INSIDE

Marina chandlery changes hands

By Meg Olson

Ben and Sheila Lazarus combined a love of boating and a problem-solving spirit to grow a successful marine canvas business, and they plan to bring the same spirit to their newest venture, as the owners of Westwind Marine.

The Lazarus family bought the local marine service facility and store from longtime owners Pat and Buzz Buckler on September 4, with Ben heading to work there the next morning. Sheila will continue to serve their canvas customers from their home workshop on the Point until they can bring the two businesses under one roof.

“The canvas shop and the marine service shop really complement one another,” Ben said. “We can provide a really full service, start work earlier in the season,” by moving boats into the large shop at the Point Roberts marina, doing canvas fittings in inclement weather.

The couple started Beyond Canvas in 2001 when they were living on a 36-foot powerboat in Vancouver. “Ours needed to be fixed and we started there,” said Sheila. She sewed new canvas for their boat and soon neighbors were asking her to do theirs. As the business grew, they moved off the boat and came to Point Roberts three years ago.

“My boating experience started at nine on my dad’s boat,” Ben said. He worked for ten years as an aircraft mechanic for Air Canada and Kelowna Flightcraft, he said, working as a marine mechanic for a year-and-a-half when he was temporarily laid off.

Ben also spent time in the marine cadet program at the Pacific Marine Training Institute in North Vancouver, and worked briefly on a tanker, which he described as “prison with a chance of drowning.” He wasn’t suited to life at sea, but did earn a 60-ton captain’s license and has worked for Vancouver Whale Watch for the last three summers. “I’ve gotten a good knowledge of the Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands,” he said.

Able to secure only a one-year lease from the new owners of the marina, Ben said, “there are some limitations on what I can do,” specifically leasehold improvements like new carpet in the store.
Another limitation is that the ownership and operation of the Travelift has been transferred to the marina. “We can still book the lift from here and for the customer we’re all working to make it seamless,” he said.
Ben said staff and the operation of the marine service shop would stay the same in the short term. “My weakness is not knowing the parts and inventory as well as Buzz does, and I probably never will,” Ben laughed. “We’re concentrating on how to learn what’s working before we make any changes.”

One way to learn will be to spend more time with customers and on their boats. “We want to grow that customer service side of things,” Ben said.

They also plan to spend time at commercial boat shows this fall with an eye to growing what is offered in the store. “We’re going to discontinue miscellaneous clothing and put more of an emphasis on marine goods,” he said. “And we’re open to suggestions,” Sheila added.

Tightening environmental regulations will drive certain changes, Ben said, and they are considering a paint-stripping system to eliminate any sanding residue in the yard. “We’re going to work to stay ahead of the regulations,” he said.

At the end of a year, the Lazaruses hope they have shown they can provide first-class service, and turn a profit. “We’re hoping to be here for a while,” Sheila said.

“I want to get a boat again,” Ben said. “The irony is that we got into all of this because we love boating and we had to give up boating.”