Keeping the Craft Alive

Northcoast Marine Solutions begins a new chapter while helping pass the skills of marine canvas fabrication to the next generation.

Published: Saturday, November 14, 2026
By: Northcoast Marine Solutions

Keeping the Craft Alive — Photo courtesy Northcoast Marine Solutions.

Across manufacturing and the skilled trades, experienced craftspeople are retiring and taking decades of knowledge with them. Marine canvas fabrication is no exception. Patterning, cutting, sewing, and fitting a custom enclosure or boat cover requires more than equipment and materials. It requires hands-on skill, problem-solving, and experience.

At Northcoast Marine Solutions in Port Clinton, Ohio, helping preserve those skills is an important part of the company’s next chapter.

In 2026, Northcoast transitioned to new ownership under the Wentz family. While the new team has plans to grow and modernize the business, they also recognize the importance of preserving the knowledge and craftsmanship that have been built there over the years by Russ and Roger Griffin.

The new ownership team quickly recognized that Northcoast represented much more than a business. Decades of knowledge and craftsmanship have been built here, creating an opportunity not only to preserve those skills, but to build upon them and pass them along to the next generation of marine fabricators.

That mission is at the heart of Northcoast’s Canvas Training Workshops.

Students travel to Port Clinton for hands-on instruction in marine canvas and upholstery fabrication, learning by actually patterning, cutting, sewing, and constructing projects. Some are established canvas or upholstery professionals expanding their skills. Others are employers training new team members, career changers, or aspiring entrepreneurs interested in building businesses of their own.

Northcoast also continues to put those skills to work every day, providing custom marine canvas, upholstery, and supplies to boaters throughout the Lake Erie Islands area.

As Northcoast Marine Solutions looks toward 2027 and beyond, the goal is bigger than preserving a business. It’s about preserving a craft and helping give the next generation of fabricators the skills to carry it forward.

Ready to learn?

Registration is open for 2027 Canvas Training Workshops in Port Clinton, Ohio. Northcoast Marine Solutions | 419-734-5453 | www.northcoastmarinesolutions.com