August 2024 by Daniel Hays
ATLANTIC BOAT COMPANY
HORRIFIC
The destruction of SPARROW (My Old Man and the Sea)
25-foot sailboat, blisters on top sides, cosmetic cracks and such on deck. Awlgrip and paint estimate $22,000. Final price $32,000.
For two years my father and I built Sparrow to standards based on all of our readings of accounts of the worst sea conditions, what failed, why, and how it could have been prevented.
Our goal was to sail around Cape Horn, which we did, and without any damage. When surveyed a few years later “This vessel was finished off to surpass any and all sea conditions… This is a world class sailing vessel that has done what it was meant to do and could do it again and again.”
When ATLANTIC BOAT COMPANY completed their work, Sparrow looked great. I went below a couple of times to clean up before showing her (it took a long time to give in, but I got too old to do the circumnavigation I had been planning).
The first guy came, hand rail coming off as he grabbed it to go below. He began finding what looked like vandalism. The work my father and I had completed had been UNDONE, such that this boat, which had sailed around Cape Horn was no longer see worthy.
The stanchion bolts had been sawed through level with the deck. After painting, the hardware was then mounted with one and one eighth-inch screws, barely long enough to get through the deck. With a bit of jiggling to get things started, leaning on the stanchions tore them out. One fell over during Sparrows truck ride to her new owner.
This absurd incompetence was methodically repeated on all cabin top fittings, evidenced by the fact that not a single ceiling plank had been removed to gain access. There are about 30 fittings on deck and cabin top which now have no integrity. This includes winches, fairleads, cleats, roller blocks and now EVERY fitting unsafe.
In addition, things had been removed and put back incorrectly. Parts had been lost, including some expensive and meticulously installed.
All these damages were not the result of a single incompetent worker - their "technique" was methodical.
I was not contacted and told that they were unable to remove anything bolted. One phone call would’ve made all the difference and I would have immediately stopped them. (The pulpit; The screws they used to put it back were smaller and thinner than the originals. As no bedding compound was used anywhere, the pulpit can now be removed by two people - no tools required.
When she was done the only disclosure I got was that the cost was now half again as much as the estimate.
Look at the pictures.
Obviously I demanded a refund.
In response came a letter from the president and COO. After a meaning less paragraph confirming that Sparrow had indeed been there, reviewing invoices and costs, including winter storage “where you have had unlimited access,” there was a single sentence relating in any way to all of this – one short sentence;
“I believe the work done (painting) on Sparrow was executed properly and with professional results.”
Alex Loer, President & COO Tern, Inc. - Atlantic Boat Company
I saw a lawyer about all this. He said after 2 to 4 years there would be a settlement and we would probably get $10,000 and that he would take $6000 of it. Great way to Ruin 2 to 4 years, just the idea of having anything to do with this company is – I don't have words...
Atlantic Boat company in Brooklin Maine Stole/scammed/(... I'm sure there were some good legal words that could be put right here).
For $32,000 SPARROW was transformed from being almost ready to make a circumnavigation into a sailboat that couldn't float without parts falling off - unsellable. NO INTEGRITY!
Daniel Hays
