Stanley Steemer arrives

After a lot of negotiating and finally settling on a price, the Stanley Steemer folks arrived on Saturday morning.

The two Steemer representatives that visited the boat on Thursday to provide an estimate were obviously interested in signing us up for as much as they could. Not much to love with that pair, but after making some deductions, we agreed on a price and on Saturday morning as the time when they would do the job.

On Saturday morning, the truck pulled up and to our surprise, it wasn't the two guys who did the estimate, but this pair.

These two people are what makes a company like Stanley Steemer really work. He is friendly and interested in doing a good job. She is not only very cute but also interested where we keep the boat, how old it was, etc. In other words, the kind of post-sale customer experience that we all expect but rarely ever get.

He even showed us around the truck, which is not only super clean but a neat piece of technology.

Since the Stanley Steemer folks were going to occupy the boat while cleaning it, we drove to Norwich to put out our lines and fenders for the summer.

How did the Stanley Steemer treatment work out?

We have to say that we couldn't be more pleased with the Stanley Steemer cleaning. The carpets are free from 30+ years of grime and stains. The "fur" on our walls look like new. Yes, there were a couple of stains that couldn't be steamed out but in all, it was a good experience. We would recommend them to any boat owner, provided you are careful about the estimate.

The cleaning that we did cost about $200. We think that's money well spent on our boat.

While Stanley Steemed, we went for a cruise

 With nothing to do on the boat while it was being cleaned, we drove to Norwich to put out our docklines, fenders and boat steps. 

 

While we were there, we met our summer dockmates, Bob and Diane. They were about to bring their boat upriver from Gales Ferry and they invited us along for the ride.

Do we ever say no to a cruise on the river? Or a cruise anywhere? We were at the car in no time.

We drove to Gales Ferry and waited until Bob declared that the river was at its lowest point and then he fired up the engines and off we went though a very, very narrow passage out of the river.

Did we scrape on either side? Nope. Testament to a boating couple who know what they are doing.

After that, it was a warm, sunny ride to our marina. What a great way to begin our boating season.

Thanks Diane and Bob. We owe ya!