Mid-Island Marine and Fabrication Ltd., based in Triton, Newfoundland and Labrador, has built over 40 vessels and serviced countless others in its inception as a marine service centre in 1983.
Pete Winsor, the owner of Mid-Island Marine and Fabrication, grew up around the business that would eventually become his own when he purchased it in 2016. He can remember the facility’s initial construction and its impact on his career trajectory.
“I was 10 years old when the marine centre was being built. Looking back at it now, I thought it was like the Bull Arm Fabrication Facility when they were doing it, being a young lad in a small town and seeing this big old thing being done,” said Winsor. “I’ve always had an interest in boats. Like any young wharf rat, I’d spend my spare time back in the day down around the boats.”
From 1983 to 1993, the facility was government-run until it was privately sold to two residents of Triton. 23-year-old Winsor, now a journeyman welder, immediately went to work at the same facility he had admired as a young boy growing up in Triton and has been there ever since.
“It’s been 30 years here, and I’m still doing the same thing. I can honestly say that I love what I’m doing because I love boats,” said Winsor.
In his 30 years with the company, from being a labourer to an owner, Winsor has seen 40 fishing boats built at Mid-Island Marine. Many of these boats have returned to Triton’s shores year after year for service.
“We just took up a boat this morning that we built 23 years ago — It’s the Noonan’s Pride, actually. It just came out of the water — it does the heart good to see that,” said Winsor. “Seeing things we worked on 23 years ago, being a younger person; when you’re building it, it doesn’t mean a lot to you, but when you see it later on in life… It makes you feel proud.”
To Winsor, the most rewarding aspect of his job is the relationships he’s built with return customers in his three decades there.
“The people that we’ve made a lifelong friendship with; that probably means more to me than the work thing,” said Winsor. “Everybody that we’ve dealt with, I can still call them now on a personal basis and we can chat about the way we live, our kids; it’s more like a brotherly thing to us than a work thing.”
Beyond his own personal success in his journey from a labourer to a business owner, Winsor spoke highly of the men and women employed under him. He said he takes a lot of pride in passing along his knowledge to them, while still leaving himself open to learning from the new generation of boatbuilders.
“I do have a lot of patience in showing somebody the right way. When I show them, I always ask them what they think and get their thoughts, because you never know when somebody is going to tell you something that you didn’t know,” said Winsor.
“Whether it’s a senior guy or a junior guy, I don’t mind them giving me some input too, which makes them feel like they’re a part of the job. Having a relationship with your employees — that’s important.”
Since Winsor took ownership of the shipyard, he has made moves to upgrade the capacity and capability of his company to better service any size vessel that comes to the shore of Triton.
“Two years ago, we invested heavily. We got a brand new 300-tonne travel lift here and had it commissioned not even two years ago, yet. It’s only one of four in Atlantic Canada, and we’re getting boats from everywhere,” said Winsor.
More than anything, Winsor is proud of his and his employee’s customer care and workmanship. He said that maintaining Mid-Island Marine’s “level of excellence” is a legacy he can be happy with as he and his business go into the future.
“That’s my goal; to keep it like it is. Right now, I’m pleased with how things are going. We get boats from the U.S., New Brunswick, Labrador… We’re getting them from everywhere,” said Winsor. “We try to do our best to keep everybody happy. It’s hard to do, but I think if you asked around on what we’re like, what we’re like to deal with, how we get work done and the quality of our work, I don’t think you’d get too many people that are going to give us a bad name.”
