Premier Support Testimonials

Contact Steve D’Antonio at info@stevedmarineconsulting.com. He is a marine technical consultant (the Technical Editor of Passagemaker Magazine) whom we have used in different capacities for several years. Inquire if he could make space for you in his Captains’ Club. The annual fee is well worth it and his communication is excellent, it’s like having an engineer looking over your shoulder as he guides you in fixing something, smart 1st investment.

Bev Collombin
Inaugural Captains’ Club member
74-foot custom aluminum motor yacht

"Fricking amazing. Steve's two-day inspection of my totally refitted and updated boat, revealed 99 items that I had not, and never would have, seen. Left undiscovered, they would have jeopardized the safety, reliability and enjoyment of our "new" boat. These items also were not seen by experienced marine mechanics and electricians from highly reputable boatyards who had been working on my boat for over two years. The value of Steve's inspection is immeasurable."

Larry Hall
Captains’ Club Member
47-foot trawler

"Sometimes you scare me with how much you know in what level of detail. I can't imagine having anything done on my boat without your participation in the selection of equipment and its installation."

H. Lawrence
Charter Captains' Club Member

Steve: I'm delighted to renew my membership in your Captain's Club. I was thinking back over the spectrum of issues you've helped with during the last year:

• invaluable help during the final stages of commissioning my new boat and working thru a range of issues during our initial cruising, including diagnosing a fuel system problem while underway;
• helping develop plans and evaluating alternatives for improvements to the electrical system;
• taking a technically disciplined approach to helping me work through an excessive ER temp problem;
• persuading me to change the configuration of my bilge pump plumbing to improve effectiveness and safety, and at least several others.

The results have been uniformly outstanding. Improved system reliability and performance. Some unnecessary maintenance costs avoided. Clear guidance through some highly technical minefields. And on the fuel system problem, your remote diagnosis provided dead-on guidance so local mechanics could step in and quickly correct the problem, avoiding many hours of misdirected troubleshooting in an area where I knew no one.

Through it all you have been unfailingly available and responsive. I can't overstate the value you deliver.

It's a pleasure working with you and I look forward to another rewarding year as a Captain's Club member.

Sincerely,
Richard Ossoff
59-foot trawler

I arrived at Trawler Fest in Greenport NY without incident. While at the dock, hooked to shore power, our cabin lights dimmed then brightened every 30 minutes. Additionally I discovered that disconnecting from shore power resulted in no house battery power at all. I was very discouraged by another mysterious electrical problem and intended to return home earlier than originally planned.

Steve D'Antonio was presenting a seminar, Getting to Know Your Charging & Electrical Systems at Trawler Fest. Steve graciously agreed to carry out an inspection of my boat's charging system. His inspection revealed a very dangerous electrical malfunction. His suggested temporary solution that alleviated the danger of fire, and allowed us to continue our trip. Steve also carefully explained how these issues need to be corrected back at our home marina. I have since met with our marina service manager and was able to explain exactly what happened and exactly how I would like it repaired.

After one consultation with Steve I have a much better understanding of my boat and the its complex systems.

Judge Manning
SDMC Captains' Club member
The Promises
42-foot trawler
Sharon CT

When we received our new vessel it was riddled with so many issues that I lost confidence to cruise her far from home port. Steve's comprehensive systems inspection didn't just identify problems- he confirmed and dispelled suspicions and provided clear recipes for repair with a level of expertise that wasn't available locally. When my list of "fixes" is complete I now know that we can cruise anywhere without concern.

Carl Gulledge
59-foot trawler

Steve D'Antonio's inspection of our vessel was thorough, professional and insightful. We inspected our vessel after a year of ownership, and can say that Steve caught so much more than our traditional boat surveyor found. Steve provided a prioritized report that allowed us to concentrate our efforts on the most pressing issues, and helped us with describing potential warranty related claims. Incredibly valuable; we will never buy another boat without utilizing Steve's professional services.

Bob and Darcy Bingham
Owners of Enterprise, a 55-foot trawler

After invaluable assistance in the selection and purchase of my new 36 foot trawler (see my testimonial under "New Buyers") I engaged Steve to assist me in fitting out the boat with navigational gear and upgrading electrical systems. Once again, Steve's years of experience actually managing a yard proved to be of immense value. He could speak the lingo, understood the yard "culture" and was respected by the staff. Most importantly, his reputation for not only being very knowledgeable but for being fair and reasonable played well with the yard. In my absence Steve became my eyes and ears.

As is almost always the case we encountered some honest misunderstandings with the yard and I shudder to think what the outcome might have been had Steve not been there to argue my position. His authoritative and calm manner won the day and in addition to saving me several thousand dollars above his fee he managed to achieve an outcome satisfactory with everyone.

I have never called or emailed Steve with a question that I didn't receive a response within an hour unless he was in a meeting or out of the country. And, his responses are usually accompanied with references and "go-tos" that prove invaluable in my ongoing education. My experience with Steve has proved to be a solid investment.

R. Burt
Prater, MD

I originally contacted Steve for help with a specific issue and, shortly thereafter, joined his Captain's Club. He's proven to be an indispensible resource.

Steve combines an extraordinary breadth of technical knowledge - encompassing structure, electrics, propulsion, hydraulics, electronics, plumbing and more - with a highly practical, real-world understanding of how to get things done, and done right.

He is focused, disciplined and tenacious in his approach to trouble-shooting, avoiding the facile conclusions which others so often substitute for serious problem-solving. He helps you to avoid false starts and wasted effort in running down problems - which translates into quicker, less expensive solutions. Importantly, he is accessible and highly responsive. When you need an answer, he's there.

I wish I had engaged him while I was specifying and during the build of my new boat. There are a number of decisions that would have been improved, with considerable cost savings. That goes for adding and retrofitting equipment. The ROI on his services is very high.

I strongly recommend, without any hesitation, that anyone building, buying or running a sophisticated boat find a way to include his services among your key resources.

Richard M. Ossoff
Atlanta, GA

I started working with Steve eight years ago as I proceeded slowly along a long path to upgrade my 1986 trawler for full-time cruising. Over those years, I have replaced many of the main systems on the boat, always following Steve's advice.

Now, we are within a few months of moving onboard and the pace is accelerating. As a result, I was one of the first to sign-up for Steve's Captains' Club and also signed up for Steve's systems consulting services. This past weekend, I attended the Miami Boat Show and asked Steve if he would spend some time with me as I made major decisions.

My usual experience, when trying to select equipment and system manufacturers is that, after visiting a number of vendor booths, I have only moved from ignorance to confusion, which leaves me frozen and unable to make a decision. That was the condition in which I was wallowing when Steve joined me to help select a watermaker, an air conditioning system, refrigeration, heads and a dingy/davit combination.

In 60 minutes all of those decisions were made as Steve took me directly to the most reliable manufacturer for each product who met my requirements and price range. He explained their benefits, asked questions of the manufacturers that went beyond my competence and explained the answers in ways I could understand. I also knew that, if I encountered installation problems, Steve's ability to guide me or know whom to call to answer my questions would make my decisions work in the real world of my boat.

In addition, instead of going home unable to make those decisions, I was able to grab the lower boat show prices, which more than paid for the fee Steve charges.

Don't miss this opportunity.

L. Hall

Technical support for an active cruising boat is invaluable, especially in a foreign country. We've cruised in Latin America since 1996, with a two year break between boats. We've had our boats in boat yards from Ensenada, Mexico to Panama. During that time, we never felt we were in competent hands and I had no confidence in the recommendations I received from boat yard managers. You are really on your own whenever you pull your boat in a foreign country. So, even long-distance tech support would be invaluable. I've e mailed Steve on several occasions and his clear, understandable and confident responses gave me the information I needed to make my decisions. Tom Blandford, aboard Imagine Me and You, 55 Hatteras, cruising in Mexico.

mvgracias@aol.com

The head of my boatyard in Virginia has been Steve D'Antonio. In my 50 years of boating experience I'd consider him to be the smartest, most understandable boat technician I have ever met and his integrity is unquestionable. He has become one of the most admired authors and workshop presenters in the country. I have spent thousands of dollars on refitting my boat and every right decision I made was guided by Steve. I've joined his Captains' Club program and have never questioned its value, I wouldn't cruise without it.

L. Hall
Deltaville, VA

Having Steve available:

We have just tied up to a quay in a lovely small town on Crete, Greece, having successfully "Med moored" for only the second time. We plug in to shore power, a rare treat for this vessel and an opportunity not to run the diesel 50-feet from a lovely taverna, when the reverse polarity light goes on. Much running around confirms that the whole quay is this way and it is clear, to the extent that I can communicate, that no one else seems in the slightest concerned.

I have come up with a thought, to reverse the 2 relevant wires on my shore power plug, but it seems far too simple and I have visions of unexpected catastrophes like a smoking battery charger. So I fire off an email to Steve spelling out the dilemma. I connect again a short while later to find a response from Steve giving me the go ahead and clarifying some of the important parameters.

The consequences of the above would have been an inconvenience; however we have been in anchorages in Honduras, Belize and the Bahamas where we have turned to Steve with more important questions, but with similar results. Even in the "jungles" of Fort Lauderdale, when a worker suggested something that did not sound quite right, I checked with Steve to be guided in a much better direction.

In 5 years of live-aboard cruising, we have turned to Steve countless times for questions big and small and found him always thoughtful, thorough and responsive. He has, to my experience, the unique ability to communicate verbally in technical areas (to me as a layman), to ask questions (and more important to direct me as to how to answer them), and to ferret out diagnoses and remedies where I would have been chasing shadows and drowning in data and suppositions. He may rarely have been aboard but he has been a valued crew member when troubles arise; it is immensely important for us to know we have a trusted back up.

Dick and Ginger Stevenson aboard Alchemy
Kemer, Turkey

"I have e mailed and called Steve with various problems on a variety of occasions from the Florida Keys and remote Bahamian Island Cays. He calmly and clearly tells me how troubleshoot and resolve the issues, from an engine that wouldn't stop running to a water maker that stopped working every time I got under way. Steve's intimate knowledge of these systems and his clear, uncomplicated manner of communication fill a gap that would otherwise be missing in my cruising plan. My SDMC Captains' Club membership is better that Pepsid or Nexium for cruising heartburn"

John Kernan, Grand Banks 47

"If you haven't signed up for Steve D'Antonio's annual support program, the Captains' Club, you should consider it. I have called him many times with weird technical problems on the boat and he either solves them on the phone or gets the equipment maker to call me. He even got a stabilizer manufacturer's national tech support guy to work with me over the phone on a Friday night when our port stabilizer froze in the Bahamas. Steve is like our guardian angel."

John K.
Charter Captains' Club Member