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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2022)
MEET THE MERCHANT COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL CRBJ STAFF Editor and Publisher Matt Winters mwinters@crbizjournal.com Office Coordinator Sarah Smith ssmith@eomediagroup.com Group Publisher Kari Borgen kborgen@dailyastorian.com Advertising Director Sarah Silver ssilver@dailyastorian.com Layout/Design Matthew Vann CONTACT CRBJ Submit news: editor@crbizjournal.com Website: CoastRiverBusinessJournal.com Coast River Business Journal 205 Bolstad Ave. E. Suite 2, P.O. Box 427 Long Beach, WA 98631 Phone 800-643-3703 Coast River Business Journal is published monthly by EO Media Group. Opinions expressed by contributing writers and guest columnists do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. © Copyright 2022 Coast River Business Journal Josh’s Marine AUGUST 2022 • 3 Joshua Massett of Josh’s Marine in Hammond. ABBEY McDONALD By ABBEY McDONALD Coast River Business Journal As a fisherman, Joshua Massett knows that one of the biggest challenges for local boaters in recent years has been long wait times for regular boat maintenance. When word got out that Massett — who has worked as a mechanic for over 20 years — knew his way around a boat engine, people started knocking on his door asking him to look at their vessels. He decided he could make a business out of it, and has had a steady stream of customers since he opened Josh’s Marine in Hammond in July. Coast River Business Journal interviewed Mas- sett about running a maintenance-only boat service and the community that has formed around it. His answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Q: Why did you want to open a mainte- nance-only shop? A: Well, I’m a mechanic and I’m actually tired of fixing things. And maintenance is what keeps things from breaking, and it’s kind of the most important part of machinery is changing the oil. I’ve spent a lot of time out here fishing in this Buoy 10 area, and maintenance is super import- ant because it’s a very dangerous place to be boat- ing … Also most boat shops, especially because of the COVID thing, everything is backed up. It takes months to get into some of these places to get repairs. And like I said, I don’t want to do repairs. I just want to do these oil changes like a quick lube. You just bring your boat in when it’s time to do it. And most boat motors are 100-hour recommendation — 100 hours — and then you get an oil change. And being a fisherman, I can put 100 hours on in about 14 days. Ten days, if you want to fish 10 hours a day. So it happens more often than you can get in because it takes a month or two weeks to even get parts. Q: How has business been? A: Business is good. And it’s gonna get better. It’s my fishing season right now — and it’s everybody’s fishing season right now — so it’s as busy as I’d like it to be, you know? Hopefully, I can get a lot more services done in the wintertime when everybody’s done with their boats. I also do, not just maintenance, but maintenance style things of putting the boats away for the winter, winterizing and safety inspec- tions and stuff. I want to make sure that we’re safe in this part of the river. So I’d like to make sure people’s life jackets are in good shape, and fire extinguishers are in good shape. We don’t need any incidents out here on the river. So I just saw a spot for me to step in and take care of it. Q: Before opening, were you hearing from people, “Gosh, I wish I had a place to go?” A: They were actually showing up at my door before I even thought about having this business. And one guy tells another guy and now I’ve got business sitting in my lap. So I get to make it how I want it and I want to keep it small, so I can do a better job servic- ing people rather than doing thousands of them. I just want to have loyal customers that I trust, and trust me, and we can have a community of boaters. Q: What kind of fishing do you do? A: I do salmon fishing. Mostly this Buoy 10 area is my favorite, but it’s very dangerous. And that’s what got me to maintenance my boat so much. I fix cars, but these boats need maintenance and I can’t even figure out where to get parts for ‘em. It’s a kind of strange, strange issue. All these people come from out of town for the season. And they’re from the valley or another state, and where are they supposed to go to get service when there’s one boat shop in town? Q: What kinds of service do you do? A: Our service is not just oil changes and gear lube changes, but they recommend putting water pumps and that’s a little bit more than somebody would do changing oil in their car. It’s not tricky, it’s just you have to be very attentive to detail. And spark plugs, and I also do safety checks. Now if let’s say your boat shows that an oil seal is bad. I’m gonna refer you to the proper mechanic to repair this. So I’m keeping an eye on these things. Especially when you’re working on cars all the time, if somebody comes in and gets their oil changed, repeatedly, with the same car every time, I get to know the car. Now when something shows up, I can say, ‘Hey, it looks like we’re gonna have a little issue here.’ Now you’re not going to break down and need a tow because we’re ahead of the game. Right? And that’s very important. These boats are very expensive, and they need to be maintained. And peo- ple can’t find a place to get the oil change, so they don’t. And that shouldn’t be an option. Q: Anything else? A: You know, when I talk to people out here, I’m new to this thing. So when I talk to people out here what I’m telling them is, well one: My name is Josh (laughs). And I’m a mechanic, and I’m start- ing a quick lube for boat motors. Once you’ve been my customer already, I’ve got all your information on my computer and you can be on the river and hit your 100 hours or your 88 hours and give me a call and say, ‘Hey, my name is Scott. I’m due for my 100 hour service on my Yamaha’ and I already have all the information and I can just send out for the parts. That’s not a thing in industry. I want this commu- nity of people where we feel we’re friends and you call me up and I know your boat. And at the end of the season I can bring it in and clean it out and charge the batteries. Taking care of machinery is way easier than fixing it.
