LA Decisions...

[marinegirl405]

Wow, I just came across this thread, and I know it's old, but I did just want to relay my own experience working with Peter Kennedy on our Gemini 105Mc (#976 - 2007)

We found him friendly and helpful.. He correctly talking us out of some options we thought we wanted, and gave alternative options (some less expensive) for some of our ideas. All our communications with him were relaxed and friendly, and we gained a strong sense of trust for him. As he worked on our boat, we visited from time to time, and he freely gave his time to discuss/demonstrate progress. Although often the boat looked in a state of chaos and disorder, Once he'd finished his work he left it perfectly clean (he used drop cloths while doing much or the work to protect the boat too - especially inside).

Work we had done by Peter Kennedy: radar / chartplotter / gps / battery monitor / battery charger / windlass / loud hailer / VHF and WHAM mics fitted - so work inside and out. We also had him intervene and supervise the installation of our heating system by a different party which were were having serious trouble with.

After 12000nm (including an Atlantic crossing) of sailing we have no issues with any of the items installed by Peter Kennedy (except our loud hailer needed replacing - something that Peter Kennedy warned would likely happen before we even purchased it). We received all the official paperwork for our Raymarine installed equipment without any chasing. Before and during the work PK provided regular detailed estimates and billing. The final total bill matched the original estimate. Every moment of working and emailing him for us was easy and pleasant and we've had no reason to change that opinion (and plenty of other things have broken on the boat - so we certainly don't live looking on the bright side of things).

Although you should not discount Sailing Dogs experience - I can certainly say that we had entirely the opposite experience.

[sailingdog]

Just curious, when you had the work done and the period of time afterwards, were you based in or near Annapolis? From what I've seen, almost all of the people that Peter Kennedy Yacht Services screwed over were people whose boats and homes were located at some distance from Annapolis. It seems that he did much better work for those people who lived close enough to his company to become a problem should he not do a good job.

His name was on the invoice. His name was on the company... he's the one who made the promises...

Originally Posted by marinegirl405

Wow, I just came across this thread, and I know it's old, but I did just want to relay my own experience working with Peter Kennedy on our Gemini 105Mc (#976 - 2007)

We found him friendly and helpful.. He correctly talking us out of some options we thought we wanted, and gave alternative options (some less expensive) for some of our ideas. All our communications with him were relaxed and friendly, and we gained a strong sense of trust for him. As he worked on our boat, we visited from time to time, and he freely gave his time to discuss/demonstrate progress. Although often the boat looked in a state of chaos and disorder, Once he'd finished his work he left it perfectly clean (he used drop cloths while doing much or the work to protect the boat too - especially inside).

Work we had done by Peter Kennedy: radar / chartplotter / gps / battery monitor / battery charger / windlass / loud hailer / VHF and WHAM mics fitted - so work inside and out. We also had him intervene and supervise the installation of our heating system by a different party which were were having serious trouble with.

After 12000nm (including an Atlantic crossing) of sailing we have no issues with any of the items installed by Peter Kennedy (except our loud hailer needed replacing - something that Peter Kennedy warned would likely happen before we even purchased it). We received all the official paperwork for our Raymarine installed equipment without any chasing. Before and during the work PK provided regular detailed estimates and billing. The final total bill matched the original estimate. Every moment of working and emailing him for us was easy and pleasant and we've had no reason to change that opinion (and plenty of other things have broken on the boat - so we certainly don't live looking on the bright side of things).

Although you should not discount Sailing Dogs experience - I can certainly say that we had entirely the opposite experience.

[marinegirl405]

Just curious, when you had the work done and the period of time afterwards, were you based in or near Annapolis?

Sure, when we purchased the boat we were living in Norfolk VA - about a 5-6 hour drive away, it certainly didn't seem close at the time, but would be considered close compared to California. We were setting up the boat for significant international cruising and I don't think we've been back to Annapolis since we picked up the boat, certainly the boat hasn't (currently in England). Once we left the factory we sailed south to the Norfolk area; for about a year until we formally started cruising.

We really felt that closer proximity would have been helpful with a few boat manufacturer 'warranty' issues, and we found even our short distance frustrating at times for this reason - but no issues with Peter Kennedy's work.

We did email Peter Kennedy a few times with questions on our Battery monitor (about what the numbers might actually mean), and a few other questions, and although he was obviously under no obligation to help, he always did.