If you’re in the San Diego area, poke your head into the Marine Group Boat Works facility in Chula Vista, and you’re bound to see wall-to-wall yachts. When I spoke with Leah Yam, the director of communications, nearly two weeks ago, Bossy Boots, Tully, Big Eagle, Royal Eagle, Hi Ball, and Orion (above) were all on site getting various repairs and refurbishments. In fact, Capt. Mark Twin of Bossy Boots quipped to me a few days later that you couldn’t even squeeze in a rowboat if you wanted to.
Not that he was complaining, mind you. Twin’s charge, a 136-footer launched by Intermarine in 1999, was receiving a full paint job, her annual ABS survey, various other works for the 10-year survey, and general overall inspection to ensure everything was working properly. Over the past several years, whether running Bossy Boots or other megayachts, Twin had dealt with other yards, and while he’s had good experiences and bad, at Marine Group Boat Works, “It’s been a really good experience.” He chose the yard knowing that Bossy Boots would be cruising the West Coast this time of year and feeling confident that other captains had recommended it. Its location away from hurricanes helped, too. The deal was sealed in May when Fred Larsson, director of superyacht operations, took Twin on a tour of the facility; he was further impressed with the equipment and the management’s approach to spelling things out. “Everything’s up front,” he explains.
A similarly positive reaction comes from Capt. Jeff Kalbach of Orion. His yacht, a 1984 Feadship, is getting a new superstructure paint job and an all-new foredeck, including repairs to rusted spots. Kalbach took over Orion last year in May, and he accompanied the previous captain on tours of repair yards along the West Coast, since that captain had slated September of this year for haul-out. Both gensets were replaced and the hull repainted at Marine Group Boat Works last year, on time and on budget, so he was interested in seeing the place for himself. Upon entering the lobby and reading a brochure about its offerings, Kalbach thought to himself, “Am I in a drydock, or am I in a hotel?” The brochure emphasized the facility’s proximity to the airport and restaurants, and the general area was “really clean,” giving him the sense it was “professional” and anything but typical, he says.
About four weeks into the work, Kalbach has just one regret: having to say goodbye to the thick teak planking covering that foredeck. They just don’t make it like that anymore, after all.
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