rsimms
Well-known member
This, my friends, is an unadultered, yet glowing endorsement of Kent Hicks and 'Hicks Specialty Welding." (http://ovalcraft.com/) Short story... if you need specialty welding, including aluminum, he is the man to visit (near Cleveland, TN).
Longer story - My boat developed a tiny leak a LONG time ago. Without going into detail, sometimes I can be rough on equipment.
The leak was very minor ... I'd take maybe a gallon of water every hour or two, just enough to give my bilge pump a little exercise. But the leak was impossible to see, or even find. It was hidden beneath the front deck on the inside and beneath the external keel riveted onto the outside.
I took the boat to Kent a year ago but it was impossible to pinpoint the precise location because the leak was so minor. We could fill the boat with water and you wouldn't see a drop come out anywhere. Kent refused charge me anything for his efforts that time.
In the last year the leak worsened. I could actually put water in the boat and you could see a drip coming from beneath the external keel. I felt sure we could nail down the location, so back it went to Kent. As he worked on it, Kent would call me periodically with updates.
To say he was struggling (a.k.a. working his ass off) is putting it mildly. But after two days of HARD work, cutting away the external keel bit by bit, Kent tracked it down and repaired. Now my keel is much stronger than it was when it came from the factory, and my poor bilge pump is feeling very unloved.
I probably could have bought a new boat for what Kent SHOULD have charged me but as it was, I knew I got a bargain. I don't hand out recommendations lightly, but I'm definitely handing this one out!
Longer story - My boat developed a tiny leak a LONG time ago. Without going into detail, sometimes I can be rough on equipment.
The leak was very minor ... I'd take maybe a gallon of water every hour or two, just enough to give my bilge pump a little exercise. But the leak was impossible to see, or even find. It was hidden beneath the front deck on the inside and beneath the external keel riveted onto the outside.
I took the boat to Kent a year ago but it was impossible to pinpoint the precise location because the leak was so minor. We could fill the boat with water and you wouldn't see a drop come out anywhere. Kent refused charge me anything for his efforts that time.
In the last year the leak worsened. I could actually put water in the boat and you could see a drip coming from beneath the external keel. I felt sure we could nail down the location, so back it went to Kent. As he worked on it, Kent would call me periodically with updates.
To say he was struggling (a.k.a. working his ass off) is putting it mildly. But after two days of HARD work, cutting away the external keel bit by bit, Kent tracked it down and repaired. Now my keel is much stronger than it was when it came from the factory, and my poor bilge pump is feeling very unloved.
I probably could have bought a new boat for what Kent SHOULD have charged me but as it was, I knew I got a bargain. I don't hand out recommendations lightly, but I'm definitely handing this one out!
