After five long and grueling years the Intrepid is finally in the water and getting ready for its inaugural season beginning June 2007. The most common question my boat and construction crews and I are getting is "what the heck took so long?" I thought you deserved the straight scoop so here is the story behind the trials and tribulations of constructing the Intrepid.
I signed the contract to commence construction on March 15 2002, with a 16-18 month completion that was stipulated in the contract with the builders. The contract had a draw schedule (similar to any construction project) that was based on the construction duration. The project had over 30 line item allowances that were owner controlled such as the steel, machinery package, electrical, electronics, galley equipment, etc.
One of largest problems hinged on some verbiage in the contract that states "The builder maintains custody and control of the vessel until U.S. Coast Guard approval" which is standard in many boat building projects.
The yard was set up, materials ordered and off we went. I made my first visit approximately 45 days later and noticed there were two identical keels in the yard. ?? I had paid a prestigious naval architect for just one set of plans and had no knowledge of the builder's intent to build two boats side by side. After a brief conversation with the builder I felt very uncomfortable with this situation. There were a host of ethical, legal and exclusivity issues involved. At this point I was willing to terminate the contract and flush over $200K of design and deposit fees down the drain. When the naval architect discovered the builder was using my plans to build the other boat without any consideration of payment, the working relationship quickly diminished and he quit the project.
Construction of the steel was moving along at a brisk pace due to Jay Peacock running that department. The steel had been lofted and precut by my steel supplier by computer to cut down on yard time. After about 75% of the steel construction was complete, Jay quit due to non-payment from the builder and another employee took his spot. At this point the builder was still guaranteeing the vessel will be completed on schedule. We had a huge investment in the boat already and decided to continue with construction and started hiring captains and crew, booking shows and taking of deposits. Boy, was that a mistake!
It became painfully apparent the Intrepid would not be ready when promised when the payment draws started to exceed the construction. At this point I requested construction catch up to the payments before releasing any more funds. Upon my refusal to release more funds the builder shut down construction on the Intrepid. Legal contract remedies for disputes were put into action in which the builder refused to participate -- he knew he was in the wrong, he had no defense and he walked out.
Another six months passes by when the builder walks into my office, and out of the blue, promises me if I release the next draw the Intrepid would be completed by the following summer. After further discussions with my legal department we started the project moving forward. Once again, six months later, it was evident there was no possible way construction would be complete and the project came to a screeching halt.?? Some of my long time employees and best friends started leaving to take on other job opportunities, and we hired new ones to replace them. Once again the attorneys became involved and we faced being tied up for potentially 3-4 years of court battles.?? By this time the builder had been paid 95% of the contract with the balance due upon USCG approval. The builder promises to deliver the Intrepid if I release the final 5%. We pay the final 5% and 2 months later the work force is gone. Surprise, surprise!
Next come a series of "good news, bad news" stories. In December, 2005 the builder dies of a heart attack. The heirs try to extort me by demanding $125K to release custody and title. We send the necessary documents to the Washington, D.C. Coast Guard, and in just 4 weeks I become the legal owner to the Intrepid. We have not and don't expect to hear from the heirs again. The original naval architect rejoins the team. We expect final finish work to go quickly but discover the builder did not follow the design drawings and workmanship was poor.
We hire Danny Nichols, with a wonderful pedigree on construction of long range boats as our new Project Manager, and we begin the reconstruction. Under Danny's leadership we gut all of the systems the builder had installed and start from scratch. This demo and reconstruction took over 8 months to complete, and we are now confident that our state of the art equipment will perform as planned and everything is sanitary.
This is the short version - the whole story would require many chapters. This ordeal has cost my family time together plus several special family projects that had to be put on hold until we got control of this situation. When I started the Intrepid 5 years ago, there was no way that I could have predicted the pain, risk and financial exposure and time required to build my dream boat. This could be the last long range sportfishing vessel built for a long time ??? I know I'll never build another.
That said, we launched the Intrepid on January 15, 2007, in Long Beach and she performed flawlessly on her maiden voyage to her new home at Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego. We will finish the interior salon and stateroom work and the electronics and be ready for the 2007 summer fishing season. Although it took a huge toll on me and my family, I am proud of my current crew and the Intrepid. She is beautiful, safe and I hope will prove to be very fishy.
If you want more information about charters or reservations please contact Carol Wood at 877/686-7827 or carol@fishintrepid.com. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Ken Price
Owner M.V. Intrepid
Intrepid Sportfishing
January 22, 2007
