UPDATE 3/7/2019. I first contacted North Harbor Diesel in September 2018 to inform them about the trouble I was having with the hatch they installed.I could not elicit any help from the employee to whom my queries were forwarded to, nor from the owner of the yard. In January 2019 I was contacted by Dianna. She took charge and offered to refund the cost of the fiberglass work they did around the hatch, ordered a replacement hatch and covered the considerable shipment cost to French Polynesia where I am presently. I would consider this the absolute best response possible under the circumstances. I think that Dianna is an outstanding employee.
This is a long review, but please take time to read fully
I have tried for over two months to receive a reply from North Harbor Diesel about the forehatch that they installed in my foredeck. They have not been responsive and I have decided to post about my experience.
This was a brand new hole that they had to cut in the foredeck. All the work was done by them in 2017. The boat is a Farrier F-40 Trimaran that is in excellent condition. We sailed from Anacortes to San Diego then offshore to the Marquesas and are now in the Tuamotus. I have owned and worked on boats for over 40 years. I wish that I did not need to write this and I have generally had excellent experience with yards in general (including Betts Boats ;James Betts Enterprises, Inc. in Anacortes and West Sound Marina on Orcas Island and especially Shelter Island Boat Works in San Diego). We had $98,000 USD of work preformed by North Harbor in 2017 in anticipation of our departure. The work was promised at the very latest for April 2017 completion for sea trials in April. They did not complete the job until September 30th of 2017..... a full six months late. But it is not unusual for yards to take twice the time promised.
My real dissatisfaction is in the quality of the work preformed. Here is just one example:
Please note the pictures attached. These show the quality of their workmanship that was hidden behind the 24"x24" Lewmar Ocean Hatch that was installed. The resin ratio appears to have been incorrect in several of the layers of glass that were built up around the new hatch opening. Because the resin was soft and only sticky.... the fiberglass delaminated along that layer over about 70% of the hatch area. The hatch started leaking sea water while we were 1,500 miles offshore. It also appeared to have what looked like uncured resin (dark like old epoxy hardner) start to blead out and drip from the upper corners. We were forced to put in at NUKU-HIVA for repairs. I pulled the hatch and to my great dismay saw the full extent of the problem. The hatch was starting to pull lose from the deck of the boat.... if we had continued, the hatch may have detached at the hinge side and in heavy weather.... could have torn free. This was more than just a glassing issue .... The hinge side of the hatch was attached with wood screws (Lewmar specifies thru=bolting) and the screws had only 3/8" of purchase into the weakened fiberglass frame. (this is because the frame is extra thick around the hinges and the screws were only 3/4" to 1" to begin with. The opening had also bee cut over-large and the screws on the hinge side were poking out the sides of the opening, having been drilled at an angle where they broke thru the side.
This quality of work was brought to their attention with numerous photo's and a description of the problem. They said that they would get back to me over two months ago, I asked for updates on three occasions since, with no response for over a month.
Hence I post this warning.
They knew that we were leaving imediatly on a trip around the world, We had asked for the very best work possible. It's a fast and very wet boat, the speeds can be easily over 18 knots. This type of work on our foredeck could have caused terrible problems off-shore, and we are lucky that we put in at Nuku-hiva.