Islander 'building boats hand over fist'.David Ham confesses he has always wanted to learn the art of boat building, so when the opportunity came to purchase Henley Boat Manufacturing, he was eager to test the waters. A former hardware store and Manitoulin Air Service Ltd. owner, Ham bought the business in 1996 from Collin Gourley of Picton, Ontario Picton is the largest community and the county seat of Prince Edward County in southern central Ontario, Canada. Picton is located at the south-western end of Picton Bay, a branch of the Bay of Quinte, which is along the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario. . He relocated it to Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island. The former proprietor followed. Gourley passed his knowledge on to Ham, who in turn is providing seven full-time staff members with the same expertise. It's a good thing, as business is going full-steam ahead. "We are building boats hand over fist," he says. Workers have just completed building a 26-foot boat for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada) DFO Disaster Field Office (US FEMA) DFO Designated Federal Official DFO Deferoxamine DFO Divisional Forest Officer ). Since scientists will be using it in the high Arctic waters, government specifications were tight. Amine amine (əmēn`, ăm`ēn): see under amino group. amine Any of a class of nitrogen-containing organic compounds derived, either in principle or in practice, from ammonia (NH3). A. Haider, technical inspector, likes what he sees. "I can tell you these people are very open-minded, they want to learn a lot and that is a good sign," he says. His company's flexibility could make the boat market Ham's oyster, he adds. Currently, Ham is bidding on boat building contracts in Australia and for the United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is a federal agency made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. The Corps's mission is to provide military and civil works engineering services to the United States, including: Henley is known for lapstraked, or beveled bev·el n. 1. The angle or inclination of a line or surface that meets another at any angle but 90°. 2. Two rules joined together as adjustable arms used to measure or draw angles of any size or to fix a surface at an angle. , hulls. The feature is their signature mark. "We are the only company in North America doing that," Ham happily points out. Aluminum is used throughout the vessels, with stronger, more durable grades used for the hull and sides. A stress roller and presser form the boat sides into ridged panels, then workers weld the pieces to the frame. ASA Asa (ā`sə), in the Bible, king of Judah, son and successor of Abijah. He was a good king, zealous in his extirpation of idols. When Baasha of Israel took Ramah (a few miles N of Jerusalem), Asa bought the help of Benhadad of Damascus and Alloys Inc. supplies all the material from crossbeams made in China, to deck material made in Greece, South Africa or Spain. Side material come from Siberia since it is the only place Ham can purchase that caliber of aluminum. The average cost of a 16-foot boat is an estimated three times more expensive coming from Henley, simply due to the material, construction and durability. "These are not the average run-of-the mill boat," he says. "It's a lifetime investment." With an average of 12 to 17 boats made each year and 75 per cent of revenues from exports in 2004, Ham says he hopes to exceed last year's revenue exports for 2005. But Ham is working about as fast as he can these days, he's had to turn down contracts for lack of a skilled workorce. "(We) could not find skilled people," he says. Fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. skills are sadly lacking locally. He has to hire from United States or southern Ontario, and has little time to train. "We have boats to build, we don't have a school to run." www.henleyboats.com By KELLY LOUISEIZE Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion