Industry Testimonials

I have been fortunate enough to work closely with Steve D’Antonio on several trawler projects – new and used boats – and am continually amazed at Steve’s knowledge, experience, passion and commitment to his clients. Steve is a rare and invaluable resource for the boating community.  He is a prolific writer and his articles are always on point and easy to understand.  He also does a tremendous amount of public speaking in various boating forums, sign up for his classes and you’ll hear for yourself.  I think if more boaters knew the value Steve adds to every purchase then Steve would have to clone himself. As it is Steve’s precious time is a limited quantity and those lucky few who have secured his services are going to have a tough time keeping the secret of Steve’s services to themselves.  It is a privilege to work alongside a professional like Steve and I give him my strongest endorsement.

Jeff Merrill

Jeff Merrill Yacht Sales, Inc.

“As I’ve said to your great embarrassment on several occasions, you are the person who knows more about boats, our industry and its products than anybody else I’ve ever met – your knowledge is truly encyclopedic and you are up-to-date on everything that is happening that effects us.”

John Mardall

CEO Vetus America

I wish to take a moment and thank you for rendering outstanding service to the Smithsonian Institution. You have made a hugely positive impact. Your careful and professional evaluation of our fifty research vessels and boats at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Station in Panama provided sound and actionable information. The recommendations you made have been instrumental in driving changes in the maintenance management of our research vessel fleet, operations and training of our people.

I look forward to our continued relationship as you begin the next phase, conducting similar examinations on our research vessels located at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

William W. Brubaker, P.E.
Director, Office of Facilities Engineering and Operations
Smithsonian Institution – Washington, D.C.

“Dear Steve: I really liked the potable water systems article you wrote. As usual, you nailed it!!! You are one of the few small boat guys that really has a handle on marine mechanical systems. A pleasure to read.”

Regards,
Kevin Greene, CEO
TRAC Ecological

“I strongly recommend Steve D’Antonio’s training program to any yacht repair professional or repair yard. Steve’s extensive boatyard management experience gives him a unique perspective from the customer, technician and boat yard manager point-of-view. To be sure, his objectivity and expert analysis allows him to relate well with the technician while also illuminating the importance of providing high-quality customer service.

Steve’s ability to explain complex technical information, especially to experienced marine industry professionals, is nothing less than excellent. Among other important topics, he relates how proper boat repair projects can be accomplished in multiple ways. He encourages each technician to be solution-oriented with an open-minded attitude focused on delivering a safe, reliable and seaworthy vessel. The positive response of highly skilled and experienced staff members, including those holding multiple ABYC certifications, attests to Steve’s ability to speak their language.

Finally, Steve emphasizes cost-effective ways to create loyal customers, he connects-the-dots on the importance of follow-up and constant communication with the customer, even if the information is complex and hard to understand. Through this training and informal feedback when visiting the repair yard, Deltaville Boatyard has seen major improvements in the quality of our repair work as well as in our overall customer satisfaction.”

Matt Holloway, Vice President Operations
Deltaville Boatyard
274 Buck’s View Lane
Deltaville, VA 23043

Steve D’Antonio has recently facilitated a number of training workshops in Nova Scotia for our Boat Builders and Recreational Boating service providers.

The workshops were focused on universally accepted best practice methods in the fabrication, servicing, repair, and refit of boats. The overall principle that Steve consistently reinforced was that a client’s best interests will always be well served by adhering to consistent quality assurance and controls.

A very noteworthy aspect of his workshop delivery and content was Steve’s attention to detail. It quickly becomes abundantly apparent to all participants in his training that Steve has a broad range of experience and knows his subject material very well. His use of very specific examples of how not to do things versus how to do things correctly is a particularly effective training tool.

Steve is an extremely thorough and thoughtful trainer who relates very easily with his audience.

We will most definitely be engaging Steve again in the near future to do more work with our Boatbuilding and Recreational Boating sectors.

Sincerely,
T. A. ‘Chip’ Dickison
Nova Scotia Boatbuilders’ Association Training & Certification Coordinator

“Just a note to thank you for the fantastic job you did speaking to our mechanics. There have been nothing but rave reviews from the guys – so much helpful information.

Your talk was every bit as good as the wonderful articles that you have penned.”

Thanks again,
Jack Brewer
Brewer Yachts Yards

“If you can manage to catch Steve D’Antonio between lectures, training and surveys, you would be forever grateful for every penny you spent on his services – he’s one of those guys you just write the check and don’t even ask. It’s always better to discover inspection exceptions, since they become the seller’s expense and you get a better boat. But, I’d expect him to be very hard to schedule. It’s worth a try, though. You may already know him from reading PassageMaker Magazine.”

Best regards,
Bob Senter
Northern Lights/Lugger Service Training

Steve,

Thanks so much for the fine work you did writing the official Mack Boring profile and commemorative history to mark our company’s 90th anniversary. I believe many of us learned things about our own company that we didn’t know before. Your work was thorough and your interviews with long time employees, as well as a number of prominent individuals in the industries we serve, bring additional color and flavor to the story. Given your depth of knowledge in the industry, we saw you as the logical choice to author the story, and your final article affirmed our choice. Thanks for a job well done.

Regards,
Steve Gribbin
Marketing Manager
Mack Boring & Parts Company
2365 US Hwy 22 W
Union, NJ 07083
908-964-0700