Kitsap County is blessed with being surrounded by water. That means that a lot of people who live here own a boat. Any boat owner will tell you sooner or later a boat’s engine is going to require maintenance. For boat owners in the central Kitsap region, that meant taking their boat to either the north or south end of the county. That changed in 2003 with the opening of Aqua Tech Marine Services in East Bremerton.

Owners Troy Hatler and Sheli Potmesil opened their business in East Bremerton after looking at several other locations in the Puget Sound region. “Compared to other locations, the cost of real estate and the startup cost for a business is less here in Kitsap,” said Potmesil. “There was hole in the boat services field here,” added Hatler. “That made starting a business in Kitsap County an easy choice.”

Aqua Tech’s tag line is “Sales, Service and Storage.” Aqua Tech is an authorized Mercury™ motor repair facility and distributor. “Prior to us opening, there wasn’t an authorized Mercury™ dealer in the immediate area,” said Potmesil. Mercury, a division of the Brunswick Corporation, is the largest outboard motor manufacturer in the United States. “Being an authorized dealer means we have access to Mercury’s parts and supplies distribution network, “ reports Hatler. “When we perform maintenance on a Mercury engine, the customer can rest assured that the replacement parts we use, meet the same quality control requirements of the original part.”

Hatler and Potmesil pride themselves on the quality of services that they provide. “Excellent customer service is a cliché that one hears all too often,” Potmesil notes. “But that is exactly what we strive to provide. We really want to debunk the stereotype of the dishonest mechanic,” added Hatler. “I am perfectly willing to take the customer into the shop and show him or her exactly what we are doing and how things work so that they will know why something needs to be replaced,” explained Hatler.

Their approach to customer service is apparently working. During the second week of February, the first available service appointment was in March. Potmesil related a story of a customer who was in the shop the day before had been referred to them by someone that that as far as Hatler and Potmesil could tell hadn’t been a customer. “This business is all about a mechanic’s reputation,” said Hatler. “I have a client who comes from Kent because he doesn’t want to deal with the service providers in his area.”

To handle the storage component of their business tag line, Aqua Tech has the capacity to store 20 to 25 boats on site. Additionally, Aqua Tech can “shrink-wrap” a boat for storage. The process of shrink-wrapping begins with “winterizing” the boat. Then a frame is built around a boat on its trailer and a covering of plastic is applied to the frame. The frame is designed so that rain and snow will run off the plastic. A “high-power” heat gun is used to shrink the plastic around the frame and boat. “The process was developed back in the Great Lakes region to protect boats from the winter weather,” said Hatler. “Any boat owner who has tried the “blue tarp” method of protecting their boat knows that one usually ends up with a bunch of water in the middle of the tarp. That won’t happen with this process, “ asserts Hatler. Last year Aqua Tech used 120 linear feet of the shrink-wrap material. “We are hoping to do more as people learn about the advantages of the process,” said Potmesil.

Hatler and Potmesil are concerned about the difficulty in finding additional marine mechanics to hire. “Currently we are looking to hire one more mechanic,” reports Potmesil. “But it is proving difficult to find that right person who not only has the skills we need but who will also fit in.” There is a shortage of qualified marine mechanics in the area. “We are working with Bates Technical College and others to fill the position,” Potmesil says, “but so far no luck.”

New to the area, Hatler and Potmesil found the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council’s Business Retention and Expansion Program an excellent networking opportunity. “We didn’t know what business resources were available in the community,” said Potmesil. “The BRE program has been a goldmine of information for us. Lots of programs are designed to teach how to build your client base,” Potmesil explained. “We know how to do that. The BRE program is focused on how to build your business from the business development point of view. We have found that very helpful.”

As newcomers, Hatler and Potmesil have begun working to make Kitsap a better place. They have provided free seminars on basic boat maintenance and Hatler is on the Board of Directors for the Kitsap Poggie Club, the oldest fishing club in Kitsap County.

Aqua Tech Marine Services
4911-B State Hwy 303 NE
Bremerton, WA 98311
www.aquatechmarineservices.com
(360) 792-2628