Are you sure???

J.B. the Magic Man

That would be the words that came out of Tim's mouth as he was given the total from the welder. You see, he came to fix the crack in the port side spreader bracket and to repair the repair that Crowley's in Chicago made such a cluster out of. Now, keep in mind that this guy made a special trip to the boat from New Baden, IL, with a truck and portable Tig welder, to weld on our mast where it currently resides on stands at Tradewinds Marina. He looked at the job, rubbed his bearded chin for a moment, and then got to work. It was a thing of beauty to watch. He was quick, efficient, polite, and professional. Crowley's, on the other hand, had a guy right there, had the best (or rather supposedly the best) facilities in Chicago, and they still couldn't get it done. Crowley's charged us $858 to weld that bracket. Just want to be sure you got that. $858.00 green crinkly ones. So, it was with great trepidation that I sat on the deck with my feet on the first rungs of the ladder we use to climb to the boat these days, checkbook in one hand, pen in the other, waiting for the invoice total. I heard him mumble "six forty" while he was scribbling and I thought, "Ahhh that I can deal with. At least not another $858". I get ready to write the check when he turns to Tim and says "One eighty."  Tim's mouth hangs open, his eyes go blank, and for a moment he is speechless. For those of you who know him, this doesn't happen very often. "One eighty?  Are you sure?? Because this is the last chance you have to up it brother and then I'm going to take it." Never occurred to me for one minute that the six forty he was mumbling was the time he finished.

$180.00.  One hundred and eighty US dollars to fix a new crack, and repair someone else's screwup, all delivered right to our front door, or rather our companionway I should say. And we now have a professional weld on our mast instead of the freakishly embarrassing mess that was there before.

Look, Ma! No more Swiss Cheese!

I have one happy aircraft mechanic camper.

So if you need a difficult weld done, be sure to call

Marvin Spaeth Welding Service
321 W Missouri St.
New Baden, IL 62265
(618) 588-3596

And be sure to ask for J.B.