Losing one's temper.

[S.V. Airlie]

Well, gonna happen real soon.
Expect a mini explosion within the next five or six days.

[Hwyl]

Been there done that. Just break your expectations from the yard into projects with deadlines, negotiate with them for the deadlines and expect them to be completed close to the time yuo expect.

It's really hard for yards to convert a boat from a project to a free sailing entity.

Courage (said with a French accent)

[StevenBauer]

That doesn't sound good Jamie. Deep breaths., count to 10 and all that.

Steven

[Mrleft8]

What are ya gonna do? Stamp your foot and threaten to hold your breath until you pass out? :D

[S.V. Airlie]

Doug. I'm gonna start off force feeding the owner haggis and go on from there.
And yes it would be nice if the new owner of the yard did not lie with such regularity regarding an upcoming launch., I am begining to expect, and this is the only expectation, to be lied to quite a bit more times before I actually get Airlie's feet wet. I do not like being lead on by the nose.

[Paul Pless]

:( . . .

[Hwyl]

You're not the first. Listen to my advice (you've already called me old, so it's sage advice)

[Ian McColgin]

You may need an agent/advocate/contract enforcer to stay between you and the yard management. Talk quietly and privately with one of the local friends you have up there as to where to seek such and remember that it's a small community where you don't want your actions to put anyone across someone else's hawser unless they really want to.

G'luck

[Tylerdurden]

I have always found that if you start to shake, drool and ramble muttering under your breath how you will not go to jail again for manslaughter the people you trying to negotiate with become more and more accommodating. The wild eyed stare and twitch might take some practice but it is worth it.

[JimD]

Serve the haggis raw.

[mmd]

What seems to be the hold up? There are enough good, fast boatbuilders either employed by that yard or within a phone-calls reach that manpower shouldn't be an issue. Materiel is always a bit of a challenge up here, but good project management should anticipate needs and have what you need on-hand in a timely fashion. So what is the road block?

BTW, sorry to hear that you are having difficulties.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

so what's going on?

[Bark]

Jamie:

Are they working consistently, but finding it's slow going? Or are they not putting in the time as promised? I would be more understanding of the former, more upset about the latter.

Ben

[S.V. Airlie]

Bark a bit of not working.
and/or working 8 hours but only doing 4 hours of actual work.This has improved in the past week.

[Mrleft8]

working 8 hours but only doing 4 hours of actual work. Spoken like a person who no doubt knows manual labor first hand, and has mastered the craft of which he speaks....

[elf]

Try giving them a firm deadline, threatening to not pay them if they don't meet it?

[Mrleft8]

Try giving them a firm deadline, threatening to not pay them if they don't meet it? That's a sure fire way to make sure they stop work. When someone has you over a barrel, the LAST thing you want to do is threaten them with non-payment.

[pcford]

That's a sure fire way to make sure they stop work. When someone has you over a barrel, the LAST thing you want to do is threaten them with non-payment.

And.....I am sure this has occurred to Jamie.....in a foreign legal jurisdiction.

[Tylerdurden]

Hire a stripper, Hows that for incentive?

[reddog]

Jamie;
Just a thought and not looking for excuses but could Arilie be caught in the middle of some dispute between the new owner and "Cecil's crew"? I know local craftsmen have fierce loyalities to their employeer and may be resentful of the new owner.He could be a real arsehole of a boss and the guys are giving him what they feel is his due or mayby he just isn't there to supervise as much as Cecil was. Hard to say but not much help to you any way you toss it.
Probably best to sit down with the owner and lay out your concerns and expectations and try to get a firm date to have her ready to put in.You may want to look around at some other yards,possibly Bill Lutwick or Kevin over in LaHave.Of course they are probably busy this time of year but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Keep you head up and the blood pressure down.

Earl

[gert]

got a contract?

[Hwyl]

Jamie, lots of good advice on here. As I've said before, it's not an uncommon situation at your stage of the rebuild. It's almost a psychological problem.
Extricating boats form this used to be a speciality of mine.

Just be reasonable, have patience and break the whole thing into achievable goals. Should be easy and fun for someone with your "gift of the gab".

[reddog]

Gareth;
Sage advice.Breaking the jobs into acheivable goals gives both parties a chance to meet the deadlines and experience some satisfaction of progress.


Earl

[rbgarr]

As I've said before, it's not an uncommon situation at your stage of the rebuild. It's almost a psychological problem.

I've seen this before also, Gareth. I was once hired by a designer and owner to push a project to completion at a very well respected yard. We spent some time on the phone breaking down what was going on psychologically.

Just some of the issues:

1) There are more small jobs that require detailed attention and expensive parts purchasing than at earlier stages of the build. Not always a yard's strength, and more costly than is 'comfortable'.

2) The crew experiences a letdown at the end, and a concern about 'what comes next' regarding employment. The team, if it's a good one, senses breakdown; if not a good one, lacks cooperation. Morale suffers.

3) Yard leadership's attention (particularly in small outfits) can be partially directed at other 'building projects' and isn't focused as much on the increasingly detailed project planning/supervising ('breaking down into and completing diverse small steps") of the current project as is necessary.

4) The project is often behind schedule, it's summer, and the crew senses the owner's impatience. They avoid conflict individually rather than discuss and plan cooperatively as a group. A 'big stick approach' by anyone (owner/supervisor/designer) is anticipated and has little effect or makes things worse.