A secret no more|Washington company making a big splash with boat fabrication

Published 9:44 pm Wednesday, October 7, 2009

By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor

A world-renowed boat builder has secretly been working on a one-of-a-kind “gigayacht,” among other projects, at a nondescript warehouse on Hackney Avenue since October 2007.
Jim Gardiner and his boat-building company, Compmillennia, used state-of-the-art technology to help build massive composite parts for a 462-foot-long superyacht being constructed by the United Arab Emirates government.
“It’s allegedly the largest composite structure (ever built) for a yacht,” Gardiner said.
The company had an agreement with the UAE to withhold any details of the project until its work on the superyacht was completed in late August.
Now, Gardiner is working on a unique boat of his own at that same warehouse, albeit a vessel on a much smaller scale.
Gardiner, who created the Egret line of flats boats, designed and is building the prototype for a 22-foot-long catamaran he expects to corner the sport fishing-boat market.
“It’ll fill the niche in the 23-feet-and-under fishing-boat category,” he said.
The boat features an 8-foot, 6-inch-wide fishing platform, two 80-gallon live wells and a center console fitted with two LCD screens that can be used for GPS navigation. It is designed to reach speeds in excess of 60 mph, and it can cruise at a smooth 45 mph thanks to its ultra-lightweight design, he said.
“It should kill in the fishing tournaments,” Gardiner said.
The boat is made of fiberglass fused with resin. Gardiner uses what he calls a “vacuum” to suck the resin into tubes that run through the skeleton of the boat.
“It’s lightweight, but very strong,” he said.
Unlike other catamarans of the same size that tend to drag through the water, Gardiner said, his prototype is designed to cruise above it. He said his prototype can also withstand rougher waters than comparable catamarans, which makes it idyllic for law-enforcement agencies, too.
Gardiner hopes to have the boat on the market in a month and a half. He is waiting on an order of outboard motors from Suzuki to be delivered.
Gardiner said he used the business model for his highly successful Egret flats boats to design his new boat — find a competitive market and make the best boat for that market.
“We use the best materials, best workmanship and good designs to get customer satisfaction,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner said the Washington area provides a good labor pool. Gardiner hired a team of 25 local residents to work on the “gigayacht” project, and he is employing mostly local workers to work on the catamaran project.
Compmillennia’s workers go through a training program and also learn on the job, according to Gardiner. Tom Thompson, executive director of the Beaufort County Economic Development Commission, helped Gardiner receive funding for his workers’ necessary training. Gardiner called Thompson a “mentor,” and said he was very helpful throughout the process of starting Compmillennia.
Gardiner had to scale back his work force after finishing the “gigayacht” project, but he hopes to bring in another big job that will result in him hiring more local boat-builders.
“I’d like to ramp up production again,” he said.
Gardiner said his biggest challenge since moving to Washington from the boat-building haven of Miami is finding lucrative job offers like the “gigayacht” project.
“It’s a greater challenge to find work,” he said. “I could make a call and get a job in Miami. I have to bring work for jobs here.”
Gardiner created and produced the Egret flats boats at a full-service boat yard he and his wife, Ginger, owned in Miami. He sold the Egret line to a group of investors that moved production of the boats to the Beaufort County Industrial Park on the condition that Gardiner would help them set up the new warehouse.
The Gardiners decided to settle in Washington because Ginger Gardiner was a native of Winston-Salem and wanted to move closer to home to raise a family.
Gardiner, a native of Columbus, Ohio, soon got an offer from his friend and former employee, Frank Crane, to work on the “gigayacht.” Gardiner had two weeks to find a suitable warehouse to set up shop and settled on the property on Hackney Avenue.
He said the city made it easy for him to get his building in compliance.
“(Washington) is certainly a business-friendly place,” Gardiner said.