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About Loon Marine
The Name?
One of the first questions I get when I meet a new Customer other then "What's wrong with my boat?" is why did you choose the name Loon Marine? Honestly the business had to be called something right? Sure we could of called it Tony The Boat Master or something Vain like that but that's not we are about! Loon is the name of my wife and I's dog! Not only that you'd have to be LOONY to offer such reliable services for such and affordable price like we do!
The Beginning
Loon in the Boat Ambulance
It all started at a young age! Like most great marine technicians I grew up around boats. Every weekend we were on the water fishing or enjoying the beautiful waters of Schoodic lake in Northern Maine where our summer cottage was located. Of course at this age the boats belonged to my family. At 12 it was time for me to have my very own boat. I picked up my first boat and trailer for free off craigslist (which at the time craigslist was very young and new to the internet). At this age its not like you can just go out and spend thousands on a new engine so it was back to craigslist! After many weeks of searching it happened, I found my first outboard for $200. A "beautiful"1970's 40hp Johnson that needed everything and I mean everything! 1 Seloc repair manual and a hundred questions posted on the boating forums at the time I rebuilt a lower unit, rebuilt the carbs, replaced the entire ignition system and replaced the piston rings and bearings! The satisfaction I had the day I finally put that engine in a barrel to run it was addicting! So anytime I could find an outboard I could afford I scoffed it up and gave it the same treatment my first outboard received, fiscally profitable or not the knowledge I gained by working on these engines was worth more than any currency out there!
The famous 40 hp Johnson and boat that stated it all!
The Middle
My hobby of fixing boats and outboards turned from a passion to carrier! Growing up in a small rural town everyone had an interest in working on old cars and trucks, and then there's me! I was the one kid that worked on boats. I had such a reputation for my boat repair skills I had classmates parents calling me to fix there boats! Fresh out of high school it was time to apply all that knowledge I learned over the years about boats and outboards, the job hunt was on! My first day on the hunt I found my calling. I found a service manager who grew up being equally as passionate about outboards as I was. I was home, I had all the boats and access to knowledge I always had dreamed about, boats boats and more boats! The owner of this dealership and I got along extremely well, it was a great relationship. My ambition and potential got me into any Certification program I wanted and my ability's to absorb the knowledge and reapply it at work benefited the company and the Customer! Of course not all great things can go without caveat, for anyone whos had big dreams knows that doing side work is needed to succeed! Here I was working 45-50 hour weeks and then spending most of my free time doing repair work for customers of my own, all well balancing a house and a supportive wife! Something had to give!
The New Beginning!
With most great stories after the middle comes the end, this is not the case with this one! After approximately 10 years with the company I had been so fond of it was time to fulfil my dreams! So yes there is an ending to this story but the end was the beginning of Loon Marine Service! We opened officially in early February 2020. At this time covid19 was kind of whatever, we never expected it to affect this country at this point. We were wrong, but for the boating industry this was crazy, everyone wanted to stay away from people. A boat is the perfect way to socially distance but still have fun. Everyone needed boat repairs and our first year in business was absolutely insane, the boat dealers were months behind but the lucky ones contacted Loon Marine and by doing this they found "a better way to service there boats". Once again I was working 6 Am - 9 Pm every day, but when you offer such great service for an affordable price that's what happens! Word of mouth has traveled far and wide! We look forward to many years of serving southern New England's boaters!
The Future!
So what's next for us? Well we already have our beautiful Fully equipped service truck and we do take some boats currently at our property for repair but the future is much bigger then that for us! We recently purchased 19.5 acres of Commercial land in Union CT to put our shop and soon to be dealership at! No we aren't going to stop doing mobile repair, we will have a split schedule once we get to that point down the road. For now though you'll see our truck the "Boat Ambulance" on the road and at your marinas!
