First Watch Marine was established in 2009 by two guys in a tiny office at the Kona Kai Marina. This was a time when the marine industry was in a state of serious contraction due to the “Great Recession”, and many observers advised that this was not a good time to start a marine business.

At this point in their careers, Peter “PK” Mayers and Gary Jones had both been marine technicians for many years. They saw an opportunity because the competition was either from large national chains unable to provide personalized service, were too small to handle the local demand, or were unqualified “dockwalkers” without insurance, training or certification.

The founding concept of First Watch Marine is to provide our customers with high-quality marine services, done right the first time. We accomplish this by having an experienced and well-trained workforce, retained with competitive compensation, and enabled through a culture that emphasizes education, quality and long-term relationships with our customers over speed and short-term profits. 

This philosophy has taken the company from two guys managing and doing work on all onboard systems to a well-established company with a decade of steady growth behind it and status as a Premier Mercury Dealer.

First Watch Marine has been a member of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) since 2009. The company moved from the original tiny office at Kona Kai marina to a workshop in Shelter Island Boatyard in 2011. We expanded to include an office space on the ground floor of the main boatyard building, facing Shelter Island Drive, in 2014.

Having street frontage space was the final piece of the puzzle needed for the company to be able to become an Authorized Mercury Marine Dealer, which was awarded later in 2014.

First Watch Marine changed from the original partnership to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) in 2015. The combined yacht repair and marine industry experience of the First Watch Marine crew is currently 2.73 million years, so we know a lot about yachts. Despite this vast experience, we learn something new every day.
This is one of the great things about working on yachts, it is never boring!