The building at Mid-Island Marine Center that is home to Independent Marine Supply Centre and Pacific Boat Brokers/Excel Yacht Sales. The building behind is home to Walker Aluminum Custom Boats.
COOMBS – Mid-Island Marine Centre at 2451 Alberni Highway has everything marine under roof as it is home to the Independent Marine Supply Store, Walker Aluminum Boats and Pacific Boat Brokers/Excel Yacht Sales.
The companies occupy separate quarters on the site and have separate owners, but their close proximity is a benefit to customers of all three firms.
“We’re promoting the area as one big boat operation,” says Denise Collins, Business Manager for Pacific Boat Brokers/Excel Yacht Sales, BC’s largest pre-owned vessel brokerage that started in 1997 and is owned by Brian Mose. “We have a boat yard here now, as we moved here in April after over 20 years at the French Creek Marina. It seemed like a smart choice for what was already happening here.”
Mid-Island Marine Centre’s sign lists the businesses located on site
Trevor Walker is the owner of Walker Aluminum Boats, and recalls their move from across the road several years ago for convenience reasons.
“We were across the street in a big industrial yard and we found ourselves coming over here for supplies from the Independent Marine Store quite often,” Walker states. “One day I just walked in and asked what he thought about our moving into his yard. We started off with a real small space, and we just grew and took more and more space, and now we have our own building.”
Stephen Mayor was General Manager of Method Marine in Tofino before joining IMS 11 years ago, which grew out of Roy Brown’s business, Independent Shipwrights.
“Roy was a shipbuilder, and the marine store grew out of building boats for people,” he says. “Customers came in and said they need this and that, so his wife Cynthia opened the store that grew to become a full service marine business. After that Trevor came and we were they were growing gangbusters and their customers were also becoming our customers.”
IMS is a full-fledged marine store, carrying everything from fasteners, electrical supplies and marine heads to dinghies and inflatables and paddle boards.
“We’re trying to cover as many bases as we can in our stock, and we really pride ourselves in being good diggers to find obscure or hard to find marine parts and get them in in timely fashion for our customers,” Mayor says. “And with Pacific Boat Brokers and Excel Yacht Sales upstairs, there is all kinds of room for growth. Changing from Independent Shipwrights to the Mid Island Marine Centre will help us all get to the next level.”
Walker Aluminum Boats are manufactured at the Mid-Island Marine Centre
Collins notes that the primary business conducted by Pacific Boat Brokers, which started in 1997 has been the commercial fishing industry, as well as industrial marine clients. Excel Yacht Sales was created in April to concentrate on recreational vessels.
They have five staff on site, as well as brokers who work off-site, throughout Vancouver Island, in the United States and Mexico.
“We’re looking to expand recreationally on the island,” she adds. “We can do transfers between owners for large, small commercial or recreational-pleasure boats, and we have many years of experience providing seamless transfer of ownership.”
Walker was a commercial fisherman before starting his own business.
“I had some boats built for me and was fascinated by boat building,” he states. “I knew what I wanted and thought other people would like the same.”
Walker Boats’ latest and greatest is a sport fishing yacht that comes in 31 and 38 foot lengths.