Seawatch Books

[dvm27]

Bob is not mailing these from his basement. Once he receives the order he contacts the distribution center and they in turn fill the order. I suspect distribution and the USPS may be part of the delay during Covid. Before Covid I always received my orders in 2-3 weeks. Order acknowledgements have never been done as far as I can remember.

[RichardG]

My most recent order was placed on Oct 13th and arrived yesterday. Unfortunately we've all been spoiled by Amazon and their billions of dollars investment.

 

I can see the mail arrive from my "working from home office". Yesterday I could see him put the mail in the box but noticed he had a flat cardboard package as well. He drives a couple of feet to the end of our driveway. I then manage to get downstairs and beat him to our front door. This is what passes for excitement in these times.

[Anthony Hearne]

i ordered mine september 14 after a few emails and telephone calls i finally got through and spoke to bob on the 13 th of november , today i received my books over 2 months after i ordered them and with an invoice dated the 14th of november , i wasn't expecting amazon type performance but 2 months ........ the books are worth the wait but a little communication would have made it more acceptable , i understand they are a small business just asking for an acknowledgment of the order 

[ASAT]

I ordered 23 October and received them today... they were packaged very well and all is well. Agree about the lack of communication,  Just need to be patient.

[stm]

About not receiving book order conformations on the website when ordering. I spoke to Bob a long while ago about this and he mentioned that the website was set up that way not to confirm orders without providing an explanation. Have not used the site in a while so I don't know if that changed. He also mentioned that he was very ill and was trying to keep up with orders.  I new he got my order since my credit card was charged. He was very gracious to me on the phone and able to correct the situation promptly. I wish him a speedy recovery since they were a great outfit to deal with in the past.

[Anthony Hearne]

i'm also having problems with the website , lots of 404's and unable to order certain things, while i totally agree that the books are worth the wait , even a personal email as confirmation would be enough , actually a reply to an email enquiry would be ok too. i will order from them again as the product is without question exceptional and i am more prepared for the 2 month wait , i guess my credit card being charged is my confirmation

[scrubbyj427]

Sent an email Thursday, just waiting for a reply of some sort.  I guess I’m ok with the two month plan, I’ll probably stay productive that way.

[JeffT]

Got mine yesterday.

[scrubbyj427]

And just like that, out of nowhere it just shows up. Works for me!

 

[bobcat]

To clear up some confusion, SeaWatchBooks has only retired from publishing new titles. The web site remains open for orders from our existing titles. A new brochure will be included with your upcoming NRJ.

For all of you who are waiting for deliveries please note that our postal service is nearing FUBAR and so service is going to be slow. Please have patience with us as we are doing the best we can under the current conditions.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob Friedman

[GuntherMT]

I just want to say that I appreciate your dedication and what you provide to this hobby.  I ordered a book a couple of months ago and was actually surprised at how rapidly I received it given the issues with the post office and being near the election.

Thanks and best of luck for your continued success and good health!

[Jorge Diaz O]

Buenas noches, el 5 de diciembre te compré 3 libros, Aparejar una balandra de sexta categoría de guerra 1767-1780,  Fragatas de la Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 A Plank on Frame Model, Volumen I de Allan Yedlinsky y Wayne Kempson y las fragatas de la Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 Modelo de mesa sobre bastidor, Volumen II de Allan Yedlinsky y Wayne Kempson. Por favor, dígame cuándo me lo envían, por qué medio de transporte y el código de seguimiento, el código de seguimiento es muy importante. Espero que me respondas.

 

 ATTE, 

Jorge Díaz,

ciudad de Tocopilla

Chile.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Jorge Diaz O

[GuntherMT]

26 minutes ago, Jorge Diaz O said:

Buenas noches, el 5 de diciembre te compré 3 libros, Aparejar una balandra de sexta categoría de guerra 1767-1780,  Fragatas de la Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 A Plank on Frame Model, Volumen I de Allan Yedlinsky y Wayne Kempson y las fragatas de la Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 Modelo de mesa sobre bastidor, Volumen II de Allan Yedlinsky y Wayne Kempson. Por favor, dígame cuándo me lo envían, por qué medio de transporte y el código de seguimiento, el código de seguimiento es muy importante. Espero que me respondas.

 

 ATTE, 

Jorge Díaz,

ciudad de Tocopilla

Chile.

 

Spanish translation for Bob - 

 

Good evening, on December 5th I bought you 3 books, Rigging a Sloop of the Sixth Category of War 1767-1780, Frigates of the Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 A Plank on Frame Model, Volume I by Allan Yedlinsky and Wayne Kempson and the Frigates of the Royal Navy HMS EURYALUS (36) 1803 A Plank on Frame Model, Volume II by Allan Yedlinsky and Wayne Kempson. Please tell me when you send it to me, by what means of transport and the tracking code, the tracking code is very important. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by GuntherMT

[dvm27]

Jorge - This is not how to contact Bob. You need to send him an e-mail at seawatchbooks@gmail.com. While he occasionally posts on this site I wouldn't rely on this for direct communication with him.

 

Jorge - Esta no es la forma de contactar a Bob. Debe enviarle un correo electrónico a seawatchbooks@gmail.com. Si bien ocasionalmente publica en este sitio, no confiaría en esto para la comunicación directa con él.

[davyboy]

Hi Greg,it's a waste of time doing that or telephoning the number there. I tried contacting him about the wrong book being sent,no replies. Found the number of his Blue Springs MO department on the paperwork that came with the book. Called and a very pleasant lady sorted my problem out straight away. Correct order on its way.

 

Dave  

[Jorge Diaz O]

22 hours ago, dvm27 said:

Jorge - Esta no es la forma de contactar a Bob. Debe enviarle un correo electrónico a seawatchbooks@gmail.com. Si bien ocasionalmente publica en este sitio, no confiaría en esto para la comunicación directa con él.

 

Jorge - Esta no es la forma de contactar a Bob. Debe enviarle un correo electrónico a seawatchbooks@gmail.com. Si bien ocasionalmente publica en este sitio, no confiaría en esto para la comunicación directa con él.

I sent him emails, emails to his page and private messages but he does not respond to them. I do not know what the problem of this man is, I just want to know if he sent my books and the tracking number. Any company that even if it is small out of respect for the Client sends a reply email. I don't know what else to do, I just need my books.

[ASAT]

Your point is valid Jorge, and you are absolutely correct. But you will receive your books long before you will receive any communication from Seawatch....  I guess there is solace in that....

[Jaager]

I recently have recently ordered and received the second and final Speedwell volume.  This completes my acquisition of the available inventory of stick and string at Sea Watch Books.

The apparent aversion to email conformation and hand holding is idiosyncratic and anxiety producing but they have always been reliable and customer friendly when it counts.

 

My reading of the tea leaves tells me that if a modeler has any volumes sold by Sea Watch on a wish list  or maybe list,  they might oughta consider ordering them soon.

 

But, of late when it comes to Pen and Sword and getting an order across the Atlantic,  I intend to use Amazon instead of ordering direct.  In addition, they need to find someone as obcessed as John Gardiner was to head up the Conway division instead of letting it languish.

[shipman]

Did you mean 'obsessed?

[Jaager]

36 minutes ago, shipman said:

Did you mean 'obsessed?

Yup!   I can't spell for beans.  I was taught look/see method - no system, memorize each word separately.  As it is, I can spell in German better than I can in English.  They seem to have a rigid system for how their words are spelled.  English seems to accumulate words from every other language in the planet and keep their spelling of it too.  My word sort of sounds like an infectious condition.  Using Southern and country pronunciation does not help either.   One of the really annoying things here is while it tells you when it thinks a word is misspelled - it does not tell you what its correct spelling should be.    I have  to use Google to find the correct spelling and my hick pronunciation is so far off that it takes several tries.   I say the word: pro-noun-see-ation    and height  =  heigth    It would also be nice if it would stop saying that words like futtock was a misspelling, though.

 

I have read nothing about this, but so much of the Conway content involved John Gardiner, he seems to have been the driving force there.  He seems to have poured his heart and soul into it.  I think he deserves the equivalent of a statue.  This field seems to dried up a bit with his departure.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Jaager

[shipman]

And I'm the dyslexic one! Like you, I rely on Dr Google.

 

I live 10 miles from Sea Watches office. If I could afford to buy what I'd like from their extensive catalogue, I wonder how long the post would take?

 

Happy New year to everyone.

[dvm27]

I agree Jaeger. I have every issue of Model Shipwright and feel these were some of the best ship model publications ever. John is sorely missed. 

[Thunder]

I thought it was John Bowen that did the model shipwright books.

[Jaager]

1 hour ago, dvm27 said:

I have every issue of Model Shipwright and feel these were some of the best ship model publications ever.

I have every issue up until they went bankrupt.  I reacted poorly to the "You are SOL" letter, and did not subscribe to the follow on version.  It is a big hole in my library and it rankles that those issues are missing. 

But, they seem to be more steel than sail and the content very shallow.  But boy howdy!  The early editions were like going from a 25 Watt bulb to full sun as far as sail modeling possibilities.  Then the NRJ had some editors who were determined to get a lot of rare and obscure or hard to get original information available to us.  What with the addition of Conway books, it was a wonderful age.

[Mike Y]

Yep, these days not sending a short mail "your order is shipped, tracking number is XYZ" is so strange, since literally 95% of the shops do that. It's like ordering a pizza with no order confirmation. Maybe it's coming, maybe it's not. But please enjoy the surprise, eventually your parcel will suddenly show up (assuming your post office is reliable enough, otherwise you are out of luck with no tracking).

 

P.S.: still love SeaWatchBooks and will order more from Bob, just this one particular nuance is so frustrating for some  Imagine ordering things to business address with no tracking? Maybe it was delivered to somebody on reception 3 weeks ago, but that person forgot to pass the package.

 

P.P.S.: best wishes to Bob and thanks for providing a very vital service for the community!

Edited January 1, 2021 by Mike Y

[Jorge Diaz O]

15 hours ago, Mike Y said:

Sí, en estos días no enviar un correo corto "su pedido se envía, el número de seguimiento es XYZ" es tan extraño, ya que literalmente el 95% de las tiendas lo hacen. Es como pedir una pizza sin confirmación de pedido. Tal vez venga, tal vez no. Pero disfrute de la sorpresa, eventualmente su paquete aparecerá repentinamente (asumiendo que su oficina de correos sea lo suficientemente confiable, de lo contrario no tendrá suerte sin seguimiento).

 

PD: todavía me encantan los SeaWatchBooks y pediré más a Bob, solo este matiz en particular es tan frustrante para algunos. ¿   Imagínese ordenar cosas a la dirección comercial sin seguimiento? Quizás fue entregado a alguien en recepción hace 3 semanas, pero esa persona olvidó pasar el paquete.

 

PPS: ¡Mis mejores deseos para Bob y gracias por brindar un servicio vital para la comunidad!

Well, it's not professional, it's not pleasant. Why make a big mess out of nowhere? If you JUST SEND AN EMAIL SAYING YOU ALREADY SENT THE BOOKS AND GIVE THE TRACKING CODE. Unnecessary stress is produced.

[druxey]

Once again, clarification:

 

SeaWatch is a small 'mom and pop' publishing operation. The owner, Bob, has had serious health issues this past year. The books are shipped from a storage facility elsewhere - not from Oregon. As books almost always arrive, the shipper is reliable, but does not send out confirmation or tracking. In the rare event that a book does not eventually show up, I'm sure that a replacement will be sent. Remember also that the U.S. postal system is in some disarray.

 

Patience, folks!

[davyboy]

Hi Druxey,

 

A replacement would be sent if you could contact him in the first place on the contact details on his website. If I hadn't called the number on the paperwork that came with the wrong book I'd probably still be trying to get a reply from him. A very pleasant lady at his shipper sorted out my problem at once,the correct book is in the post to me. I'd also like to know why it took over a month from him receiving an order and payment (in my case) to a book being sent. Incidently,it only took 10 days for the wrong book to come from Missouri to Switzerland (20th Nov to 1st Dec). Can't blame the US Postal service at all.

 

Re my post on the 13th Dec,two members PM'd me. I PM'd them the phone number and their problems were sorted out,one of them I know was also given a tracking number,says it all. They can provide tracking numbers.

 

Dave.

 

 

 

[Keithbrad80]

Does any one know about how long things are taking to come from Seawatch books? I recently ordered some stuff for the first time from this site, I’m not really in any hurry just curious.

[mtaylor]

20 hours ago, Keithbrad80 said:

Does any one know about how long things are taking to come from Seawatch books? I recently ordered some stuff for the first time from this site, I’m not really in any hurry just curious.

It seems to vary.  I've ordered my share of books and found I just have to be patient.  I should also add, patience is needed when ordering anything except maybe from Fleabay or Amazon, especially in these times due to the virus and transportation issues.