I started Global Marine Suppliers (GMS) to provide the support service I wished I could have had while traveling the world. GMS strives to save time and hassle from part buying, maximizing options and opportunities for cruising experiences. You’re not alone. I work for you.
Completing a 4.5 year circumnavigation aboard Kandu in 2019 on our 30-yr-old Tayana 42 with wife and two young sons, I experienced first-hand the costs – both financial and opportunity – and frustration of delayed and/or incorrect shipments caused by insufficient and/or inaccurate documentation: 1) generating additionally required written and photographic descriptions, 2) taxis to customs and freight offices, 3) additional freight agent fees, 4) customs storage fees, 5) disputable duties, 6) added marina or dry-dock fees, and worst of all, 7) calendared events missed and regions skipped due to closing safe-sailing weather windows.
Internet access and speeds abroad are often limited. Dockside conditions for conducting research are challenging. Purchasing a part can often be less a question of cost, and more a question of inventory. Local distributors must order the part and it could be 2 months before you’ll see it. The US, being what it is, stocks parts and/or can get them faster than any other nation. I do the research for you…sometimes, due to vessel age, resorting to good used parts. And if I can’t find it. I’ll tell you that too.
Lastly, I offer a second set of experienced eyes, I ask questions like: Is the standard cable length long enough? Do you need seals, gaskets, new bolts, and copper washers with your friction discs? Do you need terminators with your NMEA 2k Tee buss?
Eric Rigney