Boat repair shop weathers storm

It's been a tough year for businesses that rely on the rivers. Fish stocks are down, water levels are down and the economy is down. But for Jetstream Concepts, a boat repair shop in Yuba City, it's all been up since it opened its doors six years ago.

"Last year was the first time we didn't see a double-digit increase in business, but part of that was because we had slacked off on our machine shop to work on the boats more and also because there was a little bit of a kickback because of the gas prices and the water levels."

Co-owner Maggie Taylor credits part of their success to the type of people who own and use the more expensive welded-aluminum boats they service. She said that, generally speaking, their clients, other than the government agencies and the professional guides, are men who are older, have disposable income and are well-established; therefore they are better able to weather an economic downturn.

"We didn't see a lot of people saying they weren't filling up their boats (due to the high gas prices last year)," said Maggie. "They complained about it, but they were still out there fishing."

But that doesn't mean everything is rosy on the horizon. "Our biggest scare is how low the water levels are going to be for our busy season which runs from mid-February through June or July," she said.

Maggie and her husband/co-owner, New Zealand-native Philip, took a roundabout way to open and run their successful business.

Maggie said that Philip came to the United States as part of a jet boat racing team in 1998. When they were invited to participate in the River Festival '98 and Jet Boat Marathon, his team agreed and they came to Marysville.

"They held a kickoff party at the Eagle's Nest restaurant. That's where I met him. My sister met her future husband at that party at the same time," recalled Maggie.

She explained that Philip was offered a job by Jetcraft boats — the pilot boat for the race series — and that after working nine months to get his work visa, he emigrated to the States. The couple moved around a bit before almost settling in Canada. She said their concern over how the more stringent U.S. immigration regulations that followed the 9/11 attacks could affect their future child convinced them to move back to the States.

Friends suggested that Philip open up a dual tool-and-die/boat-repair business, Maggie said. They opened the business in a barn in the Yuba hills donated by Denny and Kathy Farster.

"It was very much a skin-of-our-teeth, hanging-on-by-our fingernails kind of operation for the first year as far as equipment and access to stuff — we were way out on Loma Rica Road," Maggie said. "As far as testing boats, we'd have to drive them back into town."

Things looked up for them quickly. "We never imagined that the boats would catch on this fast. We've seen huge growth in our business every year," she said. "The machine shop's still there, but we don't have the time or energy to operate it."

"Then we lucked out (in 2004) finding this space because this size of shop space in Yuba City and Marysville is really unheard of for what we pay and how nicely it's built with the offices and the bathrooms inside," added Maggie.

"In this shop, we have about 4,000 square feet. We were able to expand when the plumber across the way scaled back his business when the building industry started to slow down in '07. He had rented two shops and offered us one, so now we have about 8,000 square feet," said Maggie. "It gives our customers confidence because all of the boats are stored indoors at night. We've never had a problem with vandalism or boats being left out in the weather."

She said that their Burns Drive shop specializes in welded-aluminum heavy-gauge boats, doing structural work, repairs, electrical installation, accessories, building live-bait wells and other types of work. "The only thing we don't do is work on outboard motors," she said.

Jetstream Concepts' customer base can be broken down into three categories: 20 to 25 percent of their total work is for the government (county, state and federal), 10 to 15 percent is from fishing guides, and the other 50 to 60 percent is private fishermen.

One thing that the economic downturn did for them was eliminate one of their main competitors when Cope & McPhetres in Rocklin went bankrupt and closed down.

In late January, Philip and their two employees were working on 20 boats in the shop. He said that it shouldn't take them long to clear out the backlog because they can usually complete work on about eight boats a week.

"We've made it our reputation to not sit on boats (for months at a time)," Maggie said, "but that's getting more difficult now because of the amount of work we have."

She said that the best part of the work is when they satisfy a customer who hasn't been able to get his problem solved at another shop.

"That's a real joy for Phil," said Maggie.

The thing she most regrets: not taking advantage of the enterprise zone to help the business.

Contact Appeal reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhol lis@appealdemocrat.com