Two brothers have fulfilled a life-long dream and opened up a marine service shop in St. David's.

John and Steven Powell are officially opening Powell's Marine Ltd. on Monday and will be able to provide boat owners with a variety of services.

The two men have been heavily involved with the marine industry much of their lives. Steven started at PW's Marine straight out of high school apprenticing and then moved on to the service department of St. George's Boatyard, but returned to PW's Marine in 1992. He started his own marine service business in 1996 and has been self-employed since. During his employment with PW's, Steven completed a number of service courses and is well experienced in marine repair and service.

John has also worked in the marine industry most of his life. He started out working a weekend job at PW's marine and rose to the position of general manager in 1997. In this position he managed all day to day aspects of the business, which included a retail store selling boats, engines and related items, a spare parts department and a marine service centre, as well as supervision of 13 staff members.

The brothers feel the new company will benefit from their different strengths.

"It's a family affair," John said. "I work more on the sales and paper work, Steven works on the boats, my wife helps out with the human resources and Steven's wife is an accountant who will help us with the books.

"It came about really quickly. Owning a business had been a lifelong dream for both of us and then we just decided to do it. And opening one in St. David's has been great. There is a lot of support, we've been having to turn people away this week because we are still finishing things off before we open."

John added that St. David's was attractive because the rent for a store and warehouse was half what it would have been in Hamilton. The brothers will provide a wide array of services for boat owners including repairs, painting, and ensuring a vessel is seaworthy.

Powell's Marine Ltd will open on Monday and operates Monday to Saturday. It is located at 12 Waller's Point Road in Southside.