Testimonials:

Dear Melissa,
Thank you for the "Paid" Invoice. I love the lights! They will be so beautiful down in the Keys and up in Lake Michigan.

Thank you,
Jane

Dear Tom,
After much research, Florida Bow Thrusters was the right choice. The team that traveled up, Jared Hickson and Matt Astle "The 'A' Team", both were very diligent and professional when it comes to putting a hole in your bow. This team was reassuring. They carefully thought out and measured several times before deciding the most efficient and effective placement of the hole, tube and motor. I was impressed, being a Chief Marine Engineer for over 20 years on Fire Boats for New York City and Government Ferries.

They were well equipped and prepared to work. Their level of expertise was greatly appreciated. They could work with me nay time. I know they will do the job right an do it on time. It was nice to see this work ethic still in the marine field.

Respectfully your,
Ronnie West
Chief Marine Engineer
Retired NYC Fire Boats
USMM / USCG DOT

Tom, I just wanted to take a minute and say thanks for the great job you guys did installing my platform and thruster, it was wonderful to see the respect for my boat that you guys showed and the quality of work performed. Thanks again and if you ever need a referral have your customer give me a call.

Thanks, Ernie Albert - SeaRay 460DA

Tom, I would like to pass along my sincere gratitude for a job well done.  My experience with your company was nothing short of “better than the sales brochure promised.”  I have done business with many companies that make promises and never live up to them.  In your case, you promised a Factory Quality Installation.  I have now had a chance to inspect the work that your team did and I must say, everything about the install is at or above the quality of the other Sea Ray installed options.  From the glass work to the wiring is of factory quality.  I was most impressed with the time your team took at the start of the project to protect my boat from the mess that would be created from the work.  My marina was also very pleased as your team policed up the area of all the debris from the install and even swept the parking lot around the boat.

Tom, in closing, please have anyone considering your company to give me a call.  The quality, craftsmanship and professionalism of your team is unmatched.

Thanks again for a job well done

I am looking forward to many years with my new thrusters.

Regard
John Balow, Owner
Muscle Car Restorations
11371 20th Avenue
Chippewa Falls , WI 54729
715-834-2223     Office
715-215-1484     Cell
715-834-5994     Fax

Tom and team, You delivered everything you claimed, plus more. Your team that worked on my boat was courteous and informative. I appreciate the prompt service you provided. I can't wait to try it (bow thruster) out. I'm sure that I will have many more years of boating as opposed to frustration on the water! Thanks again, you guys are the greatest.

PS - Your price was also the best!!!

Ray Kelly - Silverton 453 Motor Yacht

Hi Tom, I want to thank you and your company and especially your two sterling employees, Jarrett and David. The intricacies of the installation were beyond what I expected. Everything was neatly done and ship shape. Hopefully I will be installing a stern thruster some day. Thanks again for a job well done!

Tony Ribeiro - CheoyLee 44

Dear Sir/Madam, on Dec. 16, 2004 your company installed a bow thruster in our Albin 27 Cruiser. The temperature that day was 23 degrees F with a wind chill factor of minus 0 degrees. Regardless of that temperature the men worked steadily all day to complete the installation which was no small feat for two boys from Florida. They impressed me with their knowledge of their profession and job they were doing, they were extremely courteous and left the job site very clean.

Ed & Barbi Soderlund - Albin 27 Cruiser

I want to commend the Florida Bow Thruster organization. The thruster installed on my Monk 36, Drummer II by the crew was first rate and very professionally done. I got my money's worth.

Brad Boyd - Monk 36

Dear Tom, Congratulations! Your team did an outstanding job. The bow thruster itself is exactly as you described, and what I hoped it would be. My 76,000 lb. boat is much more agile in tight places, and as you know, will actually "walk sideways". The big story here is the installation. You and your organization "WOWed" me. Following is a copy of what I will post on the Hatteras Owner's Forum.

Andy Dixon

---------------------------------------------------------

Bow Thruster - I have 1981, 56' my (18'3" beam).
Between tight transit slips, docks without pilings to pivot on, and multitude of multi-million dollar yachts that I must maneuver close to in South Florida, I decided that I wanted more control around the dock. I asked my wife to workout in the gym so she could horse around our 76,000 lb. boat with lines, but she said to come up with another idea. After considering it for nearly two years, I decided to take the plunge, I chose a 10.5" Vitus, 24v Elect Bow Thruster. I hope it turns out to be functional and reliable over the long-term, but only time will tell.

Equally important to the unit itself is the installer. I chose Florida Bow Thrusters. I am sure there are a lot of qualified installers, but my experience with Tom Gillikin and his company was excellent. They showed up at my boatyard on time, with everything they needed. Then they proceeded to spend over three hours covering up the inside of the boat to keep it clean.

Then the moment of truth - I wasn't happy about letting anyone drill two 10.5" holes in the bottom of my boat, but here goes. It was amazing to watch. They started measuring and marking, then in less than thirty minutes, the tube was set in place! The rest of the installation went equally as smooth. Simply put, "Florida Bow Thrusters knows what they are doing."

As for the thruster itself, it functions exactly as Tom Gillikin said it would. Control in tight spaces is excellent; the boat will actually "walk sideways". Now, without the stern moving, I can point the bow wherever I need to go. Additionally, the boat can be held on the spot while lines are being attached at an unfamiliar dock.

This was a major upgrade to an old boat, but it went silky smooth.

Would I spend the money again? Yep! Would I recommend Florida Bow Thrusters? Absolutely! Their number is 321-453-7070.

Tom - Thank you very much for a great job. Please give my name to anyone looking for a reference.

Bob Kopp - Hawthorn Woods, IL

Tom - I want to commend the Florida Bow Thruster organization. The thruster installed on my Monk 36, Drummer II by the J & J crew (Jason and Justin) was first rate and very professionally done. The guys were very knowledgeable and always kept me informed. They were a pleasure to work with. I got my money's worth.

Brad Byrd

Dear Tom - I wanted to thank you for all of your assistance in getting us the bow thruster that we needed for our boat. It works great. In addition we wanted to commend Steve Brown and Tom Ashby for the great job they did on the installation. They were so careful with our boat from the holes to the fiberglassing to the wiring. They were exceptionally neat and clean with all of their work. Thank you again.

Dian Warnhoff

Dear Tom - Your guys were here Friday and Saturday, and did a fabulous job. Everyone in my marina has been talking about the job they did. Not only were they punctual, but they were courteous, meticulous, and professional in every respect. They took great pains in protecting everything on the boat, and went beyond all expectations in respecting the customers' property. Both Al and Matt were a pleasure to meet and work with. (They worked, I watched). I love my boat and have every want to keep it forever, but if for some reason I wind up with another, and it needs a bow thruster, I will not hesitate to call on you. You and your crew have every reason to be proud of your company and its reputation. Please feel free to give my name out to perspective customers. I would be pleased to tell them how happy I am with you. Thank you for a job well done.

John Kime

Tom, Thank you very much for the recent installation of the Bow Thruster on my Boat at Viking Boat Yard. I have heard through the grapevine that Eric went through the entire installation and thought very highly of your work, something I gather he doesn't give out easily. I look forward to seeing and using it myself next month.

Jonathan W. Gray

Tom - all went great with install. Matt and Al worked long and hard and should be commended.

Thanks - Gerard Fodera

RE:  SeaRay 500DA Michigan

Dear Susan,
I wish to say thank you.  Your team Dave and Robert did an excellent job. They had 1st class workmanship, excellent attitude, polite and very helpful.

They had rain for most of the installation and cold weather, which was unfortunate.  Their motor in your van gave up and caused a lot of phone calls and extra effort.  They had to rent a van and move everything over.  In spite of this they remained committed to doing it correctly. I am very pleased.

Many thanks to Tom.  It has been all he said it would be.

Yours truly, D.F. Plowright

Hello,

At the end of last August your company installed a bow thruster for my 35 ' Chaparral express cruiser.

Your company performs excellent work and supplies a quality product. The workers were very meticulous and did everything to perfection .

My new bow thruster has taken the stress out of docking .

I wanted to personally take the time to express my sincere gratitude .

Best wishes,
Eric Weiss, M.S., D.A.B.R.

Thank you for the quick response and great job by your crew.

Jeff
Jarrett Bay Boatworks

Greetings,

Thank you for a JOB WELL DONE!  It was a pleasure working with Joe and Matt.  They did an outstanding job.  They were very competent, organized, and showed excellent craftsmanship skills.  I approved the final payment with our corp. and you should receive it shortly.  I will recommend you to anyone interested in a bow thruster.

Kind regards,
Clyde Peabody
Fleet Engineer  (Seaquest)

Hi Tom,

Just wanted to let you know that I was happy with the job done by your guys, they worked well together and were pleasant to deal with. I will certainly recommend your company to anyone who asks about bow thrusters. If you need a reference please feel free to give my name and email address.

Thanks again for all your help.

Bernie Caniff

Susan-

I wanted to drop you line and a quick note of thanks for the outstanding job done by your installers and the entire group there in Florida on this job. As promised, the boat was ready and turned back over to me in a spotless condition Sunday PM. We sea trialed it, upon our return to the docks we found the stern thruster had been wired in reverse. I got on the phone to the guys, and the quickly returned to correct the error. Even in the reversed wired situation, I successfully docked the boat effortlessly, and with confidence the first time!

Now I caught a ton of crap from all the guys up here at Marine Max for going to the extra expense- when they all said practice would make perfect. What is so sweet about this is that the practice part was taken out and my boat, and others were not subject to the calamity we all witness when some one is working with a new boat .. Please don't get me wrong. I have a long way to go, but with Florida Bow Thrusters, the learning curve has improved 100%. I would recommend you product to any new boat owner, or others like myself moving up from occasional boat usage to full time boating enthusiast. I look forward with confidence to making those extended trips to places I haven't been before by boat and with your product, it will be a lot more enjoyable .. Thanks again. I'm placing check for balance in the mail today .. Please let me know if there is ever anything we can do for you folks up this way.

By the way, the installation guys were awesome; they were very friendly and patient in explaining the product and showing us locations for trouble shooting. My hat off to you for sending us the best, again thanks.

Scott Ellis.
Broker/Owner
RE/MAX At The Coast
2120 Sea Mountain Highway Suite 2102
North Myrtle Beach , SC 29582
Office-843-663-5663
Fax- 843-663-1155
Cell 843-222-7317

Tom,

I want to let you know how much I enjoy the bow thruster and the professional work that Bo and Matt did. Bo was great in walking me thru the process from drilling the hole thru showing me how to operate the thruster. In fact, he took time today on his way to Myrtle Beach asking me how it performed. They also, put the boat back in better condition than before; it is as if no one was ever on the boat.

Regards,

Carl Klele

My captain tells me the job looks great and that Mike & Eric were true professionals. We will recommend you to others.

Thanks,
Don Pullen

Blue Skies is back in the water and I have two things to report. The new thruster does not leak and it makes thrust, lots of it. I estimate, it makes twice the thrust of the Wesmar Thruster we took out. After further study, I found that the Wesmar thruster was rated at 8 hp not 5 hp. Since the Vetus 95 is rated at 7.5 hp, I feared I had made a big mistake. But the proof is in the water. Where the Wesmar makes noise
(cavitation) the Vetus makes thrust.

Dave and Matt did a great Job. They showed up when scheduled and completed the job in two days, amazing. My wife expected the boat to be full of fiberglass dust. But Dave and Matt did a great job in containing he dust to their work area. Attached is a picture of the guys standing next to their masterpiece.

Your system of a fixed price and the incentive to finish the work in as short of time as possible is great. It drives me crazy to get a bill from a boat yard when they itemize a stick to stir the paint. I got two other estimates in the same price range but nobody could predict the time it would take. There were several steps along the way of the thruster installation where Dave and Matt could have compromised to make the work go faster. But they didn't, it is quality work that will last, and still they did it in just two days.

I am a very satisfied customer and the Final Check is in the mail.

Sincerely:

Hugh Hazeltine
Blue Skies - Great Harbour 37

I want to thank you personally for your help in getting this job sold and completed in a timely manner. I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to both Jimmy and Eric for a job very well done. They were helpful, courteous, and attentive to detail and did an outstanding job. Our mutual customer, Mr. Clark, was extremely impressed and very pleased. I hope this will be the beginning of a long relationship between our two companies. I will certainly give you a call in the future.

Very best regards,

Ridge Gardner
Marathon Boat Yard and Marine Center

Tom & Company,

Nice job! Your people did a very nice installation and were very neat and clean!

Thank you very much,
Bill Mertens

Tom,

Just wanted to drop you an email to say THANKS! for doing a great job on my bowthruster. Matt and his team did a top notch job. They were on time, very professional and delivered a great product! Matt went out of his way to help me get my boat launched when I could not be there for the splash. Is rare to find such service in this day and time. The Vetus thruster works great on my cat. Very easy to use and it sure made me look like a pro at the dock. I had a fast outgoing tide with a 15k cross wind and did not even need my rudders, just thrusted the bow around with a little reverse throttle and backed her right into my slip.

Thanks again and have a good New Year!
Ted