TARPON SPRINGS - When a new boat arrives in Dave Meisman's shop, he doesn't see just another hull waiting to be customized. He sees it more as a canvas waiting to be painted.
"I look at some of what we do as works of art," he said. "We have gone way beyond just building poling platforms and console towers."
New materials and machinery have enabled Meisman's "artisans", and others who work in the marine fabrication business, to put aluminum structures on any boat.
At one time aluminum "tuna" towers were used only on large, offshore vessels. But in the late '80s and early '90s, inshore fishing exploded into a new market for platforms on small, shallow-draft boats.
"When we bought Quality T-tops in 1995, a large portion of our business was the standard T-top and poling platforms for flats skiffs," Meisman said.
Even though many lightweight boats come rigged ready for a trolling motor, poling platforms are still the tool of choice for veteran guides fishing shallow grass beds.
But in the late '90s, Meisman watched as a larger portion of business moved away from poling platforms toward small console towers for the same flats skiffs and bay boats.
Where a standard poling platform may give an angler 3 feet of extra height when looking for fish, a console tower more than doubles that advantage. A That higher vantage point is especially important when searching for cobia, tarpon or schools of reds.
Custom manufacturers, such as Gause Boats in Tarpon Springs, started building boats with towers in mind.
"These new tower boats are high end," Meisman said. "They are for the elite. But people are willing to pay for quality."
A basic, no-frills tower costs about $2,000. But add electronic shifters and a customized touch, and the price can climb to $10,000 for a console tower for a 23-foot boat.
"The market is there," said Meisman, whose two sons, Travis, 25, and Kevin, 24, and daughter, Kristen, 22, work in his shop. "The first year we were open we did about $250,000 in business. By last year that number had risen to $2.5-million."
Quality T-tops builds everything from ladders and bow rails to a 22- by 42-foot hard tops for 65-foot catamarans. Located on the water, Meisman's 36,000-foot facility does its share of work for commercial vessels, but it was Travis Meisman's love of wakeboarding that opened up the market for the company.
"We converted our old boat for wakeboarding, and then people started asking us whenever we were out on the water, could we build something for them," Travis said.
Tripods and towing towers are now a big part of Quality's business, as more people get into what many call the fastest growing water sport, wakeboarding.
"We are finding that with our new precision machinery, we build pretty much what anybody wants these days," Dave said. "The possibilities are endless."
Meisman admits that not every angler can afford a $10,000 custom console tower. But that hasn't hurt business.
"Our numbers go up every year," Dave said. "It is just like the automobile market. You have your Kias and Hyundais, but you also have your Lexus and Mercedes. We have found that if you offer quality, just like with cars, people are willing to pay."
