Matt Lacasse the new owner of Moose Island Marine in Eastport being handed the keys by former owner Dean Pike.
EASTPORT – One of the major marine businesses in Eastport for over 40 years has been Moose Island Marine, which was owned and operated by Dean Pike. For the last couple of years Dean has been looking for someone to take the operation over as he was looking to retire. Matt Lacasse, who bought the boat yard from Dean several years ago, has stepped up and purchased the business, which should be finalized by mid-January.
Dean said, “Most people want to know what are you going to do next? I am going to Florida for two or three months and then when I come back I will help Matt and devote a lot more time to the Boat School. I also intend to do boat surveys for insurance purposes only in Washington County.”
Dean began the chandlery in the Quonset hut in 1980 and operated out of there until 1995. In 1995 he put up a new building and moved the business into that. He carried everything a boater, whether commercial or pleasure, might need. Some of the lines he carries include: Caravan Trailers, Extra Tuff, Grandin’s, Lacrosse, Muck, Mustang, Stearns, Toast, Volvo sterndrive and Yanmar.
In 1984 Dean purchased the property on the other side of the road from the Boat School. He developed that into a boat yard, building one building at a time. Where the office is today was the original building and that was the office and shop. Next, Dean erected a Quonset hut, followed by two storage sheds. In 2019, Matt bought the boat yard so Dean could focus more on the chandlery.
A big issue took place when the huge commercial dock collapsed. This meant that Moose Island Marine was basically out of business for the next three years since all the boats were forced to move out while the dock was rebuilt. When the dock was reopened, COVID hit. Fortunately, they were deemed essential and were able to keep the doors open, but they barely survived.
Dean also had another job; he was an instructor at The Boat School. He worked for the Community College starting in 1981. Later the school was taken over by Husson College, but when a new president came in a couple of years later The Boat School closed in 2012. Dean is still involved with the Friends of the Boat School, and they are trying to get the building renovated and repaired so The School can open again. Dean said that he is going to put in two more years with the School and then he will fully retire.
Matt was born in Calais and came to the Boat School in 2002. He stayed at The Boat School for two years and then went to work for Dean in 2003. He started my out at $6.50 and that is what I plan to start him out here at too, $6.50. I worked there until probably 2013. Then I went to work for the Port Authority full-time for two or three years because I wanted to ship out. I got accepted to Maine Maritime but I wasn’t able to afford to go. I just hawse piped it and I went and worked for a tugboat company that was based out of Florida for a year or so. I worked in San Juan doing a big dredge job for most of that. I hated being away from home, so I just came back and Dean was looking for help and I just walked back into it. Then I really was committed to making it. I decided that was what I wanted to do.”
Dean then decided to sell the boat yard and Matt bought it, changing its name to Deep Cove Marine. Matt was lucky because after just a year in business COVID hit. The boat yard was deemed essential and could remain in operation.
When asked how he decided to buy Moose Island Marine, Matt said, “We had been back and forth for a while. I did not want to take on too much, but it made good sense to have it. They were built together and they are meant to be together and we do a lot of business here. We can save a lot of money by owning it.”
Matt will be mostly at the boat yard, but Wanda Newman is returning full-time as store manager. He added, “We are just now getting in the thick of it. I have come down worked a few afternoons with Dean to get a feel how this all works. He has taught me a lot about typical markups and what is important to keep people happy. How ordering goes, how to handle freight. He showed me enough to kind of see where they needs to be some improvement. We have a state-of-the-art point of sale system set up with all new computers. We will be able to walk around the store with scanners and you can make your sale right on the go. It will make it easier for the retail staff to do their job. We are going to take on ice fishing, tackle and bait. We’re also going to get rid of some of the slow stuff.”
“There has always been a stigma in certain circles about how it is more expensive than what you can get on the internet or somewhere else. Some stuff it is, but largely it’s not. There are a lot of costs in holding onto this amount of stock in such a small town.
Matt has done a great job building up the boat yard and I am sure he will do the same at Moose Island Marine. It is sad to see Dean slowly phase himself out, but fortunately he left his customers in very capable hands.
