There are other choices in Whangarei with the main one being Docklands 5.
Docklands 5 is a large yard with most marine services being provided by Austral
Marine. Austral Marine is a complete marine service which handles Riverside Drive Marina offers the same services but a la carte. They have a marine store, diesel mechanic, metal engineering and wood and fiberglass shop each operating as independent businesses on site. You work with each business for your individual jobs. We preferred this method and we had really good luck with all of the
vendors. We had good luck with all of the vendors and particularly recommend Birch and Mason and Northern Machine. We had good quality work done by Brush Strokes but their hours seemed high and this was a common complaint we heard so we would suggest getting a quote up front to prevent surprises. They did very good quality work for us so just ensure that the price is agreeable up front. Ray Roberts Marine (no longer owned by Ray) has 2 sides. Bernard is the finder who knows where to go for just about any marine part. He can get almost anything in 24 hours. He was almost always the lowest price we could find and he really did great on our Autostream Prop. Grant on the repair side is good and expensive by kiwi standards, but aren't all good diesel mechanics. We were not surprised with the bill we got for a complete service and raw water pump rebuild. We did hear that their bills can get pretty high so again the prudent thing would be to get an estimate up front. Our engine runs great and we learned a few things about it during the service. |
We hauled out in Riverside Drive Marina for 4
weeks while we completed our New Zealand Refit. We had been staying in Riverside
Drive Marina for our entire visit in New Zealand and we had most of work done by the local
tradesman in the yard so it was natural that we would haul out there. 
projects from
bottom paint to the complete construction of mega-yachts. They are a full service outfit
that will handle your project completely. This is what many people are looking for
and we heard good things about Austral from our friends that hauled there.
The yard is owned by Ray Roberts and he oversees the marina and hardstand
with his son Karl. Ray sold off the businesses to lower his stress but he still
stays on top of customer satisfaction.