Cule Marine - a wonderful New Zealand company

  • 03 Jul 2019 01:49
    Reply # 7730794 on 7727989

    Cule are great hatches and they have been around for some time. The company was originally Weaver hatches, founded by Clive Woodhouse. Weaver was sold tto Maxwell winches (now part of the Vetus organization and not an improvement). Clive went to work for Maxwell but hated it and left after a few years and started Cule.


    Clive has now retired and sold the business which is now known as Cule Marine. Clive was never very good with email but if you bothered to go to his little factory (as I told Zane too) then the service was great and as as Graeme says, he would often find a "seconds" hatch or give you substantial discounts to help home builders.


    Good to know that the new owners are still offering good service. If they keep to Clive's basic design, they cannot go far wrong.

  • 03 Jul 2019 00:28
    Reply # 7730325 on 7728230
    Anonymous wrote:

    Soooo,
    when will photos of your new boat start popping up
    on your album ;-) ?

    Good luck, anyway!

    Arne


    I have been struggling with my health and with sorting out the boat, and seem to be in a permanent state of exhaustion.  It has been a rough time for me so far this year.  It has been a bit of a shock moving aboard Blue Moon after 23 years on Arion, which I had developed into my perfect little ocean cruiser.  I would never have parted with it except for the rust issue.  Blue Moon, despite having done some coastal cruising, is very poorly set up for living aboard and has been neglected.  It also has less than half the interior volume of Arion so I have had to do a major cull of possessions (everything I own is aboard my boats).  All my JRA magazines and most of my treasured books have gone to friends, and lots of other stuff too.  The rest went into the nearest garbage skip!  I am hoping to sail 35 miles up the coast to my favourite marina in a week or two, if the weather permits, and settle in for a long stay while I hopefully sort myself and the boat out.  Then I'll dig out the camera and take some photos, write a little story about the boat.  I am not sure if I will go cruising again, or just live in the marina at Mooloolaba and go out for daysails on sunny days.  It will depend on how I feel about the boat for one thing, but mostly on whether I can sort out my chronic health issues.  The Top Hat is a bit similar to a Folkboat, with narrow beam, fine lines and a hefty ballast ratio, so it will make a sweet day sailer if nothing else.  Fair winds to you this northern summer, Arne!
  • 03 Jul 2019 00:13
    Reply # 7730287 on 7729558
    Anonymous wrote:
    Anonymous wrote:

    I've just bought a new hatch for Blue Moon's cabin top from Cule Marine in New Zealand.  The Australian companies I contacted simply proffered their product list, none of which came remotely close to the size of my cut-out in the deck, but when I contacted Cule Marine, because they mentioned they could custom build hatches to suit, their response to the information about my cut-out size was, "That sounds like a Weaver hatch.  We have one that is an exact replacement."  A week after placing the order, it turned up and is a perfect match.  It is so delightful to do business with a company that not only knows its field but is so efficient and courteous.  The hatch is also beautiful and superbly engineered.  PS: I mentioned the JRA, and Ursula, one of the co-directors, looked us up and said she was fascinated by what an interesting and close-knit community we are.


    Maybe the ownership has changed, because about 5 years ago I had terrible customer service from Cule Marine.  Didn't answer phone, return phone-calls, nor emails.  When I finally did get hold of someone it was all "yeah no problem, sure" but nothing ever happened.

    Good to see you had a good customer experience, and they have got their act together.

    Yes,  the ownership changed about two years ago.  AsI said, I cannot recommend them more highly.  The new owners know and have a passion for their products and are keen to build up their reputation.
  • 02 Jul 2019 21:58
    Reply # 7729872 on 7727989
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I paid a visit to their little factory (its not far from where I live) and was impressed with their service. In fact they dug out a "factory second" for me, at a discounted price (nothing wrong with it that I could see) so now I have a nice big clear hatch right over my bunk, which can be popped slightly for ventilation and never leaks. I just love my "cule" hatch.

    Last modified: 02 Jul 2019 23:22 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 02 Jul 2019 20:12
    Reply # 7729558 on 7727989
    Anonymous wrote:

    I've just bought a new hatch for Blue Moon's cabin top from Cule Marine in New Zealand.  The Australian companies I contacted simply proffered their product list, none of which came remotely close to the size of my cut-out in the deck, but when I contacted Cule Marine, because they mentioned they could custom build hatches to suit, their response to the information about my cut-out size was, "That sounds like a Weaver hatch.  We have one that is an exact replacement."  A week after placing the order, it turned up and is a perfect match.  It is so delightful to do business with a company that not only knows its field but is so efficient and courteous.  The hatch is also beautiful and superbly engineered.  PS: I mentioned the JRA, and Ursula, one of the co-directors, looked us up and said she was fascinated by what an interesting and close-knit community we are.


    Maybe the ownership has changed, because about 5 years ago I had terrible customer service from Cule Marine.  Didn't answer phone, return phone-calls, nor emails.  When I finally did get hold of someone it was all "yeah no problem, sure" but nothing ever happened.

    Good to see you had a good customer experience, and they have got their act together.

    Last modified: 02 Jul 2019 20:15 | Anonymous member
  • 02 Jul 2019 12:45
    Reply # 7728230 on 7727989
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Soooo,
    when will photos of your new boat start popping up
    on your album ;-) ?

    Good luck, anyway!

    Arne

    Last modified: 02 Jul 2019 14:02 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 02 Jul 2019 09:37
    Message # 7727989

    I've just bought a new hatch for Blue Moon's cabin top from Cule Marine in New Zealand.  The Australian companies I contacted simply proffered their product list, none of which came remotely close to the size of my cut-out in the deck, but when I contacted Cule Marine, because they mentioned they could custom build hatches to suit, their response to the information about my cut-out size was, "That sounds like a Weaver hatch.  We have one that is an exact replacement."  A week after placing the order, it turned up and is a perfect match.  It is so delightful to do business with a company that not only knows its field but is so efficient and courteous.  The hatch is also beautiful and superbly engineered.  PS: I mentioned the JRA, and Ursula, one of the co-directors, looked us up and said she was fascinated by what an interesting and close-knit community we are.

    Last modified: 02 Jul 2019 09:41 | Anonymous member
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