Two Mattapoisett boatyards now under joint ownership

MATTAPOISETT — 37 years ago, Bob Ringuette Sr. founded and built Leisure Shores Marina. Five years later David Kaiser started at Mattapoisett Boatyard. They both stayed in place, until Ringuette decided to retire. Then, Kaiser, who now runs the Mattapoisett Boatyard with his son Ned, decided to buy Leisure shores. 

He plans to rename the former leisure shores as Brandt Cove Marina.

David Kaiser says he sometimes feels crazy to have taken on such a big task when the Mattapoisett Boatyard is on track to have one of the busiest summers that it has had in the 32 years that he has been there.

“There was a lot of contemplation. It’s expensive — I now just went into a lot of debt,” Kaiser admitted. “But it’s a pretty place and very protected.” He added that even when the weather is rough, boaters can usually sail into Brandt Cove and find it smooth.

Another attractive feature of the marina was the fact that it was fully certified. Ringuette’s son, Michael, had put the work in to get the business re-certified before sale.

“It was a very nice business,” the older Ringuette said of his boatyard. He also recalled that “I had a good time and a lot of friends there.”

In taking over the management of the boatyard, Kaiser plans to keep one employee, Tim Budlong, because he knows the both the building and the customers well.

Part of the change over to Brandt Cove Marina involves cleaning up the area, which has 75 boats in storage.

Of those boats, 22 are scheduled to go in water. This leaves Kaiser with 53 boats to store, or, in the case fo 32 of them, which he calls “junk” to dispose of.

Kaiser hopes to have the boats cleaned up and the “end of July. It’s ambitious but do-able. Our mechanics will work on a few boats at a time. They are used to being mobile. And it’s only ten minutes away, if we need to move boats here to work on,” Kaiser said.

Another part of running the new marina will be getting to know the new customers.

“Since the purchase I’ve spoken with about 40 customers They are looking forward to new ownership and management,” Kaiser said. “They describe the marina as ‘quiet,’ ‘clean,’ and ‘serene—’ a diamond in the rough.”