Northern Marine Opens a Refit Division
Not too long ago, a Northern Marine owner wanted to spiff up his boat a little before putting it on the market for sale. He decided there was no better place to bring it than to the people who had originally built it, at the shipyard in Anacortes, Washington.
“That started word-of-mouth among Northern Marine owners,” says Linn Jennings, director of manufacturing operations for Seattle Yachts International, which has owned Northern Marine since 2019. “We looked at it and said, yes, this is good work for us. We have the space, we have the crew—let’s go for it.”
In October, the company made it official, launching the Northern Marine Refit Division. The builder, which was founded in 1995, is now offering all brands of boats a variety of services, including structural repairs and modifications, systems upgrades and replacements, interior refurbishments, exterior refinishing, performance enhancements, custom stainless work and repowering. “This is in addition to building new boats,” Jennings says. “We are going to build new boats, we are going to service the boats that are out there, and we’re going to take care of all kinds of boats in that 50- to 80-foot range.”
Northern Marine continues to build new boats for its line of trawlers.
The announcement comes at a time when economic headwinds, including interest rates and inflation, are depressing boat sales across the recreational marine industry. A lot of boaters these days are looking to invest in maintaining and upgrading the boats they have, instead of buying new ones.
“When sales slow down, especially in the bigger models, historically people hang onto their boats,” Jennings says. “But if you hang onto your boat, you have to do work on it. So for us, it’s a way to be strategic looking down the road. This is a way to keep the guys moving forward on something that they can get really excited about.”
Jennings says owner-operator boaters also understand that there is value in upgrading a boat they’re already familiar with, especially given how much can be achieved with a refit by skilled tradespeople nowadays.
“One of the arguments for a refit is that if you have a boat you’ve been running for five years or so, and you’re comfortable with that boat but the décor’s a little tired, maybe there’s a little dock rash on it, the mechanicals need some work, it’s a sure thing to pull it in and do a refit on it as opposed to waiting 18 to 24 months for a new boat,” he says. “We tweak this or we tweak that, and the new boat is your dream, and it’ll be 90 or 95 percent of what you wanted. You can refit your boat and achieve most of that.”
There are a handful of things that Northern Marine doesn’t do in-house, he says—upholstery and carpeting are two examples—but the shipyard’s location means that whatever boat owners need, the yard can achieve through well-established partners. “What we don’t do in-house, we have local relationships here in Anacortes, where there are a lot of specialty businesses geared toward taking care of boats,” he says.
Owners of boats longer than 80 feet are also encouraged to inquire about refit work, Jennings says, as long as they are comfortable with the Northern
Marine facilities. “The bays that we use for the refits, we can put an 80-footer inside,” he says. “Now, that does not stop us from doing work on larger boats, and we’re exploring some joint opportunities on a boat that won’t fit the local lift equipment. So we’re open to doing work on larger boats, but 80 feet is about the size that we can move into the building.”
In terms of refit trends the yard is seeing, Jennings says, quite a lot of owners on small and large boats alike are opting to refit their communications systems to add Starlink.
“Starlink is probably the most economical way to have communication abilities on your boat,” he says. “It’s not that expensive. It’s available to everybody. It’s not difficult to install. You can link your phone to it, your electronics—it’s amazing what it can do.”
Those systems can also be installed on new builds, such as the partially built Northern Marine 64 Raised Pilothouse that’s currently at the yard awaiting an owner. The hull and fiberglass superstructure are built, the engines are installed, and delivery could be made in about 18 to 20 months of a contract being signed, Jennings says. “We’re ready to go with the interior package—but as soon as I build it in black walnut, they’ll want cherry, or if I do cherry, they’ll want teak,” he says. “So that’s a boat that we’re actively marketing.”
In the meantime, the Northern Marine team wants boaters with 50- to 80-footers to know that the yard is prepared to offer them serious refit services. “When you’re in that size range and you’re talking about owner-operators, a family or a couple that run their boat, I find that they are serious boaters,” Jennings says. “You don’t go out and decide to buy a 65- or 70-foot boat and then learn how to run it. Most people have been doing it a long time. They know what they’re doing. They have a nice boat, and we want to do good work for them.”
January 2025
