I've bought ten new sailing boats in my lifetime--maybe I'll yet buy one more. Who knows. My last new boat was from Signature Yachts in Seattle...it is a Hunter 27. I'm downsizing from a Hunter 380 (which I also bought from Signature).
As an academic I tend to observe and then want to classify things as I go. When you buy a new boat it is not just the dealer you deal with. First, there are the people at the plant as they build your boat. They can leave off stuff you ordered but they may as well put on stuff you didn't order. It's a grab bag of sorts. Then there is the trucking company. My boat went from Florida to the Chesapeake to San Diego and then to Seattle where it waited over the weekend. The dealers and the owners are sometimes totally surprised to see what they got.
And then there is the ship yard. I have spent much time observing how a ship yard works--just sitting in my car watching them deal with my boat as well as others. It is my profession opinion that most yard workers are A.D.S. (Attention Deficit Syndrome). I am not being negative here, probably that is why they like doing their work--they can concentrate on doing it and no one bothers them. And they are good at what they do! But if I were to talk to one of them it throws them off their concentration. Most of the yard workers are outstanding because they have been doing this for sometime, perhaps years. So if you want something different, you may have to leave notes taped to the hull or something like that. I wanted a different bottom paint on my new boat and the day it was removed from the truck they painted it with what they always paint new boats with. It had to be removed and my bottom paint bought and applied. But that took over a week to rectify.
Once the boat is ordered and sold to you, normally another person at the dealership takes over. In my case, Casey supervises the yards, buys the extra equipment, and in general makes sure the new owner is getting what he ordered and wants.
And then there are the subcontractors who have their own idea of what should be done to the boat. I wanted a dodger made with special requirements. The dodger contractor, who is one of the best around the Puget Sound, had other ideas. But also Hunter when they designed this boat probably never thought about this boat having a dodger. Neither cabin top winches can work with a dodger in place. Modifications had to be made--sometimes there is no solution. You live with it. The dodger contractor has won awards and that is what he is thinking--he wants the dodger to look good and he too has made many dodgers so he does what he thinks is correct. So everybody has to give and take a bit.
Yes, I know I spent a lot of money over the years on my boats. I even commissioned one of my boats myself and know the amount of work that needs to be accomplished. I kept track this time and there were five guys at the ship yard, four from the dealership, two more independent marine contractors once I got the boat here in Bellingham, and two electricians for the replacement of the battery charger which failed in the first year. With that many people working it will always be a slip up somewhere down the line. And I didn't count the number of great sales people at West Marine. They love to see me coming in....
I still don't have the perfect boat that I aimed for. I'm having problems with the roller furling and the spinnaker halyard still doesn't have a shackle on the end. However, the dealership has been working with me and I suspect we'll get it all taken care of sometime in the future. It is my estimation that it takes six months to a year to get a boat functional. Not perfect but useable.
I have a theory (this is an academic writing) that most of the world works at about 60/40 percent rate. Sixty percent good, 40 percent slippage....not bad, just not what we wanted. I'm happy with sixty percent right now. Even when I sail my new boat now I'm probably at sixty percent efficient and I dream about forty percent. "Come on, Les, pull up on that traveler", or "Watch the telltales, dummy."
As I reread this it is not well written and for that I apologize. I am totally amazed that one could buy a boat from one dealer several states away and have it commissioned in another part of the country. For that I would have to adjust my theory to 50/50? But you know I have bought five Hunters sailboats. All of them have been taken care of eventually by the company. I have a lot of respect for them. And I'm sure they will make sure you will have a good boat as well. Good luck..
