Our Story

SIDNEY – Over the past three decades, Delta Marine Service has grown from a single service technician in a van into a global service centre for one of the premiere yacht manufacturers in the world. “Delta Marine was started about 30 years ago by Ken Harlos over in Delta on the Mainland, hence the company name,” explained current owner Brian Coverley.

“He was literally a one man band in a van doing service work on boats on the Lower Mainland. In 1985 he moved to Sidney and started working out of his van on boats here. Even when he was working in Delta he was regularly coming over to the Island because he realized this is where the boats are, so in time he decided to pack up his family and he moved to North Saanich.”

Once established, the company grew quickly. By 1989, Harlos had brought a handful of subcontractors, including Coverley, on board to help deal with his increasing volume of business. Having outgrown his mobile service van he began working out of a pair of boat sheds at the North Saanich Marina where the fledgling business did repair work, boat refits, detailing, mechanical and electrical work and other services. By 2000 the company’s present building at the Westport Marina in Sidney came up for lease helping to set up the structure Delta Marine Service uses today.

“By that point we had a group of 10 employees and as he brought in more work additional people came on board,” Coverley explained. “In 2007 I became partners with Ken buying a 25 per cent share of the company. We had about 20 employees then. Finally, at the end of 2012, I bought out Ken 100 per cent.”

Today, Delta Marine, with a staff of 31, is one of the most experienced and best equipped boat service centres found anywhere. Located at 2075 Tryon Road at the Westport Marina the company features a 100’ x 40’ maintenance shop and a pair (70’ and 65’) of floating boat sheds where work can be carried out on the water. The company’s workload and prestige increased dramatically when it became an official Fleming Yachts and Grand Banks Yachts authorized repair and service centre.

“Being a Fleming Yacht service centre is our number one priority, as it has been for the past 10 years. Fleming yachts are exceptional vessels. They’re built in Taiwan and sold around the world,” he said.

“We do the majority of Fleming’s warranty work all over the world. We literally travel the world doing campaigns as well as recall and maintenance work on any Fleming yacht located anywhere. Fleming yachts are manufactured in Taiwan but are shipped to only six dealerships around the world while Delta Marine Services is the main authorized service dealer for Fleming boats. For example there may be some wiring modifications required. In a case like that we will go to Europe or Australia or into the States to do that work under warranty for them.”

Not all of the work carried out by Delta Marine is as exotic as working on high end yachts in distant ports. The bulk of the company’s work takes place at its work yard in Sidney. “We do all of our service work right here on site. We can haul out a vessel up to 65’ in length here in Sidney, while anything over 65’ requires us to take it to Campbell River where we can pull them out at Ocean Pacific to do the repair work. We’ll travel up there to do the work,” he explained.

“As much as we cater to the larger vessels we are still essentially a local repair facility,” explained Customer Service Coordinator Tracy Gore-Langton. “ It isn’t exclusively for high end yachts; the guy with a small boat can still come here for their repair work. In reality it’s the small boat owner who makes up the bulk of our work, the local boat owner is truly the bread and butter of Delta Marine.”

A full service marine service centre the company recently purchased Mainstay Rigging, a well respected sailboat maintenance company. “We have a stainless steel and aluminum fabrication shop which goes with that to look after the repair and maintenance needs of the sailing community. So we pretty much cover everything, we have welders sailboat riggers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, and others,” Coverley said.

Delta Marine has consciously positioned itself to address the maintenance needs of the entire boating community.” We look after everyone from the guy with a 10’ outboard to the 120’ yacht,” he said.

“Our future success is linked to us not standing still, we intend to keep expanding where we can and always keep strive to keep moving forward. During the summer we’ll pretty much run seven days a week, so if you don’t like working weekends this is the wrong industry for you.” To learn more, visit the company’s Facebook page and its company website at: www.delta-marine.com.