Specialty Marine Reviews

A conversation among Whalers
MarkCz
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:44 pm

Specialty Marine Reviews

Postby MarkCz » Tue Jul 19, 2022 9:30 am

Specialty Marine sells many interior wood kits for older Boston Whalers that come prefinished.

dtmackey
Posts: 760
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:29 pm

Re: STRIPER 15 Seating: Four Questions

Postby dtmackey » Wed Jul 20, 2022 4:57 pm

MarkCz wrote:Specialty Marine sells many interior wood kits for older Boston Whalers that come prefinished.


Stay far aware from Specialty Marine wood products. For a while they were using laminates and as I understand they now use a cheap "mahogany" where the pieces come unglued. There are hundreds of people that have reported this concern in the EBW Whaler owners group.

If you want an interior that is equivalent to Whaler quality then call Bob Latourelle. He's located in Haverhill MA and I visited his shop and did a write up on him. He's built hundreds of Whaler interiors and people that have used him have glowing reviews to share.

His number is 978-837-8808.

I am not related to him, nor do I get a commission for recommending him.

One of the biggest problems with the bench seating in the 15' model is the height off the deck, it's so low that it feels like your sitting on the deck. When I did my 15', I raised them 1.5" inches and wish I had done 2.5". I'd post pics, but my image host is not cooperating today.

Jim mentioned Philippine mahogany, if you can find it. Sipo mahogany is readily available, reasonably prices and easy to work with. I'll post pics up when I can.

D-

frontier
Posts: 203
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:26 pm

Re: STRIPER 15 Seating: Four Questions

Postby frontier » Wed Jul 20, 2022 6:10 pm

Don't hesitate to buy from Specialty Marine. I have used them for years and years with excellent results. Including high quality wood items - complete RPS seats and stern seat, cushions, stainless items and canvas. Customer service is top notch. If it's wrong - they will make it right. In fact some of their items are BETTER designed than OEM.

dtmackey
Posts: 760
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:29 pm

Re: STRIPER 15 Seating: Four Questions

Postby dtmackey » Wed Jul 20, 2022 9:17 pm

If you're happy with Specialy Marine products, the bar is set pretty low. Their suppliers are overseas and passed off wood interiors that:
- Weren't a true mahogany, wood species unknown
- Plywood on parts where Whaler used solid wood. The plywood used wasn't marine grade and used glue that failed in a wet envirnment
- Veneer with a soft wood core, Whaler used solid Mahogany
- Multiple small pieces laminated together to achieve the width needed and used a glue not designed for wet environments

There's also complaints about early failure of cushions that used substandard vinyl that becames sticky after a couple seasons and bad rust problems with stainless steel casting made in China, using metals that were not the 316SS claimed and also had edges that were unfinished. I suppose after enough time and pushback on their supply base, they may have made some improvements, but you have to ask yourself, is it worth the risk of having to do the job twice, not to mention their prices and pretty close to a quality made product built in the United States.

The list goes on and on.

Here's a quick 7 reveiws from Whaler owners that purchased from Specialty Marine and as I mentioned, there are 100 or more with similar experiences.

https://imgur.com/a/8BGAj3O

If you need help to determine if Specialty Marine is for you, put "Specialty Marine" into the search feature of this site, the other website Whalercentral.com or the largest owners group EBW on Facebook and you'll have a month of reading and reveiwing pics of shoddy products.

I'm sure Phil could speak volumes to the troubles many have had with Specialty Marine products.

Caveat emptor

D-

frontier
Posts: 203
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:26 pm

Re: Specialty Marine Reviews

Postby frontier » Tue Jul 26, 2022 12:58 pm

Some of the best items from Specialty Marine include their replacement Z legs for the classic Montauk and Outrage RPS seats. Better design than Whalers original - they are made from King Starboard ST and CNC machined for great fit. Amazing quality, color and fit. Another great item is the replacement bow cushion for the classic Montauk and other 17 hulls. The cushion is better designed than OEM in that, in addition to a velcro strap in the front, the 4 stainless steel snaps are positioned so that the bow hatch can be accessed with the cushion installed. A lot of Specialty Marine items are improvements of an already good thing. As I look back to my Purchasing Agent career - think Quality, Service and Price in that order.