Meet Thomas Wheatley of Bahia Marine in Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Wheatley.

Thomas, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was 11 years old I used to go down to Nortrup and Johnson Brokerage office and Hang out with Freddie Heklinger at his office and bug him. That’s how it all started. I started cleaning boats, then I started painting and coiling anchor lines. Once they finally let me do all the gopher work they let me go up mast and that’s when I was in heaven. They were paying me to work on boats. It was like a dream come true. There was a Swedish man there at John Trumphy and Sons shipyard. He showed me how to correctly rig boats. This all happened before I was 14. From there they had me sanding the bottoms of the boats making them smooth and fast. It wasn’t fun. I had to start at the bottom and work up to the part where I wanted to work. The rigging really fascinated me as a young man. I started working on a Sparkmen Stephens 61 called Running Tide in 1977. I was the 2nd mate and then a year and a half later I was running it. We went and did all the big races at the time. After I was done working on Running Tide I went to go work on a Swan 44, a Holland 42, a Kriby 40 for Bruce Kirby, which led to me building a Frers 39 called Gator. The last boat I ran on the east coast was called Merry Thought. It was part of the 50s Circuit back in the 80s. Then in 1988 I purchased the business I now run. It was a big move from the East coast to the West coast just to own my own business. I bought it from the original owner who created the business in 1960.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The year after I bought the business there was a recession for 2 and a half years with a huge debt over my head. After we made it through the first recession and a huge debt I figured we could make it through anything that was put in front of me. In the 28 years I’ve owned it we have had 6 floods and 1 tornado that ripped through our office.

Bahia Marine – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We do anything that is needed in the rigging industry and do it reasonably and do not drag everything out past our schedule. I am most proud of turning a dying original business around and making it profitable. I am proud that people also know of it and agree that we do good work. What sets us apart from others is that we do work correctly and accurately the first time. We also specialize in old rigging systems due to all of my years that I have been in the industry.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think the proudest moment of my career was when in the beginning of my career out here getting the job from Coastline Community College in 1992 and having the honor of being the one who maintains the Catalina 37s which are known for the Congressional Cup. It is a big event in the world of sailing where the best sailors come out and try to win.

Contact Info:

• Address: 714 Marina dr.
  Seal Beach, Ca
  90740
• Website: bahiamarine.com
• Phone: 5627997444
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: facebook.com/bahiamarine

Image Credit:
Joy Sailing