new so supply and return ports were there. The additional expense was the Northern Lights generator, shafts, props, dripless seals, batteries, racor filter system.

It ended up (if memory serves me) at about 70K in 2003 dollars. BUT it transformed the Luhrs into a completely different boat. One that cruises at 24K instead of 17K and gets .90 GPM with the safety of diesel and increased range.

It always amazed me how much Gasoline could be squeezed so quickly through those small jets in the carburetors of the old big blocks.

Knowing what I know now, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Grover started the work in January and the boat was back in the water in mid March and his work was top notch. By the way there were no $ surprises at the completion either as Grover supplied a complete install price to me before he started and stuck to it. Sounds like a commercial for Grover, but he really did do that good by me.

The Yanmars have 750W tank style block heaters on them that eliminate the need for winterizing (thanks to Freeport Electric). I'm on the water all year (as long as the canal remains liquid) and have found the winter almost more enjoyable than the summer. No idiots just working boats and seals.
 
Rich... quick question. I understand that the block heaters give you more flexibility, but how do you stay in the water if the canal goes solid? Or do you just use bubblers all around and stay at port until it liquifies again? Have always wanted to stay in year round, so just curious. Thanks.
 
The marina supplies ice eaters to protect their pilings. Even in the worst of cold, the area at the boats is liquid.

It is tough waiting for the canal to thaw though. I actually thought of tying an ice eater to my bow to be able to move about. Then I woke up.......
 
BTW on the new (to me) Carver I installed block heaters in each of the Cummins 450's and a 750W boatsafe bilge heater in the stern of the bilge area aft of the genset.

Those 120 degree lumps of cast iron do keep the blige toasty though.

I have also found that it keeps everything dry and rust free in the bilge and much less smoke on start up. I generaly leave them on 24 - 7 as they are all thermistaticly controlled. I do pay close attention to them though as I'm there daily and almost live on the boat 3 out of 4 seasons.
 
Eppy......I seen that on craigslist yesterday also.....never knew anything like that existed. Sure does look " home made " ......wonder if it works as well as an ice eater ??
 
My neighbor used one of those bubbler systems for years and it worked just fine. I believe he made his own but I'm not sure.
 
I guess as long as it keeps the water mov'in......it will work ??
 
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