A family business on the water

The M/V Pintail is a fixture of the San Juan Islands and has been locally owned and operated out of Friday Harbor for over two decades. She is a landing craft that hauls fuels, equipment, and supplies amongst the islands. The Pintail took new ownership by Kevin and Kendra Martin at the beginning of 2016 and will continue to be a local fixture in the community.

Just weeks after the birth of Will, their first son, Kevin and Kendra dropped lines from their Seattle moorage and moved their boat/home life and young family to Friday Harbor. The couple has a lengthy past of working and living on boats, and so a move to the San Juans with an opportunity to run a maritime business is right up their alley.

Both Kevin and Kendra are licensed captains and have a long history working on boats around the world. Their careers began on the Columbia and Snake Rivers and it wasn’t long before they found themselves heading to the Amazon, Antarctica, Indian Ocean, Arctic and many places in between. Their years captaining boats from Alaska to Baja, Mexico have given them many sea stories and fond memories.

Now with a year underway with Pintail, they have just launched a new webpage (www.pintailmarine.com) and are now on Facebook (Pintail Marine). Their scheduled runs are now posted online so customers, particularly those on the outer islands, can save on transportation costs by connecting with neighbors.

Now grateful to be a part of the Friday Harbor community they are always looking for ways to involve Pintail in community events. This year the Pintail will join the Christmas Lighted Boat Parade on Saturday, Dec. 17 with an invite to the community for anyone to come aboard – free to all!

If interested in joining Pintail for the parade, call Kendra at (605) 431-9580 or find more information on their Facebook page or on their events page at www.pintailmarine.com/share-the-fare.