Our Crew
Mike and Jan Close
In 1996, while chartering a boat out of Anacortes, Mike and Jan Close discovered Friday Harbor. It was a beautiful, sunny, early September day. The whales were swimming under their boat. Realtors were buying them lunch.The economy was doing well. Life was good. They went back to Minnesota, packed up everything but the snow shovels, and bought a one way ticket on the ferry. They spent the next few years cruising extensively in the area on their Nauticat 43, including a summer cruise to Alaska. In 2008, with their two daughters, they opened Friday Harbor Yachts and Friday Harbor Marine, with the goal of providing low-cost, family accessible marine activities on the Friday Harbor waterfront.
Mike holds a USCG 50 ton Masters License, has several ABYC certifications, including Marine Electrical Systems and Marine Corrosion and NMEA 2000 networks, is a Past Commodore of the San Juan Islands Yacht Club, Director of the Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands, past Director of the SJI Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Friday Harbor US Power Squadron.
Bish Wheeler
Everyone has “People” these day and Friday Harbor Yachts has people too. Among them is a fellow named Bish Wheeler. Bish recently retired from a career in the insurance industry and moved to Friday Harbor where he lives on his 45 foot pilot house cruiser. Bish’s family owned and operated marinas and yacht brokerages on Lake Union in Seattle and Bish literally grew up on the lake. In fact his first boat, at age 10, was a 16’ Snipe center board sloop.
Before going into the insurance business, Bish took over the day to day operations of the family business and became quite well known both as a yacht broker and as an active “boater”. In fact he sailed his 37’ sloop “Borderlord” on three Victoria to Maui races. Bish holds a USCG 100 ton Masters License.
You will see Bish wearing a number of different hats here at Friday Harbor Yachts, but the thing nearest and dearest to him is the yacht brokerage. If you get a chance, talk to him about the real tax advantages buying or selling your boat in Friday Harbor offers.
Cap’n Crabby
The Cap’n usually sits outside the office on a wooden bench. Besides feeding his pet crow, Whitey, he observes and records the daily happenings on the waterfront. Check out his ravings on the What’s Up, Dock?
Ben Wilcox
Ben began his career as a certified aircraft mechanic far, far from the seashore. No one knows quite how he came to the salt chuck, but when he did, he bought a boat and moved aboard.
Ben received a nasty shock from a 110 volt toaster when he was 4, and has since dedicated his life to living on 12 volts, with lots and lots of amps. On his new boat he is installing an array of solar panels, a wind generator, a tidal current generator, and a small cold fusion generator as a backup. Ben came to us with a wonderful set of tools, and usually leaves one on every boat that he works on. Ben is ABYC certified, and is also certified to install NMEA 200 networks. You probably would like to have one of those on your boat.
Ben recently upgraded form his tiny liveaboard vessel to a much larger yacht, with copious entertainment capacity. That prompts two questions – why would a self-proclaimed recluse need a boat with entertainment capability? And secondly – when is the boat warming party?
Dean Kreider
Dean learned to fix boats while fixing boats, as he cruised in and around broken boats all over Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for 5 years. It is a fact that “It ain’t broke, till Dean says it’s broke”. And, Dean was also trained in the USCG as a marine electrician and navigator, so he does know his amps from a shoal in the Sound.
The shirt that Dean is wearing in the photo is actually required as a condition of his probation, and is intended to give citizens a fair warning.
He can be found in the office early, making a strong pot of coffee and taking care of the paperwork, and getting some quality time on the keyboard. Dean has a USCG 25 ton Masters license.
Tim Jones
Tim has been a jet engine mechanic, owned and operated a marine assistance company, rebuilt many boats and motors, and is the proud owner of a museum grade 1958 Skagit Orca, which he spent 10 years restoring. Tim holds a USCG 50 ton license, and offers nature cruises with Elvis as crew. We have used a picture of the boat because it is much better looking than Tim.
Anthony Cammon
We really don’t know very much about Anthony, if that’s his real name, except that he showed up one day, started making boats look real pretty, and just sort of stuck around. Anthony is a stickler for detail, and actually enjoys filling, sanding, painting and polishing. He makes boats look real pretty. Someday he hopes to have a pickup that runs.
Nick Tiffany
Nick done gone off sailing for the summer.
Ted Quanstrom
Ted made it to Friday Harbor on Saturday evening, and started working Monday morning. His first assignments will be fixing boats and learning our sophisticated Point of Sale and Work Order Mgmt systems. It turns out that Ted has a degree in Computer Science, and that may be a factor in his uncanny ability to fix marine heads.
Debbie Sharpe
Debbie is our Naturalist, which is different than a Naturist. Dean is our Naturist. Since getting her degree in Biology, Debbie has spanned the globe, from studying the elusive and tasty white-tailed deer in Grand Rapids, MN (just down Hiway 2 from Bemidji), to finally studying whales here in Friday Harbor (which are less tasty). Debbie will accompany you on a kayak trip to Turn Island, Yellow Island, Jones Island, or any other dang island, and show you all kinds of local flora and fauna. She also developed our Harbor History Tour. Kinda.
Theo Pratt
Theo comes back for the summer from Whitman to the place whar he growed up. He can be found near the front desk, espousing various philosophical fragments to his canine and imaginary friends, whilst taking care of the store, rental procedures, and various and sundry tasks requiring thought and attention to detail. Theo once volunteered to wear a pirate costume while operating our hot dog stand, although neither of us can remember just why that seemed like a good idea. If it appears that he is engaged in some kind of cold blooded psychological assessment of you, it’s because he is working on a summer school assignment. Please notice in the picture, that while Theo is coaching the dog on Customer Service issues, a mechanical talking parrot is perched on his shoulder.
Caroline Close
Katherine Close
Steve Percer
Sometimes there’s a man – I won’t say a hee-ro, ’cause what’s a hee-ro? –but sometimes there’s a man. And I’m talking about Steve Percer here– sometimes there’s a man who, waaal, he’s the man for his time’n place, he fits right in there– and that’s Steve Percer, in Friday Harbor, right now. Come see him when you’re by.
Ed Ferro
Diesel engines are dependable, quiet, and pretty straightforward, once you get to know them. That is alo a good description of Ed Ferro, our Senior Diesel Consultant.
Ed has spent years around, and even inside, diesel engines. Known as “Diesel Whisperer”, Ed can sidle up next to your balky powerplant, place a reassuring hand on a troubled part, mutter something low and reassuring under his breath, and usually, or at least once in a while, the engine will settle down and purr like a kitten. If that doesn’t happen, then Ed mutters something else under his breath, rolls up his sleeves, and soon diagnoses the mechanical problem. Ed currently owns 32 hammers.
Our Board Of Directors
Where would we be without a seasoned Board of Directors? Together they represent decades of wisdom, sea lore, technical know how, and sagacity. Fred Hoeppner, Arne Bentzen, Vigil Hennen. They speak, I listen.