If you’ve read this column for any length of time, you’ve likely suffered through one of my anecdotes about Fawcett Boat Supplies in Annapolis, Md. It’s the place where I got my start in the marine industry more than 35 years ago.
Our full-service, on-the-water shop was one of the last of its kind, providing just about everything someone might need for a boat, from tarred marlin and oakum to splicing fids and bosun’s whistles. The best part for anyone who walked in the store was that almost the entire sales staff owned a boat or lived on one full time. I was one of the liveaboard staff.
There often were as many as 10 of us on the floor giving advice and teaching people how to use or install whatever they were buying. Everyone who worked there took great pride in seeing well-informed customers walk out the door with everything they’d need to get back on the water or improve their boat in some way. I’ve not found a place like it since I left to begin a career in marine publishing in 2001.
Working there taught me how important the aftermarket is to the overall success of the recreational boating industry. Without parts and pieces, and the service to back up do-it-yourselfers as well as professional installers and techs, boats of all ages would soon fall into disrepair. Our industry is often criticized for its high price of entry and “membership,” but helping the weekend warrior allows a large subset of enthusiasts to keep boating at a reasonable price. The look on a return customer’s face after he or she completed a project on their boat was the juice that kept us all going at the store.
West Marine was our primary competitor when I worked at Fawcett. When a West Marine store opened in Annapolis, many of us at Fawcett thought we’d close for good. Thankfully, our president, Greg Kaufman, had an eye for squeezing profits out of everything we sold while still maintaining high service levels. Ultimately, Fawcett and its employees thrived.
West Marine has had its ups and downs over the decades, but today seems poised for success with CEO Chuck Rubin at the helm. He’s set the retailer on course with a new focus on pros, which in turn provides benefits for the do-it-yourselfers. Senior editor David Conway interviewed Rubin in March. His question-and-answer session can be found on page 8.
Switching gears, an off-again, on-again trade war was simmering as this issue went to press, with tariffs threatened or levied on everything from wine and pork bellies to aluminum billets imported into the United States. Tariffs of all kinds have been a moving target since the new administration moved into Washington, D.C., in January, so Soundings Trade Only contributor Kim Kavin pressed for some insight from industry leaders heading into early February. These experts offer some predictions about the effects that rising prices will have not only on imported materials, but also on the industry’s exports to other countries (think new boats exported to Canada, for example), on page 32.
About two years ago, I tricked Soundings Trade Only publisher Michele Goldsmith into accompanying me to one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam during Metstrade for rijsttafel — delicious Indonesian food served family-style around a heated dish plate. She invited Brian Swanke and Ryan Barber, who lead CWR Wholesale Distribution. As I got to know them, I learned so much about the aftermarket wholesale business. We enjoyed dinner with them again last year during Metstrade, and I decided we should do a feature on their business. If you want to learn about selling at scale and leveraging efficiency in every step of the process, read Conway’s reporting about the company on page 36.
I always read every issue of the magazines sent to me from our publishing group (Sail, Power & Motoryacht, Passagemaker, Yachts International, Soundings and Anglers Journal), which is now part of Firecrown Media. Recently, I came across a story in Soundings that piqued my interest.
The reporting is by Kavin, and it covers the life of a man who wanted nothing more than to work somewhere — anywhere — near boats. You’ll read in the story on page 40 about Andy Tyska, the owner of a handful of New England boatyards who recently purchased storied boatbuilder Huckins Yachts in Jacksonville, Fla. He’s got inspiring plans for the outfit, which was founded in 1928.
The theme of traditional craftsmanship and boatbuilding in that story inspired me to tune up my splicing kit, as at some point I’ve lost my marlinspike. Of course, you know where I went to pick one up. I was happy to see that 77 years later, Fawcett’s still concentrates on providing everything boaters need, even an obscure and old-fashioned splicing tool.
