Anthony 'M'

[Naughty Cal]

Like a Phoenix he shall rise from the ashes of another failed venture.

 

And probably call his next venture Pheonix boat builders

[Athy]

And probably call his next venture Pheonix boat builders

Only if he's dyslexic.

[Naughty Cal]

Only if he's dyslexic.

 

[starman]

I understand Anthony M now works fitting out for Jonathan Wilson - I quote from the Wilson/Tyler website:

"Anthony now works exclusively for us, and of course his fit-outs are known throughout the industry as being second to none. His craftsmanship is unquestionably, Simply the best!"

 

Sorry Baldock!

[carlt]

I understand Anthony M now works fitting out for Jonathan Wilson - I quote from the Wilson/Tyler website:

"Anthony now works exclusively for us, and of course his fit-outs are known throughout the industry as being second to none. His craftsmanship is unquestionably, Simply the best!"

 

Sorry Baldock!

As I said, in post 2, his work is better than the rubbish that is usually churned out by boat fitters (though he is nowhere near "simply the best"), but the fact remains that he has repeatedly left boaters in the sh1t and appears to profit from it.

 

That said, if you find a nice shell, with an Anthony M fit out, second hand, then you'll probably have a nice boat.

[MoominPapa]

http://www.wtnbc.co.uk/id14.html

 

That website has always disturbed me: it reads like the Narrowboatworld provisional wing.

 

MP.

[Athy]

"Anthony now works exclusively for us"as being second to none. His craftsmanship is unquestionably,

 

Sorry Baldock!

 

Not, one hopes, in their accounts department?

[Chris-B]

I understand Anthony M now works fitting out for Jonathan Wilson - I quote from the Wilson/Tyler website:

"Anthony now works exclusively for us, and of course his fit-outs are known throughout the industry as being second to none. His craftsmanship is unquestionably, Simply the best!"

 

Sorry Baldock!

 

 

The Jonathan Wilson / Anthony M relationship is one that there is a lot of hersay about and I am not prepared to put into the public domain mine and Lise's feelings

This is due to the nature of this forum and laws of litigation

 

Walker DID produce some neat and tidy joinery ..however ethics aside if we knew now about him what we do I would not want him within 100 miles of

anything I called mine.

 

Liar , Cheat and fraudulent trading are words that spring to mind regarding his previous business ventures..One day I hope to meet him

face to face but as he is such a ****** I doubt he would have the bottle

 

After all when Anthony M collapsed owing a lot of people money did he have the decency to come and see or tell us.. DID HE ****

 

Chris

[Chertsey]

In general:

 

Not everyone who goes bust is a lying cheating thieving bastard (although some obviously are - usually in direct proportion to the size and glossiness of their advertisements).

 

Having a good business model doesn't make someone a good boatbuilder (or fitter).

 

The OP is taking the eminently sensible path of buying second hand. The original fitter stands to gain nothing if he buys the boat, so if the quality of workmanship is good there should be nothing to stop it being recommended. It sounds as if the consensus is that it is definitely worth making the trip to have a look at it.

[Marge the Barge]

I was affraid that would be the response my post would get.

I sympathise will those that where done wrong by Anthony 'M' but my enquiry is was because we are interested in a secondhand boat fitted out by the above.

The photographs look lovely but I want to know if this was only skin deep. It is at the other end of the country to where I live so a bit of back ground knowledge would be good.

 

Rich

Dont be taken in by the glossy photos, there will be problems with the wiring, chimney fitting, plumbing to name but a few.

A widebeam (which was nearly finished) when we rescued it along with our boat when he went bankrupt, had to be snagged (by a marine mortgage company) for the owners

and having already paid out £140,000 they were going to have to spend another £60,000 rectifying all the mistakes, which the mortgage company would not give them.

The other three had smilar problems.

 

Lise

Mrs Baldock (SWMBO)

[peterboat]

Hi all I can only tell things as they are my boat is fitted out by Anthony M. It looks lovely I watched the process all the way through it is designed on a modular system it takes apart easy to do stuff behind and the wheelhouse he built is good to. I had to have some rectification work done not Tonys fault but condensation from something Jonny had done on the shell. You cant see the repair which is how it should be also it cost nowt so cant complain. I think that out there in that big boat building world there are good bad and indifferent boat fitters, my last was a Pinder shell and Black Prince fit out it was not in the same class as this boat I have now but I enjoyed it and improved it over six years. Jonny and Tony turned my boat from a nice boat to something special at a very good price. Would I use them again yes I would! However whilst at the yard having my boat done I saw some very silly people get upset and accuse Tony of all sorts most was unfounded and the rest seemed to be just simple misunderstanding of each other. I even saw one lady accuse Tony of theft she had to back down after a video was produce to prove that she was telling untruths! Tony now works with his sister in law has a good order book and recently one of his old boats sold for very good money why? because after a lot of years it still looked good. My advice to anyone having a boat built is visit often listen to the builder tell him what you want and dont be unrealistic boats arnt houses they have far more problems than houses will ever have but we love them. Dont we

 

 

 

Peter

[andywatson]

Based on what Chris is prepared to write in public I would not take a chance with my money.

Why would anyone take the risk?

Edited April 11, 2013 by andywatson

[matty40s]

unfortunately a good friend of mine also bought a boat fitted out by Antony M.

He used very good materials yes, on the surface. However, When the Canadian Oak floor in the bedroom started to lift and warp, they know they had a problem.

It was crap plumbing to shower unit, crap wiring to the bilge pump fitted as a shower pump (spade connectors hanging in flooded bilge), and crap joinery as all the access hatches were glued as well and screwed and I struggled to access. I also had to cut away needless plywood batons screwed hither and thither, to fit a proper Gulper pump to rectify situation.

I did advise as to new blinds because the fittings did not connect, new tiling to rear of sink/cooker etc as this was all mouldy as the perspex back wall was not sealed or fit for purpose.

Enjoy your boat Peterboat, I do hope that the condensation problem was your only one in your future years of ownership.

[Tuscan]

There's enough comments on here to ring the alarm bells for me.

[peterboat]

Hi how can you use a bilge pump as a shower pump? I have a pump under the bath which is a sort of bilge pump in a box with a float switch which is sold for that purpose. As I said .I watched my boat being built and 18 months down the line it still works only time will tell if it will hold up. However I have seen plenty of other boats very poorly built and ones that leak like sieves. Not everything he did was perfik however not everything was done by him, so whilst he was the builder he didnt do all the work pretty much like most of industry, tata might own the steelworks but he doesnt really make the steel does he? I think sometimes people have to blame someone else for their lack of overseeing after all a new boat is an expensive purchase and mostly a personal statement so more involvement might have produced less upset.

 

Peter

[MtB]

Is it my suspicious mind, or is peterboat for real? it seems AnthonyM has a satisfied customer at last!

 

Unless....

[matty40s]

Peter, if I put my name to a fitout, it is my name that is destroyed if I choose to use incompetent contractors.

Similarly, if an M&S lasagneis found to contain horse meat, it is not the horse owner or processing plant that loses reputation, it is M&S.

 

You wil not know you're pump has failed until the flooring at the rear bulkhead starts to lift, unless you religeously check your bilge daily- not something you should have to do when spending an awful lot of money on a boat.

[Boaty Jo]

Hi how can you use a bilge pump as a shower pump? I have a pump under the bath which is a sort of bilge pump in a box with a float switch which is sold for that purpose.

 

Peter

 

Yes, it is in effect a bilge pump on a float switch in a sump. They are sold for purpose but I personally don't like them. If the switch or pump fails you have a flood. What they do do is protect against a leaky shower or tap (bathroom kitchen, wherever) by automatically emptying the sump.

 

I actually prefer a Gulper-type pump, switched on manually when you start the shower and off again when you've finished. These are also diaphragm pumps which tend to cope with hair and such-like rather better than the impeller-type pump which can get jammed up.

 

Just something to think about if you have to alter your system at any time.

[carlt]

Tony now works with his sister in law has a good order book...

With your glowing character reference one can only assume that a gentleman of such good standing and moral fibre will be endeavouring to repay all those who he left severely out of pocket.

[Chris-B]

A greenie for that Carl....

Chris

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Just checked the radar for flying pigs....

[carlt]

Is it my suspicious mind, or is peterboat for real? it seems AnthonyM has a satisfied customer at last!

 

Unless....

To be fair there have been a few people who have said "He didn't rob me, who cares about anyone else?" about most of the crooked dealers discussed here.

 

I think sometimes people have to blame someone else for their lack of overseeing after all a new boat is an expensive purchase and mostly a personal statement so more involvement might have produced less upset.

You seem to be concentrating on the quality of work, rather than the fact that he owes large amounts of money to people with no intention to repay.

 

How would you have felt if, halfway through your bespoke, top quality build, you were told it wasn't your boat and your money has gone?

 

I have seen some of his work and, as a fellow joiner, I can't knock his quality.

 

I still wouldn't trust him to hold my ciggie while I tied my shoelace, though.

[KJT]

Have a look around one and make your own judgement I would suggest - opening up cupboards and looking at the quality of joinery behind the immediate appearance is a recommendation I would make. But I would suggest you adopt that approach to boats built by any new boat company during the past ten years.

 

 

 

 

How about both Good & Bad, bad, so if you are considering someone on the list you can cross em off, but Good so if looking you can go straight to them.

 

It's always a good idea to delve as deeply as possible into hidden areas to find out the 'real' quality of fitting and joinery.

 

I think 'used boat tests' would be a good idea. 'Practical Boat Owner' and 'Sailing Today' do them for their respective markets so it should be possible. And I am sure they have the same issues with advertisers!

As this thread seems to be heading a little off topic - if you want to start a 'Good & Bad' builders/fitters section then I can kick off with one. I recently had some internal modification done to enable some equipment to be installed. We had to remove some panels, behind roof linings and inside cupboards, which clearly had never been intended to be removed when originally fitted. Both the engineer and myself were extremely impressed with the quality and attention to detail of joinery that we found, even though it was very likely that they would never again see the light of day when originally fitted. The company in question is Kingsground Narrowboats (who recently were the subject of an erroneous article in Waterways World indicting their demise. They had just moved to new premises that's all!)

[Guest]

Yes, it is in effect a bilge pump on a float switch in a sump. They are sold for purpose but I personally don't like them. If the switch or pump fails you have a flood. What they do do is protect against a leaky shower or tap (bathroom kitchen, wherever) by automatically emptying the sump.

 

I actually prefer a Gulper-type pump, switched on manually when you start the shower and off again when you've finished. These are also diaphragm pumps which tend to cope with hair and such-like rather better than the impeller-type pump which can get jammed up.

 

Just something to think about if you have to alter your system at any time.

Yes those things are useless. A Gulper on my boat when that stupid thing finally fails. It is the worst bit of kit that I used on my fitout.

[trackman]

Had a bilge pump, manually switched, to pump out the shower on a boat I once shared. It needed regular attention to keep it working & free of hair etc.

My present boat has a Gulper which has needed no attention at all in nearly 7 years liveaboard use.

[peterboat]

Hi, Yes I know what mean about the pump I did take the precaution of making it very easy to get at also the filter is easy to clean about 1 minute to remove so not end of world. also any leak goes straight into bilge where the rear bilge pump gets it! the bilges were rustproofed when built because as we all know condensation is a big problem on all liveaboards. I will fit a gulper to when this one dies its had five years work so I am sure its number will be up soon.

 

On the Anthony M side when I employed him I knew he had been bankrupt and I do understand the anger people feel about him however I have a garage and the public have in the recent past bounced cheques on me sued me and slandered me on the internet it seem to be the way of the world at the moment.

Tony I know has had the same done to him people have been late in paying him and at one point he had a fully finished boat hanging around for months before the finale payment was made and the boat removed not good when you have suppliers and wages to pay and a mooring blocked up!

 

I am not defending Tony just relating my experience and my observations as a business owner whilst I was in the boatyard.

 

Peter