Every Boat Dog Needs a Good Yard

One of the reasons that we chose the Ortega River area of Jacksonville to keep our boat was the availability of marine related resources in the area. This includes boat yards and boat stores like West Marine.

We have used the Huckins Yacht Facility Yard for our work on Blue Moon while we have had her at Ortega Landing Marina. The yard is about a mile or less up the river from our marina. You go under the Roosevelt Bridge, then immediately under the CSX Railroad Bridge, then you are at the Huckins Yard.

Huckins has been around since the late 1920's. They built PT Boats for the Navy and they built beautiful wooden yachts there at their yard on the Ortega River. Even now, there are many old Huckins yachts that are in pristine condition that are berthed at the Huckins Marina at the yard. The bright work on these boats is beautiful.

When we have visited the yard, we have been allowed to look in the shops that are housed in the buildings on site. The wood shop, paint shop and paint booth that can handle a huge yacht, the metal shop, and the electrical shop are all facilities that have supported the construction of fine boats and the maintenance of customer's boats for years.

Our contact at Huckins is the service coordinator who is a gal by the name of Deb Grant. She is very knowledgeable about boats and really espouses customer service. She works with a great group of people that are also very customer focused. These folks make up the Huckins experience that we have come to appreciate in the work they have done for us on fiberglass, our salon cabinetry, painting, washing, and metal work.

This brings me to our experience with Deb and the folks at Huckins last week. We were scheduled to be at the yard at 9:00 AM to get pulled out of the water for our work. We passed under the CSX Railroad bridge and immediately made a turn to starboard to get into the marina. I remarked to Susan, who was on the bow waiting to handle the dock lines, that I was coming into the marina a little "hot". Sure enough, the wind caught me and we veered sideways toward some pilings near the entrance. We also got up close and personal with one of the old, pristine Huckins yachts that are docked along the fairway leading to the work area. Despite Susan's exhortations and a worker on the dock talking to us in elevated voice, we averted any disaster here and got back under control. No harm, no foul, right!

We motored to the work area at a considerably slower speed. We were met by several Huckins folks, including Deb, who had obviously witnessed the debacle at the entrance, but were very pleasant and welcomed us warmly. After maneuvering Blue Moon by another pristine Huckins Yacht, we were in the slip where the travel lift would pick us up.

We had all pets aboard and we decided to leave the cat and bird on the boat while it was out of the water. Maggie was a different matter. Really, there was no decision here because she never misses an opportunity to get off the boat. She jumped onto the dock and ran into the yard to greet her new found Huckins friends. Deb was ready with dog treats and this instantly made her Maggie's new best friend! Susan and Maggie went into the office with Deb to visit.

After I talked to the yard folks about what I wanted done, I went into the office to check in with Deb. Miss Maggie had taken over the place! She was running everywhere, including up and down the stairs to the executive offices! She jumped into Deb's lap and tried to get on her desk. Really embarrassing, for sure!

Well, the boat was put back in the water after about an hour and a half, and Maggie went back aboard. Things calmed down in the yard, and the folks were glad to get rid of the Golden Retriever that had spiced up their morning.

But, this just goes to show that every boat dog needs a good yard! Thank you Huckins!