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[dsolo]

Viper I here you. I had a great tech/mechanic for years. The man spent his time between Florida in the winter months and northern Michigan in the summer. Knowledgeable, skillful, knew how he was dealing with, and had great communications skills. He is in Florida full time now.

He knew the boat was 160 miles away from him once it left him at spring launch. I lived in Gaylord, Michigan and had a summer home in Bruce Mines, Ontario. The western tip on the North Channel, Lake Huron.

He would give suggestions on proactive maintenance. He talked age of equipment, how things looked, sounded, and what normally failed on this particular model. If he said the bellows looked like they are starting to crack which is typical for them being XX years old, I would change them. If he recommended rebuilding the Rochester carb based on the hours and their problem with fuel pump baffles, we rebuild it.

Bottom line, I put 1700 hours on the boat and never broke down.

Today I found a dirty shop rag under one of the engine's troddle body covers. Must have been left by a mechanic during winter prep? Had I not been crawling all over the boat to learn her, it would not have been found. I was inspecting the secondary fuel filters they failed to change and found the rag. Not sure what it would have done?? But a rag with oil on it isn't a good thing on a hot engine.
I miss my prior mechanic! This forum gives some of what I lost.

[Viper]

At least everyone here is making an effort to learn from the experience of others. That makes for an educated boater/customer. There are two schools of thought with techs; those that see the benefits of educating boaters, and those that prefer not telling the customer anything for fear of the customer fixing it himself. You'll always have however, boaters that will endeavor to do everything themselves, and those that won't lift a finger. You won't get much out of the average DYIer but maintaining a good relationship will eventually pay off, it's just a matter of time. For the rest, the more you educate them, the more understanding they have of what should be done, they won't get you to fix what they don't know.

The loss of a good tech is becoming a common occurrence. Unfortunately they are few and far between. If you find a good tech, hang on tight to him. Whether you're a DYIer or not, you should maintain a relationship with him, you never know when you'll need him, and he'll likely go the extra mile for someone who smiles, says hi, and doesn't think of him as an insignificant trade. You can bet I'm not going to jump or share much with someone who says, "Ya but my car mechanic says..."

[mjk1040]

So True Viper, So True! People in the trades are few and far between these days. And finding a tradesman that cares and takes pride in their profession are a rare breed these days. Mike