It's always a pleasure to get great customer service, and always worth passing on for the benefit of others. In this case, it's Richard at Ely Boat Chandlers http://www.elyboatchandlers.com  who I'm talking about

When I bought the Coromandel 'Yellow Rock' this summer, I found that the 5hp Honda outboard was u/s because the cylinder head had fallen apart through corrosion - they have a reputation for fragility, and this one had been stored unused for about 7 years. Although previously serviced regularly from new, it hadn't been flushed out before storing and the salt water remaining did the damage, eating though the c/h from the cooling water passages. Although I have acquired a new motor (a Chinese copy of a Yamaha called 'Hidea', at about half the price) I decided the Honda would be worth rebuilding as a winter project, so researched spares sources via official Honda agents. Liked the look of EBC's website and sent them an email asking for costs and advice on the parts required. A friendly email arrived within minutes, listing the parts that they felt would be required and offering help with the service manual pages (not available to purchase), and explaining that some parts needed to come from Japan so might take a while. Well, they've arrived already and are on the way to me now, along with consistently good communication about delivery. 

As their website suggests, EBC are " a real walk in the door shop, staffed by real boaters"

They seem to stock a good range of products at excellent prices, and have one other characteristic I look for in marine services - their market is likely to be primarily inland waterway users rather than 'yachties', given their location (near Cambridge). I've always found that this denotes more competitive prices and more personal service, this is just another confirmation. I had the same experience with an old Lister diesel - the canal boat engineers inland were helpful and their work really good value; by contrast the South Coast lot were sniffy and uninterested and appeared to charge the earth.

Gavin