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Let's Get Acquainted...
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Owners:
Dean and Nick Ouilette, brothers and Co-Owners of Bellingham Yacht Sales and Charters purchased the company twenty-four years ago in 1984. Both are graduates of the Maine Maritime Academy and BS degrees in Nautical Science and Marine Engineering. They also hold unlimited tonnage and horsepower licenses from the United States Coast Guard. Having spent their entire adult lives on the water, they decided a family owned and operated business combining their love of the water and boating would be the best of all worlds. What started out as a small brokerage, basically a two man operation in 1984, has evolved into a thriving yacht sales, service, and charter company with a total of 10 full time staff/sales members along with various part-time employees and subcontractors.
Dean acts as the day to day Sales Manager and is responsible for all business administration. Before coming ashore to be with his family, he worked as the navigation officer aboard ARCO supertankers. Dean, recently joined his brother Nick, in passing the necessary tests to obtain his Certified Professional Yacht Broker designation. Dean loves seeing each BYS customer matched with the right boat and hearing about all the fun they are having years later! He has been awarded the Sabre Yachts Broker of the Year in 1996 and 2006.
Finally, Dean has a passion for Christian missionary work having been to Haiti and Mexico on several missions trips. He serves as a member of the Cornwall Church Haiti Maranatha Board.
Nick's entire life has basically revolved around the sea since graduation day in 1971 from Maine Maritime Academy. He has sailed aboard oil tankers, telephone cable-laying ships, and cruise ships. And, he has also worked in various shipyards around the country including the General Dynamics Electric Boat yard which services nuclear submarines. Nick uses his engineering background and 20 years experience at Bellingham Yachts as the day to day Service Manager. He is responsible for vessel maintenance, repair, installations, and warranty administration. Nick has recently received his national certification as a professional yacht broker as of May 5, 2003. This certification process requires a minimum of three years as a yacht broker, a passing percentage on the yacht broker examination, and additional requirements that can be referenced on the Yacht Brokers Association of America website @ www.ybaa.com. This is part of a nation-wide effort to raise the bar of professionalism and the standards of yacht brokers across the country. Let Nick help you find and outfit the right boat for your style of cruising.
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Staff Members:
Elaina Thompson - Associate Broker and Charter Fleet Manager. Elaina has lived in the Pacific Northwest her entire life and has always loved the water. She grew up in Washington State in a small town named Stevenson located in the heart of the Columbia Gorge. Because of her love for the beauty of the Northwest, she chose to attend Western Washington University located here in Bellingham. She graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication and chose this degree because of her great love of working directly with people.
After three years at Bellingham Yachts as charter fleet manager and administrative/sales assistant, Elaina was promoted to Associate Broker in 2005. She now works in our office selling yachts, and she will continue to be your primary resource about chartering. Please ask her about the benefits of placing your yacht into our charter fleet!
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Mark Enstad - Chief Shipwright. Mark brings 22 years of experience in the marine industry to our company. He is crazy about his family, wife Cheryl and two girls, Maya and Claire and is delighted that they enjoy boating as well. He has focused his fine woodworking, electronic and mechanical skills on high-end yachts. He knows customers want their investments just right. According to Mark, “It takes a combination of respect for the customer, the vessel itself and patience to tend to every detail in a way that leaves the customer feeling heard and satisfied”.
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Matt Ouilette - Associate Broker and Service Coordinator. Matt is the son of Dean Ouilette and nephew of Nick Ouilette, company co-owners. He has spent his entire childhood around Bellingham Yachts and has much experience in the boating industry.
Since his start in 2003, Matt's past knowledge combined with a year and a half of building, remodeling, and woodwork courses at the BTC made him the perfect shipwright on our docks. With this expereince and drive to broaden his horizons, it's not a surprise that Matt has started to sell yachts as an associate broker on the Bellingham Yachts Team. Matt will continue working as a shipwright and part time associate broker until 2007 when he will permanently join his father and uncle in the offices to continue the Ouilette tradition in selling east coast quality yachts!
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Nicole M.G. Chatfield - Associate Broker and Office Manager.
Born in California and raised here in Washington, Nicole joins us in 2006, as a mom of one, Jaymeson, graduate of Western Washington University and lover of seafaring in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent much of her life around boats and the water. A diver for 15 years, motoring about on the seas is one of her passions.
Nicole has jumped right in and acclimated to our office rapidly. She handles all the billing and interoffice organization, as well as assisting with sales and marketing, and handles details on all new moorage questions and customers. With a strong sense of moral business ethics, she has our customers best interest in mind and has made it a priority to keep Bellingham Yachts customer service at its' best!
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Tyson Laurabee - Detailer/Vessel Maintenance Born in Santa Barbara, CA and raised in Bellingham, WA, Tyson brings with him some of the local talent and energy that highlights our town. He spends much of his winter snowboarding at the local mountain, Baker. Summer is spent on or near the water, boating, wake boarding or hiking and now working.
He has an excellent work ethic and has become well versed in the craft of boat maintenance. He has a special affinity for fine varnish work, though all his work is of exemplary quality.
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Heather Fenstermaker- Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. Heather joined our team at BYS in the beginning of November 2007 as our front desk receptionist/administrative assistant. Born in Orange, California and raised in Mill Creek, Washington, Heather moved to Bellingham to go to school at Western Washington University in 2000. She graduated with a bachelors degree in Psychology in 2005 and is now pursuing her Masters degree in Business Administration.
Bellingham's beauty, the kindness of the people, the water, and the outdoor activities keep Heather here in the city of subdued excitement. She loves to play tennis, travel, read and is constantly seeking new adventures. Heather is excited to be a part of the BYS team because she feels as if it will help her build relationships with customers and other businesses as well as help her remain an active part of the local community. She went on many fishing trips with her family up around Vancouver Island growing up and she feels grateful to be working at BYS so that she can pursue a greater knowledge of boats and the boating world.
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Frank Laux- Boat Detailer.
We also work with additional companies and contacts. Many of these individuals have been with us for over 20 years and are very familiar with our systems and our constantly evolving fleet of vessels. Bellingham has a wide range of marine facilities and expertise available; with four large haul-out facilities, four electronics shops, one marine electrical shop, numerous marine mechanics, marine surveyors, and four chandleries. This gives us a broad range of expertise and experience upon which to draw to ensure that you have a quality experience when dealing with us. If you have further questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email.
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