Hmmmm . . . . I have since gone back and re-read the thread, and my reply to
Arild. I must apologize, I did not intend to sound so snippish, and my
intent was not to trounce Arild. This is a sensitive subject for me, and I
had probably not had enough caffenne.

Sorry Arild.

Since I am rebuilding a substantial boat, on an insubstantial budget, and am
doing most, if not all of the work myself, I get a lot of "You're going down
in flames because you didn't pay more."

What I have found is that many of the products and services that I need can
be had in better quality and quantity if I do a little research, and
generally run away in a blind panic from someone (but not all!) that
specializes in "marine" work.

I just got my chainplates from the metal fabricator. By purchasing the 316
stainless stock myself, and having it machined/welded to my specifications
at a shop that specializes in fabricating stainless, I spent just about $400
for all 6 forward chainplates. A "marine" fabricator on the coast (who shall
remain nameless) wanted over $2000 for the exact same job.

My 2 massive bronze heat exchangers (1959 vintage, and they are really works
of art) along with the bronze expansion tanks were just stripped, boiled,
cleaned, tested, and reassembled with new gaskets and zincs (the exchangers)
for a total cost of under $200 by a shop that specialized in truck
radiators. This is hundreds less than other estimates from "marine" shops. I
must also point out, that the truck shop "quoted" the price, all the other
guys were very clear that they were just estimates, and if a bolt or
something was harder to remove than they expected, it could cost
"substantially" more.

My injector pumps on my Mercedes engines were totally rebuilt by a certified
Bosche shop in San Antonio for about $700 each, half the price of the
nearest quote, and they probably would have sent them to the same shop I did
and pocketed the difference.

I just picked up a load of steel plate for my decks, the same spec steel
from the same manafacturer was 40% cheaper depending on which dealer I
selected im my area. Forty percent!

My (somewhat erroneous) gist from loosely following the thread was that the
owner had said that it was not really necessary to spend $10,000 on a
thruster, and he had done a similiar and functional installation for about
1/3 that . . . and that folks were trouncing him on that decision.

Sorry about that.

As for my car example . . . it was the exact same car, same options, same
model, same 7 year warantee, same color, same sticker price, dealers about 8
miles apart. The dealer I got it from was $8K cheaper than the one down the
street. Just cause I was willing to shop around, and did not assume that the
exact same car would be the same price everywhere.

(snip)from Keith
Anyway, it seems strange to me to attemp to apply any form of logic to boat
ownership!
(endsnip)

A truer bit of wisdom has never been spoken.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
http://cuagain.manilasites.com

Danny,
You're right that shopping around is an important way to save
money.  Because our boat rebuilding project took 4.5 years, we
had plenty of time to shop carefully and find bargains at surplus
and flea market sources.

One example.  I had coveted an "Aqua-Shaft" propellor shaft
device to isolate the hull from engine vibration and allow
increased engine movement on its mounts, but didn't believe the
$2000 price was justified.  I happened upon the very model to fit
my engine at the Dania Marine Flea Market in Ft. Lauderdale, and
bought it for $250 in new condition.

Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh
presently in Pass Christian, MS
headed for the wooden boat show in Madisonville, LA

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