West Marine Is a Supermarket for Boaters

Most boating supply shops are chandleries that function like boutiques. Marina del Rey’s West Marine is a department store. Shelf upon shelf of boating gear and supplies lie stocked, eagerly waiting for avid boaters.

There recently, I spoke with skipper Stewart Rembert. He sails not just one, but two sloops, a Catalina 34 for cruising and a Star 22 for racing.

Earlier in the day he had haunted for parts, in the incessant effort to keep both boats running optimally. On his way home, he realized he needed yet another part.

We talked before West Marine’s vast display of nuts and fasteners. He showed me what he was buying, two nuts.

“I knew I could find them here,” Rembert explained. “There’s plenty to choose from.”

It’s not that he couldn’t get what he wanted at , but West Marine had it handy immediately.

“West Marine has the most extensive inventory of any boating supply store in Marina del Rey,” store manager Tim Clark told me.

“Shopping there is not cheap,” one skipper told me, who prefers to remain anonymous, “but they’ve got a good selection.”

The array is certainly impressive. The store has the floor space to show every piece of gear at its best advantage including dinghies and outboard motors, and even harder to find items.

“What I like most about West Marine is its nautical DVD collection, which is the best in the marina," said Michael Stuart, the skipper of a Kettenburg 32. "The new Coast Guard license DVD is a great choice for any aspiring captain." 

West Marine is an impressive venture. It was founded in a garage by Randy Repass, a Silicon Valley dropout. In 1968 in Sunnyvale, CA, he started selling low-tech nylon rope.

"I decided from the beginning that I wanted to take care of people," said Repass. "The high-tech industry didn't provide me with an effective way to do that. But the boating industry gave me the opportunity to really enjoy my work and interact with customers who shared my interests. I was having a blast and building a business at the same time."

From the beginning, Repass favored hiring boaters for sales positions. When, as a skipper, I shopped at West Marine myself, I relied upon the expertise of the salespeople.

The late, but not lamented, Boater’s World had better prices but I consistently found that West Marine's sales reps were more knowledgeable.

It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture, because we have one local West Marine store. Today, West Marine has more than 300 outlets in 38 states and in Puerto Rico and Canada. The company now carries more than 50,000 products, including line and the latest in marine electronics.

It’s a supermarket for boaters, run by boaters with the buying clout of a Walmart. It will probably be part of your boating maintenance mix, so drop by and get to know the people who work there.