Sunday 6th December
15.23.4 N 53.51.7W
Dear Suppliers to S/Y Magic
As we sail the last few hundred miles en route to Saint
Lucia we are taking the time reflect on and write a letter to the suppliers who
have worked on Magic over the past year in preparation for our Atlantic
Crossing. For the purposes of this letter, some of the names may have been
changed… but you know who you are! It is staggering how bad the sailing
industry is supported. There are so many suppliers who think they can get away
with shoddy work – because we are passing through.
We have been amazed at the world-class lack of
professionalism; skill and integrity you have shown us during our progress from
Portsmouth to Portugal, Spain and through to Las Palmas and on to the Caribbean.
Fellow sailors – isn’t it time we didn’t have to put up with
mediocre services from people who “don’t care” (yes that’s really what one
supplier said when we complained – “ I don’t care”) or are incompetent – it is
expensive and worse it is dangerous.
There should be a global – approved marine supplier network
of the good guys who do good work and do care.
Having said that there are many people out there who have
done great work on Magic – and to you – John, Simon, David, Martin and Juan
Carlos at Rolnautic… Pip and the Force 4 guys – Seaway Deliveries etc – you
know how much we appreciate your work. You are rare!
So on to our Thank you letter:
Thank you to Andy the ‘electrician’ in Portsmouth who
supplied us with all the wrong LED lights so that we nearly burned our boat and
ourselves. He also treated us to many
hours of delightful small talk for which he charged by the hour whilst not
fixing our Webasto central heating system.
Thank you Brian the ‘rigger’ in Portsmouth who took away our
mainsail to have a third reef put in and then rigged the sail back on so badly
that when we hoisted it, it took us 4 hours to re do the running rigging.
Thank you to Antonio the ‘sail maker’ who taught us the cost
of sail repairs. He took away our
damaged mainsail – We are sure that 1000 euros for the repair of one small hole
and two new batons is a bargain. Again it
was really useful to learn all about our reefing system as we had to completely
re reef all the running rigging!
Thanks to the Simrad ‘expert’ who charged us for days and
days of work to ‘fix’ the autopilot that then stopped working mid Atlantic – it
made the adventure so much more fun. We
enjoyed hand steering for hundreds of miles day and night. It is great for your
arm muscles and your sailing skills.
Thanks to icom (the spell checker wanted to make that i con)
for the new VHF that lasted 7 months and stopped working mid Atlantic – it was
so much fun to be out of touch.
Thanks to Hugo and his team who managed to create so many
paint defects in our new paintwork that we were able to learn all about marine
paint. It also meant that it didn’t
matter if we got a scratch, as you wouldn’t notice. Thank you also to the
‘professional’ marine surveyor who
didn’t know the difference between paint and epoxy.
Thanks to the marine maintenance team in Gibraltar who so
badly fitted our new Schenker water maker that the Schenker team who visited
Magic in Las Palmas said it would have to be refitted completely in Saint Lucia
– you really helped us guys – it would have been so dull to actually have had fresh
water on the way to Saint Lucia. The
team on Magic loved having to figure out a way of using buckets and bilge pumps
to make the water maker work.
Thanks to the rigger who rigged our new mast and seemed to
have forgot the bottom rivets and who put the split pins in backwards and
didn’t tape them well so that they ripped holes in the mainsail mid
Atlantic. We loved taking the sail down
and making a repair at sea. We loved talking with our crew about weather we
should go to Cape Verde for repairs or not – very motivational!
Thank you also to the ‘expert’ who told us the head of our
furling Genoa was fine. When it jammed
at sea, Mark had a ball rolling and spinning around the mast trying to fix it
in a huge Atlantic swell with a squall on our heels. Once
the bruises heal I am sure he would love to pop over and shake your hand.
Thanks to Hanse for making a boat with a stern door that
leaks so we had the experience of being afraid because we had to pump out water
on our way to Madeira – then have a new seal fitted in Las Palmas. How can you design a door that’s below the
water line that in your own words “is
not designed to be water tight”? Thanks for the chart table and door coming
away from their hinges – it was hilarious fun in a force 7 rolling about trying
to grab things that come away in our hands – what a hoot you guys are. Longer screws would have made for such a dull,
safe time for our crew. Oh yes, and
thanks for the anchor mechanism – it looks amazing until you actually have to
anchor and it bends at 45% slamming into the side of the boat and jamming the
chain– nice job.
And how we laughed until we cried when we discovered that
the diagram of the electrics we have was not the one for this actual boat –
good one!
Bloody hilarious too are the hinges on the tables that are
supposed to hold up the heavy table tops – they don’t work, leaving you to have
the table tops crashing down on your nose or head – it’s ok …purple suits me,
thanks.
Thanks for the electronic gauges on the yacht – wouldn’t it
be so dull to actually know how much
fuel or water you really have. The guessing game is good for the mental
fitness of all on board. It is also good
for the local economies we have visited, as we have to buy twice as much water
and fuel so we are sure we have enough.
That’s clever.
And thank you for the new kicker plate that we had made in
Las Palmas that lasted only 8 days before cracking. That’s great, as it keeps steel guys busy in
the Carribean. But - Hanse - why design
a vang that cracks the kicker plate – it’s a “common fault” ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……
So, Thank you …’professional’ marine suppliers - this has
all been so not worth the £100 000 we have invested in supporting your
businesses. I hope you sleep well
thinking of your customers sailing the Atlantic and putting their lives at risk
– what fun for yo
Just because we sail away
doesn’t mean that YOU should get away
With, shoddy work
Lets Make Sailing Safer!
very sincerely
Tina and Mark Davies on S/Y Magic
THANK YOU