A. Mustad Yacht Delivery Reviews

5 Star Rating

{ts '2015-09-30 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

Absolutely one of the best experiences I have had as a new boat owner. I wanted to move my new 44' Beneteau Swift Trawler from Anacortes, WA to my home in Pt. Richmond, CA but lacked the experience to make the journey on my own so I began looking for a Delivery Captain. I ran across Arnstein on an internet search and from my very first contact with him I was impressed with his professionalism and attention to detail. I wanted to do an Owner Assisted Delivery so that I could participate and learn as much as I could from a professional Captain. Other Skippers I had talked to tried to discourage me from riding along but not Arnstein, who actually encouraged me and I'm so glad that I went with him.

Arnstein is extremely through. His inspection of the boat found a few things that my pre-purchase survey did not discover. He had a travel plan for us that he had to adjust during the trip to allow for a weather system that was chasing us down the coast. He supplied a crew member who was very experienced and helpful.

All in all, I learned so much from him that it almost feels like the Delivery was free and I just paid for private lessons. It was a wonderful trip and I trust and highly recommend Arnstein

5 Star Rating

{ts '2015-08-30 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

Mustad Marine did an outstanding job delivering our Hunter Legend from Alameda to Point Loma. They kept to their anticipated schedule and communicated their status and position for the entire trip down the coast. They took perfect care of our boat and it was pleasure to meet Arnstein and his able crew when they sailed into Sun Harbor Marina. Arnstein provided me with a detailed delivery report, including all receipts for the trip, which was very helpful. If you ever need your vessel moved by a professional Captain, I highly recommend Arnstein and Mustad Marine.

5 Star Rating

{ts '2013-12-28 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

Arnstein helped my friend and I deliver a recently purchased J/37 from San Pedro to Alameda, Ca. mid November. He was extremely on top of everything, and I would hire him again in a heartbeat. Clear with expectations, professional, quick to respond, extremely knowledgeable, and reasonably priced. It's clear to me now why he is always booked up. We had been in contact with a few other delivery captains and I even had someone that was recommended by the broker deliver this same boat a few hours up the coast for us from the purchase location to a temporary slip. It became clear that not everyone who is an expert sailor has the professionalism and integrity to instill confidence in a boat owner. My friend and I hadn't been on an offshore passage or overnight passage before so the structure and clear communication of expectations and roles proved really valuable. Arnstein performed a VERY thorough inspection of the boat and helped repair a few things for nearly a whole day prior to departure. 5x more detailed than the survey which was done at purchase. Once the few things were repaired everyone onboard was very confident that we were safe and prepared for the trip. It cost what was projected, and most importantly he did an excellent job. Never did we have the feeling that we were cutting corners, overdoing expensive "required items", or were unsafe in any way. The trip was great and I'll remember it forever as my first offshore passage.

5 Star Rating

{ts '2013-02-22 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

Arnstein Mustad will go down in history as the man who made sure my husband's sailing dreams came true and my sailing nightmares did not. Arnstein signed on to lead our family on a voyage from San Francisco Bay through the Panama Canal to Long Island Sound on our 1989 Beneteau 435. While my enthusiastic husband had sailed before, the remainder of the "mixed experience" crew included two reluctant teen-aged boys and me – the seasickness-prone wife cultivating her "good attitude" on a day to day basis. Our group presented challenges of all shapes, colors and sizes. Arnstein's pre-departure preparation of the boat, of himself and of us was comprehensive. That combined with his steadfast guidance on the early legs of the trip made us highly confident about putting our lives in his hands. A gradually increasing oil leak led to an engine rebuild in Ensenada, Mexico. The extremely poor Ensenada engine rebuild left us facing the decision of whether to repower the boat and extend the voyage or give up and go home. But before we even considered that decision two things were crystal clear - we COULDN'T continue without help and we WOULDN'T continue unless that help was Arnstein Mustad. Our engine troubles turned the two-month voyage into a seven- month "Voyage of a Lifetime" – a phrase sometimes muttered with sarcasm, sometimes vowed with determination, usually spoken with small nods of appreciation. The kids survived. The marriage survived. And thank goodness Arnstein survived. Although we can be an overly-critical bunch, there is not a single negative thing to say about our experience with Arnstein. The list of positive qualities we found in him is extensive: seamanship, professionalism, knowledge, skill, experience, judgment, instincts, wisdom, creative problem solving, sense of adventure, sense of humor, sense of fun, a great teaching style, flexibility, humility, honesty and an unfailing good attitude. He was willing and able to guide us on every aspect of our voyage while we became more independent. Whenever we think of another sailing adventure we always hope that Arnstein will be available to join us. The owner and crew of s/v Abigail Joy are proud to say that we served under Captain Arnstein Mustad of Mustad Marine. Norman Paradis, MD Christine Couturier, MD

5 Star Rating

{ts '2013-02-04 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

I highly recommend Arnstein as a captain. He recently delivered our Hunter 320 from San Diego and I have only praises to say about his work. He gave us a detailed quote, to which he stuck extremely well, took steps to minimize his travel time (and thus save us $$$), always kept us informed of his itinerary and delivered the boat in impecable shape. He has earned our utmost trust, and I would recommend him to anybody who requires the services of a captain. Sincerely, Yann Jouvenot

5 Star Rating

{ts '2011-08-08 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

I had the opportunity to work with Arnstein several times this year. After purchasing a Tayana 48 DS (“Koh-Ring”) I hired Arnstein to help me come up to speed on handling this complex boat. While I have sailed for over 20 years, it has been mostly on charter boats. Koh-Ring is a different animal with cutter rig, high-cut Yankee and a very tall mast with powerful sails. Arnstein did a great job teaching me how to manage this sail plan and passed on a lot of valuable insight. Also, whenever I asked questions later via email, he was always very responsive, even when delivering some boat across some ocean at the time. In April of this year I sailed the boat down the coast to Marina Del Rey. Since this was Koh-Ring’s first ocean voyage I thought I could benefit from Arnstein’s extensive experience. I asked him to join me in an “owner-assist” capacity, which he did. This was a shakedown cruise of an essentially new boat with lots of newly installed features. My friend Doug came along, and the three of us took Koh-Ring to Southern California with just one brief stop in Morro Bay. With his extensive knowledge Arnstein contributed immensely in all areas of boat handling including navigation with radar and chart plotter, safety, watch standing, boat systems, sail handling and many other areas. I learned a lot about my boat and it’s management in the open ocean, and came home with a long list of items to address - which had been my intention. Both Koh-Ring and I are much better prepared now for a lot more open ocean voyaging. The 2011 Baja Ha-Ha is next on the agenda! I recommend Arnstein wholeheartedly to any sailor out there, whether you need coaching, consulting or yacht delivery. Arnstein combines a truly extensive level of experience with excellent people skills and is great to work with.

5 Star Rating

{ts '2011-05-15 00:00:00'} 00:00:00 PST

I contracted with Arnstein to help me deliver my boat from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay in May 2011. Arnstein was a consummate professional in all respects; planning, communicating, safety, instruction and coaching. I believe the delivery cost was worth the instruction and coaching I received during the trip. I would highly recommend joining Arnstein on a delivery, but if you can't make it, your boat will be in very capable hands.

5 Star Rating

{ts '2011-02-06 11:34:00'} 11:34:00 PST

I engaged Arnstein Mustad to help me bring my Valiant 42 sailboat up to San Francisco from San Diego from January 28th through February 3rd, 2011. Arnstein was very well organized and prepared throughout the process. He not only went over our boat systems in detail before setting out, he noted any and all boat/system discrepancies throughout the trip and documented them for us in written form after the trip. He worked well with the volunteer crew of two I had with me, setting strict safety rules and helping them to "learn the ropes" of this particular sailboat. He called the weather perfectly, delaying our trip in Santa Barbara for a day to await better weather around Pt. Conception. I highly recommend Arnstein Mustad as a delivery skipper, who will treat the boat as his own to insure that it arrives in excellent condition.