"JUST LOVE"
I bought…read morea 1985 Pearson 36-2 sailboat in Ventura, and I'm so glad I did because I discovered Ventura Harbor Boatyard.
And now if I ever need major work done or a haul-out, I'm coming here even if I have to motor all the way from my home port, Long Beach.
Why? Well, there's some obvious superficial reasons such as the fact lay days are less expensive, and the yard lets you DIY. For the last, not only do they LET you DIY, they ENCOURAGE it. From what I've heard and seen, every other yard in SoCal at the very least discourages it, while many simply don't let you do any of your own work blaming their insurance.
But the REAL reason VHB is so great is the people: everyone I encountered that worked at the yard--and I was there, working and living aboard my boat, for about two and a half weeks--was helpful, professional and friendly.
Here's the list:
-Mike, head of customer service.
-Dale, foreman of paint and fiberglass.
-Jose, head mechanic on the big boat side.
-Brad, head mechanic on the small boat side.
-Karen, head office administrator
-Dale, main lift operator
-Harry, supply guy
-Nico, mechanic
-Andy, mechanic
-Chris, paint and fiberglass
-Ibo, paint and fiberglass
Hope I didn't miss anyone.
A couple of examples of how great the people are there--
-Mike, head of customer service, steered me away from GPU packing when I ran it by him that that's what I was going to use for repacking my stuffing box. Sure enough, I looked it up and the graphite can react with some metals in drive shafts causing electrolysis (a kind of dissimilar metal corrosion).
His many years in the boat repair business saved me a potentially expensive and even dangerous mistake.
Plus, his interpretation of lay days was always in my favor. Just an all around good dude.
-Dale, the paint and fiberglass foreman gave me a masterclass on fiberglass and HELPED ME patch my built in water tank. I'm an English teacher and his clear instructions and patient manner had me taking notes on ways I could improve in the classroom. A masterclass by a master craftsman at no charge.
And both Dale and Mike showed me around the yard, gave me a tour of the yard's boat that they completely restored (keeping the original name because the previous owner explained to them he'd named the boat after his mother), and told me a bit of the storied history of the yard (some of it involves restoring famous classic wooden boats as well as helping big time YouTubers refit).
I got an education and an irreplaceable experience.
Their motto on their t-shirt says it all, "Just Love."
