WOT Marine

[Eli]

Thursday evening I had an opportunity to visit Kyle at his boat service and repair shop WOT Marine located in Carlsbad, San Diego. Their shop is located in an industrial area just off Palomar Airport. I drove up after work and found my way rather quickly. Parked my car and grabbed my camera bag as Kyle and Cole pulled up in Kyle’s truck. Cole is one of the guys who works for Kyle. They just got back from picking up their dinner. We made our introductions, Cole cracked a short joke, I fit right in and we went into the shop.

Kyle is a fairly young guy, but he has over 6 years of boat service and repair experience. After spending some time talking with him, I’d say he’s 23 going on 40. His family has been lifelong boaters and has a passion for working on boats, waterskiing, boating as well as teaching people how to be safe boaters. He and his father, Jim, opened the shop in February 2010 and have been growing ever since. While Kyle has been working at the shop since it opened, Jim an engineer by trade, only became fully involved approximately a year and a half ago. However, Jim has been building engines in his garage for many, many years. I didn’t actually have the pleasure of meeting Jim. Maybe next time.

The WOTM team has a variety of experience. Kyle’s experience and knowledge is with stern drives, outboards and inboards. Cole, who has been working at WOTM for 2 years, has more experience and knowledge with V-drives and also participates in the ski race circuit. Although, I did find it rather impressive that Cole bought an outboard boat so that he can become more familiar with working on them as well. I guess we can all appreciate the fact that he’d rather be the guinea pig versus the clients.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was this impressive trophy display.

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Kyle not only welcomed me graciously, but he allowed me and my 4 inch heels full access to the entire shop so I quickly began taking pictures before he realized what a hazard I am. Although his shop was full of boats, I did notice how organized and clean he keeps the place. From my perspective, a clean and well organized shop means clean boats and clean work.

Here are a few pictures of the shop.

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When I posed the question what types of questions would you want answered before you felt comfortable letting a boat service and repair shop work on your boat, Nordic Bear said he’d ask if they are certified technicians, so I did exactly that…the answer here is NO. WOTM is not certified by any manufacturer; however, they do regularly attend training courses and obtain specialized certificates. For example, Kyle and Cole both attended a training course earlier this year in outboard ignition switches and obtained a certificate.

Ziggy’s recommendation was to go to an establishment where the customer could talk to the technicians. Well, I spent over an hour with Kyle and he thoroughly explained to me what work was being done on each boat in his shop. What I appreciated the most is that he didn’t try to impress me. Instead, he spoke to me at my level without dumbing it down too much. He and Cole’s patience with my often times redundant and inexperienced questions was certainly a bonus. I thought to myself, this is great for a person who has little or no boating experience. This may also be a benefit to you gentlemen who have to explain to your wife why you’re breaking out another ten thousand. I say, just tell them to call Kyle and he can explain it to them. Kyle can be reached at (760) 804-2766.

Sharp Shooter’s main concern is that the place is reputable. I think this one is a rather difficult question to answer in this situation. They’re not Teague, but they have been around for four years, albeit that's not very long, but the fact that they’re growing may be some indication. However, I say by the time Kyle is 30 his reputation will speak for itself.

Djunkie was mostly concerned with timing. Although this is mostly a question answered by personal experience with WOTM, Kyle was able to tell me how much time each project would take and he said he would text me pictures of the final project, so this question may be somewhat answered shortly.

After I gave Kyle and Cole the third degree, Kyle and I went through the shop and discussed the work being done on each boat. Mostly, my objective was to see what types of projects they work on.

This is Kyle’s boat. This boat will be re-rigged completely. It was recently painted by KMG in Lakeside. I will be contacting them soon for a shop visit too. The boat has been capped and Kyle explained to me that means there is no rub rail. I spent a weekend with TBI in Needles where he taught me that if you run your hands across the different colors of paint and the transition is smooth that is considered a good paint job. Well, the transition here is smooth! I didn't get any pictures of the paint job, but will get some when the boat is complete.

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This is the engine going into Kyle's boat.

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This Shiada will be completely re-rigged by WOTM. They are also converting the boat from driver on right to driver on left side. However, they were not involved with the paint job.

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This boat will be getting a gel coat repair, tune up and annual service as well as a complete trailer service. They may polish out the entire boat.

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This boat will be completely re-rigged as well as wet sanded and buffed. They also did the pinstripe. The pinstripe was originally paint and will be changed to a gel coat.

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This engine will be going into the boat.

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This boat had a basic annual service. They also previously did some minor restoration, painted the engine parts and did the decals to match the boat.

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This is Cole's boat. His primary reason for building it was so he could become more familiar with outboards. He also uses it for skiing and visits to Fox's.

Cole moved the boats around so he could work on his boat.

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This boat was purchased from a board member and was an old ski race boat. They will be putting the engine in it.

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My take is this is a professional establishment and they take pride in what they do. He's humble and passionate about what he does. His main concern and responsibility is to ensure great customer service. If they have a client with a special request, for example pick up the boat from a location or launch a boat, they will accommodate their needs. They are also willing to take an inexperienced customer out on their boat and teach them how to be a safer boater.

Kyle's parting words to me were, "As a small family business we rely on our reputation and stand by everything we do. We are boaters by hobby and treat every boat we work on as if it was our own."

Here are Kyle and Cole. If you've never met them Kyle is the one on the right of the screen.

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I didn't pick this shop for any specific reason other than it was close to me. I will be visiting more shops in the near future, time and my schedule permitting. If you have a shop that you'd like me to visit, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

[HB Vic]

Wow very good job Eli!!

Is Jim still apart of the operation??


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[Eli]

Wow very good job Eli!!

Is Jim still apart of the operation??


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He sure is. But, I was there pretty late. Almost 8 PM so I gather Jim went home for the night. Kyle mentioned his dad has always been a partner but only started working with him a year and a half ago.

Thank you!

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[Sharp shooter]

That was pretty cool Eli! I feel like I've been there now. What year is that Nautique?

A Dave Sammons shop tour would be cool. He works out of his house restoring boats (Carlsbad) and he's put out a ton of cool boats over the last 4 decades.

[HB Vic]

He sure is. But, I was there pretty late. Almost 8 PM so I gather Jim went home for the night. Kyle mentioned his dad has always been a partner but only started working with him a year and a half ago.

Thank you!

Sent from my Bat Cave

Smart that Jim. Leave the kids to work the swing shift LOL

Getting a taste of business ownership at that age is a good thing.

Great article, thanks again!!

[Eli]

That was pretty cool Eli! I feel like I've been there now. What year is that Nautique?

A Dave Sammons shop tour would be cool. He works out of his house restoring boats (Carlsbad) and he's put out a ton of cool boats over the last 4 decades.

Thank you!

Oh man I didn't get the year of the boats but I'll call Kyle and ask.

Would you mind PMing me Dave Sammons' phone number? Sounds like an interesting place to visit.


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[Beautiful Noise]

X2......

A Dave Sammons shop tour would be cool.

[ChumpChange]

Very cool. Thanks for putting that together!

[Singleton]

Good shop and group of guys. I have trusted them for the last 4 years with my boat. Kyle and Jim have gone way above my expectations.

[MalibuKen]

Great write up Eli! WOT did a great job on an issue with my boat a year ago. Very elusive electrical prob and they took their time to track it down and not charge me for unnecessary parts.


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