Bodrum and Marmaris both serve as working refit bases on Turkey's Aegean coast, but the choice between them matters less than what the yard contract actually says about the AV/network subcontractor's access to the vessel. An owner's rep should treat haul-out dates, subcontractor access rights, and shore-power allocation as contract terms to negotiate up front, not assumptions to discover once the boat is on the hard. The technology scope — control, networking, and connectivity cabling — is usually one of the last trades scheduled and the first one squeezed when a yard period runs long, so the contract needs to protect its window explicitly.
This article focuses on what to put in that contract, not on picking a side between the two towns. Either location can work for a technology refit if the paperwork holds the schedule together.
What should the yard contract say about the haul-out calendar?
The contract should name a firm haul-out date, a minimum guaranteed number of days the vessel stays on the hard before relaunch, and a clause specifying who absorbs the cost of a slip if the date moves. Low-voltage and AV cabling typically needs sustained, uninterrupted access to overhead and under-sole runs that get closed up by joinery and paint before splash — so the technology subcontractor's rough-in window should be named as a specific block of days inside the larger yard period, not left as "whatever's left over" after hull and mechanical work. If the yard cannot commit to a protected cabling window in writing, that is a real risk to flag before signing, regardless of which town the yard sits in.
How does subcontractor access actually get written into the contract?
Access rights for an outside AV/network integrator should be spelled out as badge or gate-pass provisions, working hours, and a point of contact at the yard who can resolve conflicts with other trades sharing the same compartments. Ask your contractor whether the refit scope includes replacing legacy control processors and video distribution hardware with current-generation equipment — Crestron's own installation documentation for its DM-NVX-360 and DM-NVX-363 confirms these are network AV encoder/decoder units, and it is worth asking your integrator how much rack space and cable pathway that hardware needs reserved before the contract is finalized. Whatever the scope turns out to be, the subcontractor needs to be physically on board at the same time as electricians and joiners — contention for the same spaces is one of the most common sources of schedule slip. The contract should state explicitly that the AV/network trade has scheduled access, not access "coordinated as needed," because the latter phrase gives the yard discretion to bump it when other trades run late.
What shore-power and connectivity terms protect the cabling schedule?
Shore power allocation during the refit affects whether commissioning and testing can actually happen before relaunch — control processors, network switches, and satellite connectivity hardware all need continuous power to burn in and be tested, not just power during working hours. The contract should specify a minimum amperage or circuit reserved for the technology trade separate from hull-work power draws like grinders and compressors, and it should state whether the yard provides temporary network connectivity for commissioning or whether the integrator must bring a standalone test network. Confirm with your maritime connectivity provider, rather than assuming, whether the vessel's own satellite service is usable for testing purposes while the boat is in the yard — dockside yard connectivity and a vessel's maritime service plan are separate things, and the contract should not quietly assume one covers the other.
What acceptance milestones belong in the contract?
Acceptance testing should be split into intermediate milestones — cable pull-and-test before joinery closes, device commissioning once power is stable, and final sea-trial sign-off — rather than one all-or-nothing handoff at relaunch. Each milestone should have a date tied back to the haul-out calendar so a slip in one earlier milestone is visible immediately rather than discovered days before the vessel is due back in the water. For connectivity specifically, Peplink's documentation on bonding multiple Starlink connections with SpeedFusion describes packet-level bonding into a single tunnel, with sessions redistributed across remaining links in under one second if any individual link drops. That kind of resilient multi-WAN setup is worth asking your integrator to include as a scheduled, signed-off acceptance item once the vessel is back at sea — not assumed to work correctly the first time it leaves the dock.
Cave Group designs and commissions marine technology refits around scheduled yard windows, coordinating control, networking, and connectivity scope with the yard calendar rather than treating it as an afterthought; see the marine page for how that scope is typically organized. For related planning on a different Turkish yard, see Planning a Yacht Refit at Yalova, Turkey.
Frequently asked questions
Should the AV/network subcontractor have its own line item in the yard contract?
Yes — naming the AV/network trade's access window, working hours, and point of contact separately from the general yard scope keeps it from being treated as discretionary time that other trades can absorb when they run behind.
Should I assume the vessel's satellite internet plan works for testing while in the yard?
No — ask your connectivity provider directly, since dockside yard connectivity and a vessel's own maritime service plan are separate arrangements, and the yard contract should specify which one covers commissioning.
What does Crestron's DM NVX hardware actually do?
According to Crestron's own installation documentation, the DM-NVX-360 and DM-NVX-363 are network AV encoder/decoder devices; ask your integrator how that hardware's rack space, power, and network port requirements should be written into the refit scope if older distribution equipment is being replaced.
Why does shore power matter for AV commissioning specifically?
Network switches, a control processor, and connectivity hardware need sustained power to burn in and be tested properly before relaunch, so the contract should reserve a specific circuit for the technology trade separate from the heavier, intermittent draws of hull and mechanical work.
Does bonding Starlink with cellular failover need its own acceptance test?
Yes — ask your integrator to schedule and sign off on multi-WAN failover testing specifically, since Peplink's own documentation describes redistributing traffic to remaining links in under one second after a disruption, which is a behavior worth verifying at commissioning rather than assuming by default.