M.Y. Big Splender, 1993 103′ Broward
June 6, 2007
Ben Koppenhoefer
Elite Marine
3200 S. Andrews Ave., Bay 109
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316

Dear Ben & Dave,

A note of thanks for the installation of our new air conditioning system. It looks great, works well and is a huge improvement. Thanks for going the extra mile working late and incorporating all the additional plumbing bits that made sense but I would never have known enough to ask for. I wish there were more guys like you in the marine industry. We’ve ended up with a nice stream-lined system and gained valuable engine room storage space.

The complete story:

We had the boss and his wife aboard for a long weekend at Harbour Island in Eleuthera, the last visit by them before we departed on route to the Caribbean for an extended cruise. We’d been fighting our old Cruisair air conditioning system for the last year and I’d discovered, when all else failed, if I thumped chiller #3 hard, just right, it would remember its programming and start working again. It was definitely on its last legs after 14 years of hard use. This time all three chillers quit at once and nothing would make them start up again. To make matters worse, the tropical temperatures in the boat the next day caused a water pipe to collapse and fail, dumping at least 20 gallons of fresh water from the ceiling into the Master Cabin on the boss’ The weekend drew to a quick finish.

When we arrived back to Fort Lauderdale on a Friday afternoon after a long passage back across the Straits, we scrambled to contact three air conditioning companies for a quote on replacing the chillers. Elite Marine was the only contact that quickly provided us with a complete written quotation after their preliminary inspection.

Elite was able to dismantle the old system and install the new chillers efficiently, cost effectively and has provided good follow-up; checking the system pressure, bleeding trapped air, adding coolant, providing the correct manuals and instruction on the new equipment. I am glad to recommend Ben and Elite Marine for their expertise in the marine industry.

Captain Dave Erwin
Big Splender