Dana Point Shipyard

The diver who gave a five star review is getting his palms greased. Total joke. Hmmmm. Let’s get more leads from DPSY. Horrible customer service. Roy Williams should be ashamed of himself. Completely lied to my boat partner on charging for labor on items that he agreed to not charge or charge minimally. Horrible communication skills plus quite careful to put nothing in writing or emails for documentation. How poor is it to send a bill at 4:41pm on a Friday with no explanation or phone call? No idea where the boat was left and not answering the phone… Great way to hide behind your inflated charges. It’s a small boating community and I will make sure to spread the word. $ 420 to charge batteries when you verbally agreed to one hour. That is shameful and dishonest. That was just one line item that left us scratching our heads.

These negative reviews are absolutely bogus. I’ve enjoyed the great customer service and actual HONESTY of the Dana Point Shipyard for over 5 years now. They’re extremely accommodating, professional and courteous! Between Roy, Steve and Deann, I have absolutely no complaints. They know their stuff, are very pleasant to work with, and lay everything out on the table.
I’ve had to deal with plenty of other shipyards who will roll you or sell you snake oil every chance they can get. Pirate Pete and Erik at South Coast Shipyard will give you the olé’ bait and switch every time… And some of the others in Newport will only put one coat of paint on your boat, and tell you that it’s the highest performance you can get! Absolute nonsense. This shipyard won’t do that to you.
I love this shipyard and the people who work there; you won’t find a better group of people. Of course, they’re extremely busy and have a tight schedule due to their high demand for their great services, so sometimes things might get pushed back, but they always do the job, and they do it by the book– without cutting corners.
As for the comment from the other guy about who works there– these guys are great. Most shipyards hire illegal immigrants who barely speak any English, and these guys are hard-​workers. Steve and Jason manage the yard well, and won’t hesitate to speak with you if there’s any problem you might have. And Dee Ann and Roy? Probably the most pleasant customer service you’re going to get in this industry, seriously. You’re out of your mind if you think otherwise.
No, I don’t work for them, and I’m actually somewhat of a competitor. I’m a diver and know my hull painting and yacht maintenance!

My experience with Dana Point Shipyard was not at all similar to the negative reviews I’ve seen posted. I have a 30 foot Hunter sloop and they treated me very respectfully and the job (haul out and bottom paint) was performed to my expectations, on time, on budget, etc.
This is a midsize yard and everyone was friendly and accommodating to me, from the receptionist to the yard manager, Steve, whom a previous poster claims has «no concept of customer service.» That seems a bit of a stretch, wasn’t the case with me.
I’ve had my boat hauled in Long Beach and in Newport Beach and the service I received at Dana Point Shipyard was every bit as good.

I have owned a boat for over 20 years. I have hired and come into contact with many professionals in the boat repair and service industry. I have got to say that Steve Morris at Dana Point Shipyard Inc. Is the most unprofessional person I have ever done business with. Steve has no concept of customers service. I understand that a «Senior Project Manager» has to prioritize projects and maintain control of the yard, but this does not excuse Steve from treating paying customers with out right rudeness and borderline hostility. I am not impressed with this company. I would recommend you stay away from this place. It takes a really bad experience to motivate me to write a bad review but in this case it is worth the effort.

It is amazing how exact «both» stories are to mine. This place suffers from some major leadership skills. Management is ego and titles mostly. They cannot supervise a job. This place does not have qualified workers, except for the owners who mostly manage and delegate those non-​qualifiers and a couple of competent crane guys. Half of their staff doing the labor looks like they are fixing jalopies and not six and seven $ figure boats. Go and see for yourself. Take a walk and a good look. Throw some simple boating terminology at those young folks, see if they know what you’re talking about. And, oh, as far as seeing for yourself, you can go 24/​7, just as their web site advertises. Their gate is wide open! You can grab a ladder and climb onto one of the boats being repaired there, if you are feeling adventurous or if you’re a crook. Nobody will stop you. It’s truly bizarre. The marina has locked gates to the slips, but the ship yard anybody can access. Unbelievable.
Both myself and my friend were there twice. We both had a problem with the work done — with their shoddy scheduling practices (unbelievable that they know about it but do absolutely nothing to correct it) and with their having to re-​do something a second (or a third) time once it’s been pointed out to them. My boating mate ended patching up an area on his trim tabs that they were supposed to do because the boat was supposed to go back in the water that day when he noticed it and they were going to take care of it tomorrow!
Their bottom paint reputation precedes them. All true. And as if a highly reputable, highly regarded place like Unilocal wasn’t enough, the consensus from other boat owners on the marina is exactly the same: not a good place to do good work.
Which is a shame. The owners should find the good sense to sell this yard to someone who can do a better job and serve over 2000 local boats efficiently. Most people do go to either Oceanside (ok, not great but still better than here) and Newport. The prices here are also by at least half a grand steeper, bottom paint-​wise.
Their clients are mostly older, retired gentlemen who don’t read Unilocal and who don’t take their boats out but maybe once or twice a year (98% of the entire marina) and new boaters who don’t know any better. Ask any active boater in Dana Point and they will probably tell you what the three of us have told you. You are better off going somewhere else.
BOATERS BE AWARE is right.
This should not be allowed by the county.
BTW, their listing on Unilocal should simply be Dana Point Shipyard, so more people can find them. Anchor Marine Company throws off any search and it is more difficult to find them on Unilocal.Everybody knows this place as simply Dana Point Shipyard, so that is what it should be listed as in here, too.

BOATER’S BEWARE:
We had Dana Point Shipyard sand, prime and apply bottom paint. They did not allow the paint to dry before hoisting the boat back into the water and the hoist straps ruined the paint. Our bottom cleaner service says that 90% of the Dana Point shipyard painted boats suffer from the same rush to get the boats back into the water.
On another occasions, they HAVE NOT held to thier word regarding pricing. They told me that they would charge me (10) minutes of labor time to hold a garden hose and wash an area off. PRICE $ 115.00 — Prepare an estimate for 4K of services (that our boat did not need) PRICE $ 115.00.
They promised me that they would not charge me for layover days until the «end of the week». We took the boat out of the shipyard on Thursday — The PRICE for no-​charge layover $ 250.00.
The yard itself is a complete mess, spilling toxins into the harbor every day after day.
KEEP IN MIND: There are 4 shipyards in Newport Beach that compete for your business providing extra customer service at competitive prices.