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As printed in the April issue of Boat & Moter Dealer magazine...

Baltimore's Inner Harbor has become one of the most popular boating destinations on the Chesapeake Bay. With more than 2,000 transient and permanent slips, its boat population continues to grow.

To Bob Brandon, owner of Tidewater Yacht Service Center in the Inner Harbor, this growth has meant increased business. "Service is the backbone of the industry," Brandon Says. "As long as people can get good service, they're more likely to stick with boating." Brandon lives by his words, and is doing his part to keep people on the water by running a boatyard that offers every service imaginable.

Brandon originally bought Tidewater Inner Harbor (its original name) in 1987 to sell Hunter sailboats. The timing was bad due to a slump in the sailboat market, and Brandon recognized he needed more than sales to support a waterfront dealership. So, he bought out his partner in 1992, and his single mission became providing the boaters of Baltimore with the highest possible level of repair and maintenance services. Since then, Tidewater Yacht Service Center has more than doubled in size, and gross revenue has jumped from $1 million to $2.6 million, prompting Brandon to purchase a neighboring property to increase the land to five acres. From runabouts to 90-footers, the boatyard can haul and service boats efficiently and safely with its 77-ton Travelift and 40-ton Brownell hydraulic yard trailers.

Tidewater's 10,000-square-foot repair building makes it possible to perform all kinds of work without being hindered by the weather. It keeps people working all year, and also helps keep pollutants in a controlled environment. Repair and maintenance count for most of Tidewater's profits, with 85 percent of repairs done by employees and the rest by subcontractors and boat owners. Brandon says that his operation "dispels the myth that you can't exist on service alone." He adds that Baltimore Harbor is different from other areas, because "there are so many marinas and most don't provide any service."

"The most important asset we have is our staff," says Brandon, who has 35 years of marine experience. "Our aim is to hire and train people who truly enjoy what they do. We send our employees to service schools and make sure they receive certification. We are members of ABBRA and ABYC, so we are assured of being abreast of all that is new in our industry."

Brandon regrets that there are so few young technicians joining the industry. He says he was just 14 when he got his first job on a fuel dock, simply because he loved boats. "I made 75 cents an hour &endash; I could have made a lot more mowing grass." Today he pays his employees as well as any construction workers.

Tidewater's services include:

• Complete marine supply store
• Cleaning and detailing
• Bottom painting
• Engine and generator sales/service
• Fiberglass and blister repair
• Woodworking and fine interior joinery
• Varnishing
• Air conditioning and refrigeration
• Electronics and equipment installation and service
• AC and DC electrical service
• Sail repair
• Canvas installation
• Towing
• CNG/SafGas distributor
• Tower and rail fabrication

Do-it-yourself repairs
Susan and Darryl Allen are among the 15 percent of Tidewater's customers who repair their own boats. They live aboard their Morgan 45, Annie, and depend on Tidewater to keep her alfloat. They've sold their house and cars, and are enjoying the boating lifestyle. They went to Tidewater in May 2002, to repaint the hull of their boat. They said that other suppliers are more expensive than Tidewater, and "the boatyard has the cleanest restroom on the East Coast. There's a shower and toilet, and the door locks, so you can have some privacy. When you're a live-aboard, the bathroom is the one place you can be alone."

Smartest thing
Brandon provides competitively priced fuel for the harbor's water taxis, tour boats, and the general boating public. "Fewer and fewer marinas are providing fuel because of environmental issues," says Brandon. "My fuel dock is only five years old, with state-of-the-art Tokheim dispensers. Putting in the fuel dock was one of the smarter things I've done. It gets people over here, and, as a result, it sells services. The fuel dock has been great for exposure and new business."

His system is above ground, all the piping has secondary containment, and it's exposed so it's easy to monitor. Brandon didn't originally sell fuel, but says "it does make money."

Another smart thing
Tidewater has 43 slips that are zoned for non-recreational vessels. Brandon has managed to fill these spaces by providing in-water storage for recreational boats, which is permitted as long as the baots are only stored there and not actually used.

OSHA
Brandon goes to great lengths to keep OSHA happy. He regularly attends American Boat Builders and Repairers Association meetings to stay current and has hired an employee to ensure the facility is compliant. "It's not so much the physical requirements," Brandon says, "it's the reporting, administration and training sessions. Our biggest help comes from our insurance company, CNA, which provides us with reading material and guidance with safety issues."

Service is backbone
"The boat industry is not like the car industry, and I wish it were," says Brandon. "Warranty and service on new boats, which is where it starts, is not encouraged and reimbursed as it is in the automotive industry. A large part of a car dealer's profit comes out of the service department. It's not like that on the boat side, and I think that's why dealers tend not to focus on their service departments. To them, it's just a necessary evil. They view it that way because they've got all this follow-up and warranty work, and so much of it isn't reimbursed. If boat manufacturers would build in incentives for dealers to do a better job and be able to make a profit at it, I think they would do it. That was my single biggest objection when I was involved in new boats. You had a lot of work, but you never got paid for all of it. Because we don't sell new boats here, we don't have much warranty work to do. Just about all our work is retail work. So long as we do it right, we get paid."

Exciting future
The future holds exciting developments for Tidewater. Brandon intends to develop a part of the property with a building that will house his offices and store as well as several major tenants. He plans to relocate his boat storage to another waterfront location. "If we develop part of the property we will then limit or eliminate 'do it yourself' work. And if we open another storage yard, we would allow owners to work on their boats, provided we have room," says Brandon. With these expansions of the facilities, Brandonalso looks forward to increasing his staff from 25 to 30.

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