Boating; How I got into the bottom paint biz Pt 2

This blog will be a continuing piece.... This is part 2. Part 1 is in small type.

Part 1; A recent e-mail asked me how I got into the Bottom Paint business? This brought back a lot of memories, good and bad. In 1978 I was prospecting for clients for my Mfg Rep firm at the Tampa Boat show. As I combed the aisles I came upon a sad looking booth that was so 'busy' that it was hard to focus. There were signs everywhere packed so close together that my eyes couldn't make anything out.

In one back corner sat Dodie Jones knitting away and in the other back corner sat her husband Jack Jones eating Sardines out of a can with Saltine crackers. He started to get up when he noticed me and I told him to finish his lunch, which he did. He must be the owner I thought and he must be some kind of mad scientist.

Jack was well into his 70's then but he was clear thinking and very intelligent. Once I got him to speak English, I understood that he had a good product. The brief meeting produced a gallon of red bottom paint for testing which I put on a test boat. Six months later we hauled the boat and the boat yard owner ordered 12 gallons on the spot.

That was when I learned of the production issues. Jack only made paint January through May. Oh well, it was a good idea but I didn't give up. I knew a winner when I saw one. I flew up to Philly to try to work out the issue. I couldn't understand why Jack would exhibit at a southern boat show when he couldn't meet the demand.

Jack relented and opened the factory up. I and his crew made several pallets of paint and shipped them to Fort Myers. It took me a month to sell the 60 gallons but I wasn't in a hurry. My biggest success was 'John Holmes Boat Yard' in Nokomis. Ted Andrews of Compass Rose Marin and Holmes were on board and forcing me to make another pilgrimage to Flourtown and Conchie to make more paint.

At the end of the following May, Jack had enough and he pulled the plug on 'Shipbottom Bottom Paint's' Southern adventure.......


Part 2; I was very disappointed but despite my best arguments for financial success Jack wouldn't budge. I think my last words were something like, "You have a winner here and with a slight name change, this could set you and Doddie up for life."

Win some lose some and I went off and made other people money, no hard feelings just a little confusion. A couple years later Jack called out of the blue. "Eddie, I have a new bottom paint product. It's all natural, from the sea back to the sea. I need someone to test it for me!"

He was plenty excited but I'd seen it before. The testing he wanted could be accelerated in the warm waters of Florida. "How long would it take," I asked. He said it could take two years and require a day a week of my time. "Could you pay for that time?" Now the tables were turned. He was selling me the Elephant. The same one I tried to sell him. Twenty five percent of the profits but no money.

"I'll do it but with just one caveat; I want a steady supply of 'Shipbottom' to sell year round while the testing is done. I'd need some additional income to cover the necessary travel, testing panels and my time." He agreed. I was back in the bottom paint biz and he got the testing data he needed, three years of it.

The more paint he sent me the more I sold. When the testing was finished we went to visit the EPA in Washington. "We've got a all natural bottom paint," said Jack. "No pesticides, no metals, no harm to the environment." The reception was bone chilling but they agreed to look at my data.

After several hours they called us into another room. On the wall was a picture of a boat with clean sand underneath. "That will never happen again," said the high mucky muck. "The venom of one rattle snake is natural but the venom of two is a pesticide. You'll need a year or two of environmental testing which will cost at least a million dollars." End of that project.

I learned that Jack had advanced Prostrate Cancer. He went into the battle with guns blazing but.... End of Part 2