I just bought my 39' Carver in Rhode Island. I am registering it there because R.I.is also a tax free state on boats. The boat was a BANK REPO and required much work as it had been sitting for over 1 1/2 years, in and out of dry dock. First I hired a licensed Boat Surveyor in R.I. by the name of Capt. Paul Shaw II, Marine Surveyor & Consultant who charged me $1300 for a full Boat Survey, equipment functional check and condition status, and Sea Trials. After receiving the money up front, he began the survey. When it came to sea trials, the engines would not start, batteries were dead and new batteries would not start the engines. it was reported that the fuel was no good and needed to be drained; that the engines needed to checked out completely and Mobile Marine Repairs was recommended by Capt Paul Shaw II. I contacted Mobile Marine, a Jim McAlees in Rhode Island near Warwick where the boat was located. For $400 he did an engine analysis (supposedly) reporting back that all cylinders had at least 90% psi in each cylinder on both engines. He added another $400 for using his used batteries and labor to install and remove them, while giving me an estimate of some $6,000 to drain fuel tanks, replace various pieces and belts that he reported needed replacing and bringing the engines up on line and in good running order. I terminated with prejudice any further services from this individual, informing him that I thought he was completely overcharging me in a fraudulent manner. During the negotiation phase on this purchase, I negotiated a $5,000 reduction on the boat because of the items and the state of the engines, after receiving the Boat Survey from Capt. Paul Shaw II. I had discussed in detail the asking price and my offer in consideration of his report and the engine analysis by Mobile Marine's Jim McAlee. I contacted a second Marine Maintenance contractor for an estimate which came in at less than $2000, and he reported back that half of the items reported by both Capt. Paul and Jim McAlee did not need to be done, such as replacing Risers. He also reported that one of the plugs in the one of the engines was completely rusted in place and rounded off so badly that he would have too remove the exhaust manifold to get it out, further that there was no way an engine analysis could have been properly performed on this engine! This brought into question everything previously (supposedly done by Mobile Marine, billed by them and paid for by me! All of this is highly suspect of Mobile Marine being aware of the reduction in price negotiated on the boat, that Capt. Paul was aware of and appear to be blatant attempts to fraudulently ripe-off an out of town buyer. We are always trying to find good services at reasonable prices where we go and determine were not to go, to keep from running into ripe-off artists, high priced scams and the like. My personal opinion is that this represents the sort of thing we want to stay away from and thus my reason for reporting it. I wish I had had a decent point of contact in Warwick before getting into the repairs to my new boat ... live and learn I guess, but I am reporting these people to the Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau for future reference and I hope that no one else gets caught in a similar situation. Richard McCall "Day Dreams" - 39' Carver