E. J. Mertaugh Boat Works

Docked here for a couple of years and loved it. Management is awesome and they really try to make it the best experience they can. Prices were reasonable for haul out and storage. I sold my boat so no longer here but looking for another and even though I live a long ways away ( Bellaire MI) I will be keeping my new boat here.

Over the past several years, Shelley and Brad Koster and the good folks at Mertaugh Boat Works have taken excellent care of us and our boat. They are easy to deal with, honest, and know what they are doing. I have used them to buy boat parts, service my outboard and store my boat. This is an excellent business with even better people!

Nice friendly staff. Jeff stayed late and offered to fuel me up beyond closing hours. Shelly is always nice and has a smile on. Great ice cream!

My experience with Mertaugh Boat Works was very pleasurable! Jeff was very accommodating, informative and prompt with all his knowledge. I would recommend this business to anyone I came in contact with.

Literally the worst customer experience I’ve ever encounteredThe starter on our family owned boat went bad. Rather than wasting a vacation trying to do the repair ourselves we took it to Mertaugh for an estimate. They would not give us an estimate without first doing the diagnostics themselves, so we approved 1 hour labor for the estimate, they said would be credited if/when we approved the final work. It’s an older boat that we will probably be selling soon, so if estimate was too much we would skip the repair.Weeks go by with no contact, no quote, and no returned phone calls. My dad stopped in to get an update and they told him the work was already completed - not only the starter, but a replacement solenoid, and tune-up kit. All this was done with no quote (written or otherwise) and no approval (written or otherwise). He asked how much it was and they told him the invoice hadn’t been finalized yet but probably around $700. He was surprised and someone behind the counter said they could make it more. The eventually sent the invoice for $777, which was probably not too unreasonable for the work, but is about ½ of what the boat is worth. Knowing how much it would have been, we would not have approved the work.We tried to talk to someone numerous times about the invoice, and again no contact, and no returned phone calls. Finally a couple days before I was going to pick up the boat I finally got in touch with Brad. After I explained we wanted to discuss the invoice charges he told me now we would need to pay *more* money to pick up the boat and hung up on my. He actually tried to extort more money from us because we questioned the charges!I called back and he went on a rant, asking me if I knew who I was talking to, and how important he is! That their invoices are always correct, and they never negotiate. I literally couldn’t believe I was speaking to someone that childish! He was forcefully asking who I was, what I did for a living, etc.After a while he finally acknowledged that they didn’t have a signed work order, and the work was never authorized. So he said he was going to undo the work. I told him the boat needs to be returned with original parts, and he said they don’t have them anymore.I’m assuming I caught him on a really bad day, because I can’t believe a place would stay in business if they frequently treated customers like this. Bottom line, I picked up the boat, paid way more than we approved, never got original parts back. The biggest concern though was his mysterious “additional charges” after we questioned the invoice!The only positive is that the actual work seems to have been done ok.2017/11/14 - update:Since the original review, my dad has been in contact several times with Brad, who was very apologetic for the experience, and did offer to refund 1/2 of the invoice. He's happy with this resolution.

Shelley, the owner, and her husband are so kind and helpful with anything I need. I return here with boyscouts again and again for their ice cream and Shelley's homemade yummies!

Nothing positive to say about new etec installation. I thought time might heal this wound, but after reading previous posters experience I realize that my experience clearly isn’t the exception.New 30hp etec installation on custom wooden boat. Contacted Mertaugh over winter to purchase and book installation for new motor in the spring.When appointment day arrives, they just have me leave it with them. Days go by with no follow up. Phone calls not returned. After two trips in person the installation finally begins.Finally completed and at pick up the work is barely acceptable. Clearly no great care taken. Huge installation bill for two mechanics. Lead mechanic was a snowmobile mechanic and the other was a kid from the shop. Contacted Evinrude and found that most dealers would have charged a flat installation fee considerably less or taken half the amount of time.Brought this up with Brad and he is literally yelling at me over the phone telling me that they took great care and that is why it took so much time. I spoke with the owner and got no where. I incorrectly assumed they would have come in near their original quote or checked in with me.Boat never ran great for the first year. Had it checked out only to find out the outboard was mounted too low on the transom. Wrong prop. Mechanic says clearly never tested on the water like I was told or done by someone with no experience.Ouch. Run from this marina. New ownership is running it into the ground. Go eat the ice cream or buy a t-shirt, but go elsewhere for any boat needs.

Great atmosphere, amazing ice cream, great coffee. Not very socially distanced - staff weren't wearing masks, but they have sanitizer and paper towels everywhere.

Terrible.....most unprofessional marine storage and repair we have ever encountered. Had our boat stored there for 2 years and the repairs were difficult to get done and the worse experience was having the boat detailed. Came to pick up the boat in the spring after" it being cleaned and waxed and it was terrible. Showed up with two high school girls cleaning the boat leaving the windows streaked and the boat dirty. Damaged the back canvas and Brad said with disbelief.....Did we do that????? Half the boat was waxed and Brad tried to charge us for the full job and when we would not pay for something not done he got angry and said the boat was clearly waxed and it wasn't as there was dirt all over the hard top. And then he at the last minute in the fall refused to give us the option to store the boat

Over the years I have had all kinds of work done by Mertaugh staff - always friendly service, fair pricing and a willingness to make it easy for my family to enjoy our time in Les Cheneaux. At various times they have gone above and beyond to help and make sure we had use of our boat to use while in the islands. They have an great selection of LCI gear too.