ONE-STOP SERVICE CENTER. By Dan Spurr For Professional Boatbuilder Magazine Talk to Metan Marine owner Mike Borelli for two minutes and you know exactly why he is successfully growing his business: He's excited. He's informed. He's reaching out. He's diversified. He's working hard. In a word, he's pumped. Borelli started out in the automotive industry, doing mechanical and body repairs. An avid recreational fisherman, the idea dawned on him that, as he says, "I could apply the same concepts for repairing autos to the repair of boats." Ten years ago he came across a beat-up SeaCraft 23 (7m) center console he though he'd fix up for his own use. (For the full story of SeaCraft, see "The Amazing Mr. Moesly," Professional BoatBuilder No. 91, page 116.) So Borelli moved into his garage and began grinding fiberglass. Before he'd finished, someone came along and bought it. Today, one decade and umpteen SeaCrafts later (there are three in his shop right now), he still hasn't been able to keep one for himself. In fact, Borelli's become known in the underground as the man to whom you take your old and tired SeaCraft. They've come to his Rockland, Massachusetts, shop, from as far away as Florida and Jackson, Wyoming. "I refer to what I do now as a remanufacturing process," Borelli says. "The entire stringer system is reconstructed, a new deck is constructed of vacuum-infused epoxy composite, and the hull is stripped, repaired, and repainted. Hatches are reconstructed. Woodwork is customized and refinished to restore the beauty of the vessel. New hardware, electronics, and motors are installed. During the remanufacure process, a relationship is forged with the customer, and the boat is customized to meet the customer's desires." From humble beginnings, Borelli's business, called Metan Marine (for "meticulous attention" to detail), has grown each year. Today he and eight employees (seven in the shop, one in the office) work in a new 14,000 sq. ft. (1,302m2) steel building, and do about a million dollars' worth of business per year. Not bad, eh? There's much more to Metan Marine than restoring old boats. Borelli says about 30% of his work is paint, 30% repair, and 30% restoration. And it's not all marine, either; recently he bid on a job to build a large FRP tank for biodiesel storage. We first became aware of Metan while visiting Bob Johnstone — co-owner of J Boats and developer of the MJM 34z — and reporting on Boston BoatWorks (PBB Nos. 98 and 99) where the 34z is built. Metan, we learned paints the MJM hulls. They're gelcoated in molds, then sanded with 320-grit, and trucked to Rockland, where Metan gives the hulls a high build with 545 and an Awlgrip clear coat. As if repair and restoration weren't enough to keep nine people busy, Borelli has opened complimentary businesses on the property, including; Black Diamond Marine, marine sales and service (Larson and Glacier Bay new boats, Venture trailers, Mercury motors, and a borkerage); and South Shore Graphix, which makes signs and vinyl signs and vinyl graphics for boats and trucks and anyone else who wants one. All under tha aegis of "Marine Service Center." That's being inclusive...and diversified. Metan Marine, 409 V.F.W. Dr., Rockland, MA 02370 USA, tel. 781-878-3450, fax 781-878-8809, on the web at www.metanmarine.com.