HELLO FRIENDS AND VALUED WEST HEAD CUSTOMERS ,
T
Thank you for picking up the latest edition of West Head Boatbuilders — The Magazine . We ’ ve got lots to share with you this issue , including features on Melvin Cottreau , and our latest build , the Lolly Lorraine .
Since our last issue , we ’ ve caught up on the immense backlog we experienced during the pandemic . Things are slowing down a bit for us here , so if you are thinking about or planning to build a boat in the near future , now is a good time to book a slot with us . We have several upcoming slots available , and this applies to hulls as well .
We recently finished a build for Randy Emberley . Randy is mainly a crab , lobster , and scallop fisherman , but he does some dragging for sea cucumber and herring as well . You can read about Randy and his new boat on page 6 .
To all of our crab fishermen , we understand the price for crab is down in Newfoundland , and we would like to express our empathy for those struggling in the crab industry . We know many of you and your communities rely on crab fishing income , especially in the lobster off season , and we hope the price goes back up again soon .
While the price of crab has gone down , it seems the price of everything else has gone up . Prices in the whole economy are up , costs are up , up , up . We and our customers are feeling this hard at West Head . In the boatbuilding industry , the price of everything has gone up from A to Z . Dollars just don ’ t go as far as they used to .
In order to address the economic impact of inflation , we are working to reduce costs by making our builds more efficient . At this time , we are gearing more toward workboats because they are quicker to build . We still enjoy doing the fancier builds , but given the economic climate , we need to adapt to making our builds more affordable for fishermen .
In short , we understand what you are going through , and we are striving to make the most efficient boats possible . We ’ ve adjusted our strategy to meet your needs , and we ’ re doing our best in this economy to give you the best value for every dollar spent .
With that , thank you for taking the time to read our magazine . I look forward to hearing your feedback , and I wish you all the best with your fishing endeavours this next quarter .
Andrew Newell , Owner West Head Boatbuilders Ltd .
WESTHEADBOATBUILDERS . CA
3