Eldean Shipyard

Very nice place. Super spacious beautiful condo. Lots to do and see in the area. I'm sure we will be back.
8 years ago (26-09-2017)

Won't bring a paddle boat there. There work is poor at best, don't meet dead lines wont return calls.
8 years ago (03-06-2017)

Eldean Shipyard near Holland, Michigan offers heated winter storage and claims “exceptional facilities, competitive rates, and peace-of-mind.” But, according to Matt Eldean, “When it blows out of the West or NW, we get quite a surge in here.” In early Spring 2017, he finally informing me, “Your boat was damaged in the water on 8/21/16.” Six months earlier and five days before this storm my boat Cotntop, was tied to their haul-out dock when I left her under the Shipyard’s care, signed their winter storage contract, gave them the keys, and flew home. Then in January I made contact with Matt to resolve a mysterious charge on my balance statement. From then until now I’ve slowly learned that she had been damaged before haul out. Without my knowledge or consent she has been buffed and waxed, her cap rail has been completely stripped and refinished, and her bimini and other stowed canvas have been removed and cleaned. Strange, because I neither requested nor approved any of this work. Matt agrees, “This was our mistake as you asked us to estimate the work first.” Great! I requested he stop work and send me photos. He didn’t. So I hired a marine surveyor to determine both the extent of the repairs and a fair competitive rate for the work. The surveyor’s report was also my first indication of damage to the rub rail just above the waterline. I’ve offered payment equaling the surveyor’s high-end estimates for the unauthorized repairs, and requested the repair of the rub rail as well. Matt has rejected my offer claiming that, “You are nickel and diming me now.” Matt also informs me that, “We are not liable for damage to (your) vessel. Please see your Winter Storage Contract regarding this issue.” … Well, it’s not clear that this contract excuses Eldean from their duty to care for Cotntop, but it is clear that the last two pages contain a form to enter my requests for repairs and maintenance. I left these pages mostly blank. I have paid for what I requested, an oil change, and I’ve offered fair settlement for what I haven’t requested. It’s just a niggling thought, but perhaps Matt needs to read the contract too. What about Eldean’s claim that they offer exceptional facilities, competitive rates, and peace-of-mind? Okay, the facilities are nice if you ignore the occasional storm surge; but they rejected my initial offer of a settlement at competitive rates; and my peace-of-mind has required me to hire a lawyer. My costs to settle have reached 130% of the competitive rates, and I have settled to avoid both the heartache and expense of litigation at a distance of 1000 miles. I assumed this issue was closed. However despite the terms of the settlement, yesterday I received a statement from Eldean Shipyard showing a late-payment interest fee of $278.61 is still due. So it seems we have an unauthorized interest charge for unauthorized work. I guess it’s another one of Matt’s mistakes.
8 years ago (09-06-2017)

Had a great experience (completed today) with Matt Eldean and his yard supervisor Jeff on a recent job involving prep & load out of a sailboat for transport from Michigan to Texas.. A first class operation truly focused on exemplary customer service and attention to detail.... Trusting your special property to someone who cares for it as if it were their own is important when you can't be there yourself and Matt and the Eldean team set the bar very high for the standard of service in this area.. Many thanks Matt, please pass on my appreciation for a great job to all of the team CD
9 years ago (10-08-2016)

The facilities are decent but the staff, the rules, and the waves this place gets are what make it terrible. Example, the pool is decent but the myriad of rules make it no fun. There is staff that sits in the pool area only to enforce the rules. No lifeguard, just a rule enforcer. One such rule is no groups larger than 5 people. I asked if that applied even with a family of six and they said yes. So if you have 4 kids and want to take them swimming then pick which kid or parent has to stand outside the locked gate and watch. If you are new to boating this place is difficult to dock in because the docks are narrow to walk on and there are no cleats to tie to, so everything needs to be tied to a piling and if you tie your boat so it can touch the dock it will get badly damaged from slamming into the dock. This makes it very difficult to get on and off the boat too because you need to tie up away from the dock so it's a long jump from the dock to the boat. As for the staff here, one time they parked a barge in front of 4 boat slips blocking them all in, my boat included. we were not warned this would happen and so it was no fun when I showed up with some guests to go for a boat ride and couldn't. When I contacted Wade about it he didn't apologize at all and just said "it happens".
9 years ago (09-07-2016)