A Rare Positive Open Letter Of Thanks From A Woody Boater To A Woody Boater.
Mr and almost Mrs Kevin McQuown
We interrupt Texx’s Tour… OK.. Texx needs to sleep.. He was driving late into the night last night between stories and back here at HQ stuff is coming in. We have a fun boat house tour of Lake Winnipesaukee and some great sunset headers to talk about. But this wonderful letter came in from a fellow Woody Boater. We thought it would be nice to share some positive comments that seem to be very rare when folks get their boats restored.
Kevin McQuown is a great guy who got the varnishitus very early in life. He is a regular reader and contributor and it looks like about to get his own Woody Boatress. The letter below says it all. Way to go Kevin and to the good folks at Katz’s Marina for making it all happen.
Matt,
When I had emailed you last we had just gotten engaged. Well it’s official we are less than a month away from our wedding. Everything has come together with just a few loose ends to tie up for our reception which is at a later date than our wedding. Engagement photos have been taken food choices made and all the little details taken care of at Lake Placid Lodge. The biggest thing was getting our boat to Katz’s Marina for a 5200 bottom. We wanted the boat for our wedding and honeymoon. We finally got it back home and Katz’s did an amazing job. I bought our GarWood because it had been “restored” in 2000. I didn’t have time at that point to go look at it but it had been a winner at Clayton. The bottom was original and had been refastened and the sides were original and refastened. So I figured it was a good starting point. Once it arrived it was apparent that the bottom had some issues. After 2 weeks of trying to swell the bottom I knew I needed work. I saved as much money as I could to get it done. Once I got it to Katz’s and they started work all the issues became apparent. Seth was kind enough to work in my budget. Fix what needed to be fixed and really stuck to the numbers. He and his crew of guys kept me well informed through the whole process.
I was relieved to see the bottom going back on. I also wanted the name changed to something more personal to me and Taryn and we decided to name the boat after our beloved English Setter, Annabelle, who was a rescue dog and has been the best dog we could’ve asked for. Alan Johnson did the lettering. Seth even took the time to put three fresh coats of varnish on just so things would look perfect for our wedding. I
don’t really know the full extent that Seth went to to make sure everything was perfect for us on our wedding day but I can’t express how great full we are to Seth and his whole crew. They really went the extra mile for us. I wouldn’t trust my boat to anyone but him.
Thanks
Kevin McQuown
There she is tucked away at home!
In the spirit of being positive today, please let the world know when you had a great experience with your boat restoration or service. There are some great companies out there that deserve a ataboy!
Way to go Kevin and Taryn!
I remember the engagement announcement here on WoodyBoater.
Miss Annabelle looks fantastic, can’t wait to see the wedding pictures.
Troy
PS: Love the header of Miss Step. Can’t get enough of that boat.
First, I want to congratulate Kevin and his new bride, and wish them many happy years of WoodyBoating.
We are fortunate to have numerous very reputable classic boat repair and restoration shops in Michigan, and I have seen excellent work from many of them. However, since I have had two boats done by Marine Services Unlimited in Houghton Lake, I will give them my personal attaboy. Since it is a small father and son operation, they may be slower than some other larger shops, but the quality of their work and attention to detail is second to none. Dave and Scott are also very nice and very fair people to work with.
I have an Ataboy for Don Robertson at the Welding Shop for manufacturing a new stainless steel gas tank after the aluminum tank in Boomer turned to swiss cheese. In a week he turned a disasterous boating season into a success.
nice story this morning. congrats kevin on not only finding someone you are happy to marry but seems she is a very supportive woody boatress, you scored ! and a nice new shiny boat. enjoy day and the many more that will follow
I did get very lucky, not many women would let you include a 5200 bottom in your wedding budget.
Kevin you should be a politician the way you slid that 5200 bottom line item into your wedding budget. Bet of luck with with the boat and your marriage.
That 5200 bottom is nothing compared to the 52,000,000 bottom Kevs just signed up for.
Yes, one of the highest risk moves ever made. Kevin will go far.. This is a much more fun lifestyle when your best pal is with you. Never let her go. Boats come and go. True love is for ever!
Great story….Thanks for sharing!!!!
Ah takes me back to the exsperince I wish I could have had and thought I would recive at Vintage Marine . O well no ata o
Ata boy there. But to Don my engine guy super ata boys
Ps Kevin congrats people are the most important thing, get that right and l else will be good
Congratulations to Kevin and Taryn. Enjoy your boat, it looks great!
My attaboy goes to Kent O or better known as JR. When he took his three year sabbatical to go run Hacker-Craft, we were fortunate to have him and his crew work on Grandpa’s Dream. Kent kept us informed all the way through the job and still keeps in contact with us even though he is no longer there.
JR. is also a great contributor to Woodyboater with his wonderful photos from various show around the North East parts of the USA.
I would feel a lot better if this letter had been written after he had put some time on the boat..but I guess it had been too long since we had been submitted to another Katz plug/header/promo..
Yup!
When it comes to wooden boat builders you have to be a patient person, my builder (AllWood Products) here in SC has been hitting it hard for the last year and a half but got off to a rocky start 14 years ago. They tried to tell me I was crazy for ever buying my boat but I wouldn’t hear it, no no, had to have it, so here I am 14 years later and a couple thousand lighter (yea! right) and they are only a few months out from being done, are is it a few years, what ever, they are great and have been great to work with, (only lied to me a couple of times) sold some of my wood to someone else and were originally hobbyist working out of my garage, but you got to love them.
BTW, AllWood Products is me… 😀
Congrats Kevin & Taryn!
Matt you cam take my comment down. It looks dumb when all the other comments are about the newly weds. I guess i misunderstood you request for comments
Mike, no you didn’t. I read it the same way. People just chose to congrat instead of relate their own experiences.
Because I own so many boats, I could write pages of attaboys to Tommy Mertaugh and his peeps at Classic and Antique Boats for all the things they’ve done for my family and me, restoring them, repairing them, and keeping them running safely. Without that degree of expertise and care, I’d be lost! And I’d surely have bought only one or two boats instead of, well, more.
Thank You for all the congratulations…I only wrote Matt because I wanted to give credit where it was due to Seth. He made me the promise that my boat would be done for the wedding and it was. This was a very expensive learning experience for me but the end result and hearing the boat run so well when I went to pick it up and that first ride in it made it all worth it. Seth really made our wedding even more special. I find it rare this day and age that people go the extra mile like he did. It was a bit of a weird situation for me as I do antique auto restoration for a living and I’m usually the one giving the bad news to people about their cars etc. and being on the other side of the table is odd. But it was a great experience. While this boat isn’t done and there’s more I want to change we are already thinking and saving for our next boat. I also want to say thank you to my beautiful fiancée for putting up with me. She is truly one in a million and passionate about the same things I am. Woody boating has been a part of our relationship since the beginning and well always be.