South Texas Yacht Service owner Mark Grinstead has close to 40 years of experience.
South Texas Yacht Service handles any and all marine issues, power or sail
By Xander Thomas
There are plenty of boat yards along the coast, and certainly in the Clear Lake Area, home to marinas and great sailing areas, but any of them offering full service seems like a thing of the past. South Texas Yacht Service is one of few places that still does just that.
“Most of the yards now are what we call contractor yards, where you got 10, 12, 15, different contractors working out if the yard,” said owner Mark Grinstead.
He says that the convenience of a full service yard like this one can be priceless to someone who doesn’t want the hassle of going through a different professional for any problem that comes up. So that you do not have to act as your own general contractor by yourself, South Texas Yacht Service can do almost anything you need, all at one time, right in one place.
“You got an electrical problem, you gotta find an electrical contractor, if you got a mechanical problem, you gotta find a mechanical contractor, you got a rigging problem, you gotta find a rigger, well we do all of those things in house,” Mark said.
It’s not just that these guys can do whatever you need them to, they are good at it.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years now, and most of my staff probably average about 20 years experience,” he said, “We have an experienced staff, probably the most experienced staff of any yard on the Texas coast.”
So what this means for you, is that you talk to one person about everything, you take it to one place, you get quality service, and you won’t have different people messing with someone else’s previous work – we all know how that ends up.
“We keep our employees, we don’t have a real high turn-over rate, so our work is consistent,” Mark said.
Mark says that his love of sailing and the sea started at an early age. His family lived on a boat for a few years when he was a child, and he has been around them his whole life, so this line of work just came naturally to him. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in marine transportation and has a Coast Guard license.
He says that there is almost nothing that they can’t do for you. They even take on a few complete restoration cases a year, usually.
“We handle the whole deal,” he said, “I think we’re the only yard left on the Texas coast that’s a full service yard.”
South Texas Yacht Service is located at 1500 Marina Bay Dr. #3510 in Kemah. Visit them online at www.stysyacht.com
