May 30, 2022
Les Gunderson, Master Boatbuilder
Les Gunderson is an icon in the Vancouver boatbuilding industry. Like many Quadrant Marine Institute instructors, his family and his early life provided a natural transition into his 55-year career building commercial fish boats.
His grandfather emigrated from Norway with his skills in carpentry, boatbuilding, and fishing. Les’s father was born at Cape Scott (northern Vancouver Island) and spent his summers fishing on their seiner and the winters building boats.
Les spent his whole childhood on the Fraser River. By age 8 he was captain of his own rowboat. He moved on to be a deckhand on his neighbor’s tug boat and spent his teenage summers working at Sather Boatworks in Queensborough, New Westminster. Starting full time in 1955, he eventually he took over the foreman position from his father in 1975 where he remained until 1995.
"We built 120 wooden boats from 32’ to 70’ in my time,” says Les, “and we did everything from the keel up…including the engines and equipment installations. When I started my career the systems were all manual. I got to experience the whole transition to onboard freezer systems, hydraulics, and electronics.”
His favorite memories in the boatyard were the boat launches. “There was such satisfaction finishing the boat and watching it sail away.”
Les taught wood structures and repairs for 14 years before he retired in 2020. He was known by Quadrant MST students as an amazing storyteller. He felt, “[apprentices] should learn the tricks of the trade to make their work easier”, and, not wanting to read from a textbook they could read themselves, “I’d bring all my old tools in and set [the apprentices] up to try to run a thread of cotton.” He retired from teaching for us in 2020/2021 and still lives 5 blocks from the historic shipyard where he spent his career.
Thank you Les, for all your hard work and inspiration to our apprentices!
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Marine Industry Career Path: Brett Ramsey

Wendy and Brett Ramsey
Boating Industry Canada is kicking off its Marine Industry Career Path series once again. For the first installments this year, we have two subjects to highlight. Introducing Wendy and Brett Ramsey!
The Ramsey’s have been working in the marine industry for many years but have both had unique paths in getting to where they are now. They’ve also been working on an impactful pilot project for a long time, which will now be launching this spring. The focus of this initiative is to bring more young people into the marine industry.
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Building on its award-winning M Series, Bayliner unveiled the all-new M19 at the Miami International Boat Show. The M19 joins the M Series lineup of the M15 and M17 delivering the stability and versatility the series is known for with a focus on expanding boater participation through its intuitive design, ease of maintenance and inclusive price point.
With an overall length of 19 feet and starting at $30,995 USD, the M19 is built on an improved M-hull foundation offering increased stability and automotive style handling for familiarity to appeal to the next generation of boaters. The M19 features an upgraded nine-person capacity and is watersports capable for a full day of adventure on the water.
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Televisions on a boat are increasingly commonplace. With the simple-to-install Glomex Avior VT300 Omnidirectional TV/FM antenna from GA Communications, it's never been easier to bring analog and digital broadcasts onboard—at a price that's hard to ignore.
The most noticeable feature of the Avior VT300 antenna is its compact white, anti-yellowing radome. At only 4" dia. x 8" H and 8.8 oz., it's specifically made for smaller boats that can't accommodate large TV antenna domes and only need short range reception, depending on height and conditions. The amplifier allows the antenna to have an increase in gain with a 24.5 dB average to receive vertical and horizontal polarized TV signals simultaneously from 360°.
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Airmar hires Suzanne Hawley as Brand Manager

The Leader in Ultrasonic Technology and Multi-sensor Solutions Continues to Grow in Talent and Innovation. AIRMAR® Technology Corporation, a world leader in ultrasonic transducers and Chirp technology, has named Suzanne Hawley as the Brand Manager for the company’s wholly owned distributor, Gemeco Marine Electronics Specialists, located in Lake City, SC.
Hawley comes to Airmar with extensive marketing and PR experience in the marine electronics industry including 20 years as the owner of Hawley Communications, a consulting agency focused on creative marketing solutions for businesses in the recreational boating industry.
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