Flying to Amelie- a remarkable service story
“There’s no destination too far, no problem too complicated for BBY.”
The very first words out of Jack McBride’s mouth when I asked him about this service story were, “It was so, so frustrating,” and after hearing the whole story, I can’t blame him. He and his crew spent a lot of time- several months, in fact- trying to diagnose an engine problem that left his boat, Amelie, stranded in the Virgin Islands over the holidays and through the first of the year. Jack spent his Christmas holiday partly on the phone attempting to coordinate multiple fixes to the problem, all to no avail. “I needed someone who would focus,” instead, he says, “Someone would show up and work for an hour, then they’d leave.”
It all started when Jack and the crew were forced to motor for a distance between Bermuda and their planned destination of Antigua. The wind had disappeared, so they fired up the motor but it failed, leaving them stumped. It seemed to have no power, so they assumed they were dealing with an electrical issue.
Unfortunately for Jack, no one on his crew had mechanical experience. He decided to make a turn and head toward St. Maarten, a place where he and the crew knew they could find reliable mechanics, and some they even knew. However, between there and St. Maarten, they had to sail with no motor and there was still little wind. Jack says of this time, about seven days or so, “It was a real exercise of zen or something like it,” and he adds, “At the end of the day, I’m glad for it.”
They arrived at Simpson Bay in St. Maarten in early December. For several days, Jack supervised various mechanics troubleshoot the problem. Parts were ordered and shipped, and for a time, Jack thought the problem was fixed. He says the fix lasted a month, but then the engine quit again.
It was at this point that Jack decided to reach out to some folks up north- Steve White (our former President), Hodgdon Yachts, and eventually, the Brooklin Boat Yard service team. Nick Bellico, who manages our service department, was excited to tackle the challenge. “We all got together and got Jack on the phone,” Nick says. Nick gathered every expert he needed, and they began to troubleshoot from afar. Somewhere in the process, it was decided that Allen Dodge, a diesel mechanic, would be the guy on the ground to do the work. But first, he’d have to fly down to St. John with the appropriate tools and parts. This trip would require working out every possible scenario that might arise once he got there. Together, the team compiled a list of tools and parts that Allen would need to accommodate every potential situation.
Allen says, “I didn’t lose any of the tools! But they (TSA) did take apart my alternator. I think they thought it might be a bomb,” he laughs. He’s also proud of the fact that no bag weighed over fifty pounds. “No fees!” he exclaims. Allen arrived to St. John safely with several bags of tools and parts. Jack picked him up at the ferry, and Allen got to work. Both Nick and Allen describe what it was like to diagnose from a distance. “Everyday, we’d be on the phone… what happens when you do this? What about this?” Nick explains, “Allen needed some custom fabrication parts for the alternator. On day one, we whipped out a few parts in the machine shop and got them in USPS overnight delivery. The spacers were still warm from the lathe when they hit the post office.” Jack describes the pressure he witnessed Allen experiencing, too. “He was feeling it,” Jack says, “It’s a lot- to have to do all of that within just a few days.” But, Jack is also quick to communicate the instant rapport he felt with Allen. “We hit it off immediately,” Jack says.
It’s no surprise to us that Allen and the team diagnosed the problem. Now, Amelie is running fine and Jack says, “Allen is my new best friend. I learned a lot from him.” The bonus? Allen got to spend a few days sea-trialing and sailing Amelie with Jack.
*all the photos of Amelie and Allen + Jack are compliments of Alex Maurer, Captain, who manages Amelie’s Instagram account.
