Today my transducer finally arrived from Jack Rabbit. They’d come recommended by other folks on some marine electronics forums I read, and their website is really excellent. The fellow I first talked to there was great; friendly, patient, knowledgeable, and very helpful. I placed my order with confidence, and waited for the FedEx truck to come bearing my parts.

A week passed, and nothing. No email confirming my order, no call, and certainly no FedEx truck. I phoned them up, and was passed through a few folks (none the person I had first spoken too), and gained no satisfaction. I called again a day later, and finally got the message that my part had been back-ordered from the manufacturer, and that I’d get a confirmation email after they had it, and had shipped it to me.
I remained patient; after all, this was in the last pre-Christmas weeks, so everything was bound to be a little slow.

The box finally shipped on the 27th, and I received the promised email with FedEx tracking number. For the flat-rate shipping, I wasn’t expecting the same crazy 24-hr shipping I’d gotten (and certainly paid for!) from Torresen Marine, but the package still managed to show up today instead of the scheduled morrow.
I got the box, unwrapped it, and with a glance at the packing slip, was undone. Instead of the Airmar DST800 NMEA 2000 unit, they’d shipped a physically-identical (but internally different) Airmar DST800 NMEA018 unit.

I was crushed. Immediately cranky. Frankly, just plain pissed off. I tried to stay calm, clocked off work, and tried to eat a little lunch. I couldn’t calm down! Awhile later, I steeled myself as best I could, and called Jack Rabbit to request a return authorization.
Blessedly, I was quickly passed up the line to the fellow who I had initially spoken too. I explained the situation a little, but he quickly saw to the end of it all, recognizing his own handwriting on the notes attached to my initial order. Right there: Maretron/Airmar N2K triducer, just as we had discussed at some length.

Working both sides of the counter, I have found that excellence in customer service is confirmed not by the initial transaction; that is the province of mere clerks. True excellence shows when it all goes to shit, and satisfaction must still somehow be found.
Well, I got my satisfaction. Not only did he admit the error to be entirely his own, but offered to pay all the shipping to get it sorted, and asked that I keep the parts I had (the transducer is not what I need, but the mounting kit is useful) and delay returning the transducer I had, until I had everything I needed for the install, to my satisfaction.
My good spirits returned. This was all much more than I would have asked for; in fact, the exact level of service that guarantees repeat customers.

I’ll be happier still when the next box arrives, hopefully containing the exact parts I require. I need about $1500 worth of further basic electronics, and Jack Rabbit will likely get my business.

I made a facebook comment a few days ago about rebuilding my Aries, and have had a few puzzled queries as a result. What’s an Aries?

Aries is a brand of servo-pendulum self-steering gear for yachts, developed and produced by Nick Franklin, Isle of Wight, based upon the basic design concieved by Herbert “Blondie” Hasler. While there are modern reproductions available, and many successive generations of copies and inspirations, my Aries is an original ’70’s MkII.

Getting the Aries up an running is pretty exciting for me! While service kits are supposedly available from Nick’s daughter in the UK, the time and expense to obtain them is probably greater than that of simply fabricating the neccessary parts myself. This is facilitated by the design of the Aries, sometimes regarded as “industrial” or even “agricultural” in appearance; everything is tough, simple, and easy to work on.

Self-steering is key. With a small crew (or none at all), it is very tiring to continually hand-steer. Electronic autopilots are subject to more possible breakdowns, and consume power, while a robust windvane is usually tougher than either the boat it is attached to, or the human hands it greatly aids.

The gear rates very highly on my list of core priorites: a sound hull, round rig/sails, the Aries, and life support systems (stove, heater, tanks, etc.). It’s really that important; when other systems begin to fail, having to continually hand-steer introduces so much further fatigue into the mix that is is there that things can really break down. It’s part of my whole ethos that the boat ought to be able to “look after itself” as much as possible.