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Three Mile Harbor Boatyard, the first boatyard on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, was sold on Friday to the Mendelman family. The Mendelmans also own and operate Harbor Marina, Gardiner’s Marina and Halsey’s Marina, all on Three Mile Harbor as well, through a management company called Seacoast Enterprises Associates.
Sam Story had owned the boatyard since 1986, the year he bought it from his father, Robert Story. Its original owner was Joe Miller, followed, in 1930, by Harry Wessberg, who sold it to Robert Story.
In the yard’s earliest days, boats were hauled out of the harbor by hand or horse for regular maintenance. Today the marina has a lift that can haul boats of up to 65 feet for repairs or storage. “Their lift capacity for wintertime storage is 40 tons, and there’s not a lot of marinas that have that,” Lynn Mendelman explained on Tuesday.
“We’re very excited to build on the great foundation and history of Three Mile Harbor Boatyard, and we’re excited to be expanding the hauling capabilities of Seacoast Enterprises Associates to larger vessels,” her brother Mark Mendelman said in a press release the family sent out Monday.
The Mendelmans have been in the marina business in East Hampton since 1970, according to the statement. “They are trustworthy, good people who know how to run a boatyard,” Mr. Story said in the statement. “They’ve got a talented team, and so do we. When the teams are put together, I think they’ll do a terrific job.”
Lynn Mendelman said that Mr. Story, who was out of town this week, would be retiring. Mark Mendelman said in the statement that “Sam and his team had a reputation for providing good value to customers, and we intend to continue that tradition.”
Mr. Mendelman also said that the family saw “tremendous” opportunities to expand the business “making improvements to the facilities” and “by leveraging the combined talents of our teams.”
Three Mile Harbor Boatyard will be called Three Mile Harbor Marina, at least for now, said Ms. Mendelman, who along with her siblings, Peter, Mark and Diane, will own the facility at 6 Boatyard Road. Seacoast Enterprises itself is owned by Peter Mendelman and their father, Richard, and the various marinas are owned by various members of the four siblings’ generation.
“It’s going to be great,” Lynn Mendelman said. “This is a big setup for my parents, my nieces and nephews—all my siblings have kids—their children, if they want to get into the boating industry, and this is where they are,” she said.
She added, however, that the first thing to do was to get their boating clientele and boats back in the water during this launch season.
According to Ms. Mendelman, her family is making offers to the four employees at the boatyard in addition to a potential fifth summer employee. Seacoast itself employs 14 people in the off season and 21 in high season, she said.
Three Mile Harbor Boatyard has more than 70 slips on three floating docks, the 40-ton lift, a marine store, indoor and outdoor storage and service facilities and a stable of employees and contractors who repair and maintain boats, according to the press release. Seacoast itself has service dealerships and marine technicians.
The marine store at the Three Mile Harbor Boatyard is large and well-stocked, both Lynn Mendelman and her family’s statement said, with paint, hardware, fishing tackle and marine supplies. She added that docks were “great” and that there was indoor storage, “something that we were looking for also.” The facility is easy to reach from both Amagansett and East Hampton, she said.
All told, said Ms. Mendelman, who is an East Hampton Town Trustee, there are 12 marinas on Three Mile Harbor including the four her family now own.
