Solomons Island, MD - Service With A Smile

Well we are getting the most out of our time here at the marina. First things first, we went and got some free breakfast from the hotel. Then Kevin started working on the genset while I walked to the grocery store before it got too hot. When I got back, I saw two unfamiliar pairs of shoes outside the boat and discovered that a couple passing by had struck up a conversation with Kevin, peppering him with questions about the boat. So he invited them in for a tour. When I got there they were just explaining how they hope to buy their own boat someday and go cruising. We chatted for a bit and they thanked us for inviting them aboard and were on their way.

Kevin's got two projects going at the moment, both of which require us to order some parts: fixing the overheating generator, and fixing the overheating outboard. We decided to start with the generator. We went over to another marina which claims to be a "Beta Marine Dealer" (beta marine sells marinized Kubota generators which is what we have). This was a huge complex, with a machine shop and a service department proclaiming in huge lettering on the wall "Beta Marine". However, once Kevin asked to take a look at the parts manual so he could tell them which part to order, they told us that they didn't have one and that if we wanted to order our own copy it would be $40. Forty dollars, just to be able to tell them what we really wanted to order! Crazy. So we postponed that chore, since Kevin has found a company on the internet who can get us a manual for $15.

Next up was finding a water pump service kit for the outboard. After our strikeout with Beta Marine we weren't hopeful, but we walked down the street to Solomon's Boat Rentals which turned out to be a tiny shack on a dock full of runabouts. A sign with tiny font said, among other things, "Tohatsu" (that's our outboard brand name). We looked at each other and shook our heads, we were sure we wouldn't be able to get the outboard parts we needed. But we decided to knock on the door anyway. We entered the building (a 10 x 10 room) and explained to the guy what we needed and asked if he could order it for us. He smiled and said, "You know what, I actually have a service kit right here. Got it in a shipment today." And he literally reached out from where he sat and produced exactly what we needed! This NEVER happens. It is ALWAYS a rigamarole to obtain the part you need. I gaped in astonishment as Kevin paid the man and then the guy actually printed out a diagram and explained what needed to be done. We walked home with huge stupid grins on our faces. It doesn't take much to make our day.