Hi Andy & Crew at Northwest Rigging,

Just a note to send you all a great big “Thank You” for furnishing and installing a new Harken cruising furler # I on our Islander 30 sloop “New Sensation”. We have had a furler on our wish-list for years, but never got that far, so when you told us that we won one through your drawing at the Seattle Boat Show last January, it was great news. You and your crew came to Sequim Bay for the install, and provided great follow-up and technical assistance. Even though we have had a really busy summer, with not much sailing time, the furler works great! For our next rigging project, we will certainly be calling Northwest Rigging. Thanks again to you all.
Don & Andi Taylor, Sequim, WA -

Hey Andy, just want tell you how please I was with your install crew. You installed Harken furler on my Swiftsure 24' and was having some wrap around issues with it. I called it in, and next time i was down at the boat I saw that they had come down and installed a retainer at the top of the mast! No arguments, no bull, just awesome customer service. I have been spreading the word at every opportunity. Thanks! It was a refreshing change from the norm, these days.

Regards,

Alex Whittaker, White Rock, Canada -

The project I asked Northwest Rigging (NwR) to undertake was to replace the masthead on our Cheoy Lee 27 so that the sheaves would be in the masthead rather than externally hung, some from bales. In the process the halyards were internalized and the electrical wires which were inside the mast were to be placed in a PVC conduit also inside the mast. When the mast was removed it was found that the previous owner had tried to stabilize the wiring by injecting expanding foam into the mast. The foam was injected at the base of the mast as well as about 9' up.

Trust is often missing from consumer transactions these days. From our initial encounter with NwR it was obvious to me that trust was to be a major component of our association. Andy Schwenk had readily agreed to my working with his crew doing those aspects of this project I felt comfortable with. Andy would mark the halyard insertion locations on the mast and I would cut them out. I was going to do all the electrical work, but that got sabotaged when the foam was encountered, so Eric of NW Rigging performed those tasks while I focused on augering out the foam. Even the auger turned out to be only a partial solution, so Andy got the loan of a commerical leaf blower and the loosened foam was “blasted” out of the mast.

Also some minor repair to hardware on the boom was required and I performed those operations. The focus of NWR was always to permit me to do the most work I was competent for in an effort to keep my costs as low as possible. When it came to grinding out the old masthead and cutting the slots for the new unit, I deferred to Eric's expertize. Keith also made significant contributions with his offering of advise, design and procurement of the new masthead and the loan of his jigsaw (in part I think because my Fein Multimate was making a LOT of noise cutting the aluminium mast).

At the end of the project the work was a success and I have much respect for the crew at NW Rigging.
Paul Barrow, SV Orn -

9/18/10

Hi Andy,

We just returned from our little excursion to the Peninsula. I have been concerned about the time and trouble you went to on our boat "OWL".

You were sincere, knowledgeable and did your research and spent the better part of a day on measuring and explaining the job of ordering and installing boom furling. I appreciate your time and effort and am enclosing a check to cover your time and expertise. It may or may not be fair, but it is my best estimation. If we decide to go further with the boom furling system you will hear from us.
Bill J -

Andy,
thank you so much for taking time out to sail with our kids! What a great experience for our 4th - 6th graders. They had a GREAT day and you helped make it possible.
L Jenkins
Anacortes Lutheran -

Andy,

Thanks for the "Old Fart" halyard, I LOVE IT! Check is in the mail...
-

Andy and Gang at NW Rigging,

Thanks again for a great job - we sure enjoyed watching the process happen and learning from all of you!
Graham H -

6/2010

Andy,

Thanks so much again for your sponsorship of the Quick and Dirty Boat Building competition, and being so instrumental in getting it started!! It's a great community event and we raised over $3,000 towards ASB Center! Your a great community supporter and it doesn't go unnoticed!
Pat B. -

1/2010

Andy,

Thanks for coming again to speak to the Friday Harbor Sailing Club on Jan. 12th.
Our membership of seasoned sailors and novices found your presentation with accompanying slides both informative and entertaining. We look forward to welcoming you again.
Secretary, Friday harbor Sailing Club -

2010

Andy,

Thank you for spending time with us at the C42 Rendezvous and thank you for the bowsprit! I was won by a very excited sailor.
Bill J. -

2010

Andy,

Thank you for the generous donation to the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club's 30th annual Blakely Rock Benefit Race on April 10th!
Commodore, Paul K. -

Dear andy, We are continuing to make progress with the 24' Islander Sloop and plan to have her ready for the Sea Scout cadets in early spring.

Thanks much for the halyard donation as it was very beneficial in moving us ahead with the ship's overhaul and outfitting.
Capt BH - Sea Scout Ship Discovery III

Andy, Thanks so much for the excellent tune up on my Catalina. We were first over all on the second race of the season. That is a first for my boat.

Thanks again.
Dick C. - POYC

Hi crew at Northwest Rigging,
I moved the boat back into her slip on Sunday....everything you did looked really good.
Thanks again for your help and the speed in which you accomplished the work.

Stuart Wright - 787 Keel Stress Engineer

Greetings Northwest Rigging,

Superb job! Your detailed photo documentary and insightful descriptions of the repair job made things on our end go a lot smoother and a lot easier. I wish all repair claims had pros like you doing the repair work!

Thanks again.
Kate Headley, Progressive Insurance Claims Adjuster -

It was a pleasure working with Andy and his crew at Northwest Rigging while preparing our Lord Nelson 41’ for some offshore miles. The advance planning was spot-on, and everything was smooth and professional from the removal of the mast right through replacement and rig tuning. Andy is an experienced blue water sailor and understands the importance of taking care of all the details. Northwest Rigging took good care of us and our boat.
Sean Kelly & Jan Chapman - S/V Solana

Andy’s wealth of knowledge and sailing experience means that he has used virtually every product that is available on the market. This allows Northwest rigging to design the best solution for your boat based on their actual usage of these products. Unlike many riggers who never leave land, Northwest Rigging actively race sailboats locally and nationally which keeps them exposed to the state of the art developments in the field. They can definitely walk the talk. I rely on Andy for creative, effective, and reliable solutions to allow my Express 27 to race competitively in the Pacific Northwest.
Steve Kleinbart - S/V Thumper

Andy and his crew at Northwest Rigging were instrumental in helping prepare my Stevens 47 "Passepartout" for the 2006 Vic Maui Race. We won our division in our first attempt and look forward to repeating this year. Andy's probably sailed these waters as much as any other sailor with 32 Trans Pacific voyages to his credit and he had a mountain of good ideas which we were able too capitalize on for our success.

Pete Shainin -

I have been to many Ports up & down the West Coast and have experienced rigging shops in those various ports. No one has impressed or completed the job as thoroughly as Andy & his crew at Northwest Rigging for me & my Newport 27’. Without his extensive experience in racing and understanding of the requirements to tune our rig, I doubt that we would have won our class nor been voted Boat of the Year in the Anacortes Yacht Club for 2007.
Dick Britton - S/V Tosca