A Family Success Story At Marco Yacht Sales

For Diana and Chris Stahl they see their life as a blessing and together they have raised four children and have been involved in the marine equipment business for just shy of a quarter of a century. Diana runs the books and Chris runs the operational aspects as a team.

Their life story would take them through their formative years in Michigan where he worked within the family business which produced parts for the automotive industry; there he acquired skill sets as a tool maker and other mechanical skills until his early 20s when he went off on his own to Alaska where he was recruited by a window manufacturer.

After a short period in Alaska they went back home to Michigan and he would apply his skills both there and in Florida working seasonally for several boat dealerships here in Southwest Florida and the Keys.

Eventually he and his wife would set down more permanent roots here in the Marco area working for two of the larger boat dealers in various management positions. The opportunity then arose over at Calusa Island Marina in Goodland to run his own boat brokerage and new boat sales operation.

The sale of Calusa Island to Safe Harbor family of boat operations allowed the Stahl family to move into their present facility on Elkcam Circle where they expanded the Marco Yacht Sales operation and now sell both the Trifecta Pontoon Boat and Sailfish brand of fishing boats.

After considerable research regarding the availability of brands, he chose the two he deals with because of what he refers to as the “quality of the brand.”

“I never thought I’d sell pontoon boats, but in researching the market we saw that a great number of the customers down here were moving that way and were looking for a quality high-end type of pontoon. We chose both of our brands according to those criteria,” said Stahl.

Stahl also points out the fact that they install and service all three major brands of outboards for their customers. Yamaha, Mercury and Suzuki can all be found within his dealership, as well as trained technicians. According to Stahl, the last eight years have seen great advances in the reliability of the engines being produced today by all three of the major manufacturers.

Technology is moving ahead very quickly and the need for small or large dealerships to make those adjustments has never been more important. Whether it is in regard to diagnostic technology, or operational changes such as “fly by wire” for items such as throttle controls to eliminate issues with cables, are all providing users with a better product to be out on the water with.

Marco Yacht Sales can be found at 761 East Elkcam Circle on Marco Island. They also have a website at www.marcoyachtsales.com.