Craftsmanship is alive and well in Ontario…For Now!
Apr 15 | 3 min
This holiday weekend while many were hunting for eggs and eating fish for Good Friday, we were driving around Ontario as we prepare for boating season in Southwestern Ontario and the re-launch of our decades old RAW Watersports.
Our first stop was to visit Brant Grozelle, owner of TW-N-One Trailers in Wilmot, ON to pick up a few of our trailers that we’ve ordered. We expect to see them trickling in over the coming weeks as Brant and his team of craftsmen are putting in extra hours to meet demand while coping with supply chain issues.
We’ve owned many personal watercraft trailers over the years and none have us as excited as much as Brant’s patented invention. For our rental business it’s just a no-brainer. We never know when people will rent one or both of our Sea Doo’s so having a trailer that we can “split” in just a few seconds is a big win for us. Otherwise we would have to have two singles and a double to accommodate all customers.
But Brant’s creation was never intended for rental operators like us. In fact it was born out of his need to get two machines into his working garage where space was precious. 10 years on, Brant has perfected his design and these trailers are incredible! Having made the 2.5 hour trip home to Windsor with high winds I can tell you these trailers pull beautifully.
I could have talked with Brant all night about his hand-crafted trailers but I couldn’t wait to get home and show them off. Brant and his team are true craftsman and we are so proud to sell his trailers. Reach out to us today to get yours before they’re gone.
The next day we were off Converta-Boat International in Courtland, ON to pick up our family boat that needed some vinyl work after years of use and abuse under the hot sun. Bert and his daughters run what I think is the best boat canvas and upholstery shop in the business. I saw their work online last year when I came across boats for sale where the owners were almost bragging about having had the interior work done at Converta-Boat….and with good reason.
So last fall we dropped our Sea Doo Utopia off and arranged for him to do some canvas work and replace the interior vinyl. We had reserved storage space with Converta-Boat so that they could work on our boat when their busy schedule allowed. About a month ago we received a text from Bert with pictures of our boat. It looked like new! Better to be honest.
We were excited and could hardly wait to see it. It’s home now and there’s a domestic battle brewing over whether to sell it and replace it with another rental or keep it so we always have a boat go to the Red Barn.
These two men and true craftsmen. The quality of work that they crank out is jaw-dropping. It’s an absolute pleasure to do business with them and I wonder if there are any of their kind amongst our younger generation. God I hope so. Windsor, our town, was once filled wth incredible powersports/ watersports dealers; Lakeview Marine, Sports Afield, Parker Brothers… I grew up aspiring to be like these businesses and I am sad they aren’t here today.
Ontario is filled with hard-working, talented men and women like the two companies that we’ve highlighted here and we encourage you to support them.
They’re one of us! Please support local small business!