The work

Here’s the work.

A boat is only as good as the person looking after her. Here’s what that has meant for the owners who trust Martingale with theirs.

100%

On-time launches, on schedule and on budget

2 hrs

From a flooding through-hull to stabilized, with a plan

4 days

A new boat from delivery to her slip, ready to run

5 days

A failed generator to back in her slip, with a new one

What it looks like from your side

You send one text. That’s the whole job on your end.

Every job below started as a text message. Everything after it is the part the owner never sees: the real diagnosis, the right specialist found and briefed, the parts chased down, the schedule held together. That invisible half is the service.

Generator

The generator is done.

The ask

New generator, nothing for the machineWhat they never had to think about

Diagnosed it at the dock and had video of the fault in front of the builder the same hour, because a warranty claim goes a lot better when they can see the water for themselves.
Established it was a factory installation error, not a worn-out machine: the exhaust had been pitched wrong, letting water back into the generator.
Held the builder to that. A new generator under warranty, at no cost to the owner for the unit.
Ran the haul, the insurance, the crane and the swap, and had the exhaust re-pitched properly so it can't happen again.
Back in her slip in five days, with a new generator.

Bow thruster

I’d like a bow thruster.

The ask

Installed in two weeksWhat they never had to think about

Put the job to two thruster specialists in the same week and took the better bid.
Booked the short haul, the install and the launch as one block, so the boat came out of the water once.
The yard quoted five days on the hard. We scheduled seven, because we know how yards work. It took seven, the owner's dates held and he was never surprised. If it had run longer, that was my problem to solve, not his.
Two weeks from that sentence to a working thruster. Then I drove to Boston to teach him to use it.

Waste systems

Something is badly wrong with the plumbing, and we are due to keep moving.

The ask

Tied up Tuesday, gone ThursdayWhat they never had to think about

Found the fault: the factory had crossed the grey and black water systems on a near-new boat.
Diagnosed it the day they tied up, instead of sending an Australian couple back to the builder from the far side of the world.
Re-plumbed both systems correctly the next day.
They were underway again on Thursday, still on their Great Loop schedule.

Case studies

Four boats, start to finish.

Hallberg-Rassy 39 MkII

Emergency response, owner in France

A flooding through-hull, handled before he'd have known to worry.

A through-hull let go on a Hallberg-Rassy 39 with her owner in France. That's the scary one. A boat with a failed through-hull is a boat that can sink at her mooring, so the first two hours are the whole job.

We had her stabilized with a plan inside two hours. Then the old through-hulls came out and new ones went in, she was sea-trialed, and she was back on her mooring in seven calendar days.

Her owner never cut the trip short and never made a frantic call. He got an update from me at every step, and came home to a boat on her mooring.

A corroded bronze seacock — the kind of failure caught and replaced during a Martingale refit — The kind of fitting that ends seasons. Caught, documented, replaced.

2026 Elliott 33

Imported from New Zealand

New Zealand to the starting line, without her owner making a call.

A brand-new raceboat, built in New Zealand and shipped to the United States on a flat rack. She'd already missed one ship before she left, so the schedule was tight before she ever landed.

We took her from there: the waybill, the port release, the crane lift off the rack, the oversize permits, and the overland haul to the yard. Then the build-up. Keel hung, rig assembled and stepped, bottom faired and finished, and the boat measured for her rating. About two weeks after she landed, she was in the water.

Her owner never made a call. Her first time out, she took line honors.

“

Off a container ship, and first across the line.

2026 Bertram 35

New-boat delivery

From the factory to her slip in four days.

A new boat arrives and most owners wait weeks for somebody to make her ready. We managed this one from the factory door to the slip. She launched four days after she was delivered, blocked, rigged and running.

Behind those four days: the road transport and its oversize permits, a cradle built so her arch would survive the trip, federal documentation and her numbers applied, insurance certified to the marina, and a summer slip found after the first marina couldn't fit her. The slip was the one that could have stalled the whole thing.

Her owner arrived to a boat in her slip with her paperwork done.

A 2026 Bertram 35 on the hard, being commissioned after her road delivery from the factory — Fresh in, and being made ready.

1985 Dyer 29 & 1978 Alden 44

Full winter refits

Two boats stripped, sorted and delivered over one winter.

We ran both refits through the winter: the trades, the schedule, the systems, the records. Corroded seacocks replaced, engines gone through, the small failures found before spring found them.

Then we handled the deliveries, these two and the rest of the fleet. Every owner met a boat that was ready.

A 1985 Dyer 29 on her mooring after a winter refit, Newport waterfront behind her — The Dyer 29, refit and ready.

In their words

The owners who’d know.

Daniel met us at the marina on day one and took a thorough inventory of the boat and her systems — then got to know us as sailors. He handled routine upgrades and troubleshot complicated repairs faster than we expected. Having one responsive point of contact is a luxury like no other.

Joe & Kerrianne Ciccone

Charlestown, MA

Working with Martingale has made boat ownership easy. They're responsive, detail-oriented, and genuinely care about keeping things running smoothly. I spend less time worrying about maintenance and more time on the water.

Barbara Vietor

S/V Fidelia

After 25 years away, Martingale made my dream of cruising again come true. Daniel is an invaluable partner — his expertise brings a real level of safety and security to my itinerary. Prompt, efficient, and with a smile.

Phil Strother

S/V Rebel Fox

The everyday saves that never make the newsletter.

The right part, first time, in five minutes

The owner said his windlass was acting up. I was aboard the next day, had it apart on the deck, and tested it until I knew exactly what had failed. The serial sticker was long gone, but the receipt was in the boat’s record, and I used to run Lewmar’s parts and warranty service for the Midwest. Part number, price and availability in five minutes, and the mechanic booked.

A $2,500 problem, diagnosed to $600

An autohelm fault that looked like a full overhaul turned out to need a $600 correction. Careful diagnostics, not a blank check.

Obsolete part, sourced in under 8 hours

A disintegrated Hood mast swivel, out of production for more than 30 years, matched and replaced through our network the same day.

Hydraulic failure at sea, underway again in 7 hours

We guided the boat safely to port and secured a rare Navtec fitting from the source. Back underway in seven hours.

900Ah lithium conversion in 2 weeks

A full house-bank conversion to lithium, coordinated and completed two weeks from the request.

A slip that didn't exist, found anyway

A new owner's marina couldn't accommodate his boat for the season. We secured a better berth at another marina before he ever saw the problem.

Tell me about your boat.

Tell me the make, the marina and what’s been on your mind. I’ll tell you straight whether I’m the right person to look after her.

Text me your boat & marina or call 703-568-2645