Essential Shipyard Industries (ESI) recently purchased Latitude Marine Services in La Conner and now offers two locations for a multitude of marine services, their boatyard in Anacortes, along with the added benefit of their new location in La Conner, ESI South. ESI is also at the forefront of the latest technologies and innovations for boat repairs, construction, and maintenance.
ESI South (previously Latitude Marine). Purchased in December 2024, owner Jason Knott and his crew have been busy upgrading and modernizing the facilities in La Conner. 
A marine supply store opens at this location on June 1, 2025, similar to the store with essential supplies at the Anacortes Skyline office, including professional fishing supplies, as well as wiring, zincs, hose clamps, and other items.
ESI South operates on leased property from the Swinomish Nation located at the south end of Swinomish Channel at South Entrance Light ‘18’ on McGlinn Island. Jason reports that the Tribe is a pleasure to work with and they appreciate having a boatyard nearby. ESI South has several indoor facilities and a 100-ton lift, which will soon be converted to all electric by incorporating batteries taken from an electric Leaf automobile. The boat lift currently runs on tracks down to the boat launch site. Watch for future Waggoner articles.
The Latest Technologies. ESI serves as a prominent dealer for the advanced EPOCH brand Lithium Batteries and Lifepo4 Batteries. ESI is also a dominant player in the new non-biocide bottom paint.
ESI offers EPOCH marine batteries that report a lifespan 10 times longer than lead-acid batteries and deliver a steady voltage throughout the charge cycle, charging in a fraction of the time it takes for lead-acid options. The long-lasting Lifepo4 battery provides amp hours roughly 6 times the useable output of lead-acid and AGM batteries.
Jason provided us with a tour of both boatyard locations, and we were surprised to see that most of the boats at both yards had received silicone bottom paint. Hempel Silic One Paint is based on silicone, a hydro gel micro layer that provides a smooth low friction surface and works well to prevent organisms from attaching to the hull and propellers. The painted surface feels a little sticky to the touch, even after fully cured in 2-3 days, but that’s normal. Jason demonstrated its slippery surface by having us dip our fingers in a little water and then rub along the boat’s bottom paint, wow! the surface then felt very slippery, and that’s the idea. Jason said that boaters have reported a measurable increase of speed and efficiency after converting to silicone-based bottom paint.
Boat Hardtop Construction. ESI has been building composite hardtops at their La Conner location for Bayliners, Grady White, Cutwater, and Ranger Tugs, using composite molds designed and sized for these vessels. ESI South also makes deck extensions and Bayliner deck hatches and bow sprits.
ESI is now experimenting with basalt fiber, which is lighter than carbon fiber, resistant to corrosion, and retains most of the strength properties of carbon fiber. Priced between fiberglass and carbon fiber, basalt fiber has the potential to become much cheaper in the future.
The process to create hardtops with basalt fiber is an interesting one – layers of basalt matts are placed inside a special bag, resin is injected into one end of the bag while vacuum sucks the resin through the other end, resulting in less resin for a lighter-weight hardtop. The process reduces the weight from 400lbs. to 124lbs. With this new process, ESI can now produce one hardtop each day, instead of the previous two-week time frame.
The Dedicated Work Environment. One of the things that impressed us the most, in addition to the quality work we saw, was the dedicated work crew, they work hard because they want to, not because they are told to. Every Friday is BBQ brisket day at both locations around 4 pm. Jason likes to say “we have a BBQ surrounded by a boatyard.”
The crew raises their glasses to toast the week’s work and enjoy the homemade barbequed brisket – it’s a wonderful bonding event. It was clear to us that the crew respects their work and respects Jason as owner/manager, who himself puts in 14-hour-long work days. There are over 30 employees between the two yards and interns work alongside highly qualified marine techs for training and future positions.
Jason Knott, with a life-long love for boating who started working on boats more than twenty years ago, is proud to offer every ESI customer a complimentary 18-point inspection of their vessel, with the intent of saving customers expensive future repairs.
Both ESI North (1910 Skyline Way, Anacortes) and ESI South (18578 McGlinn Island Lane, La Conner) are full-service boatyards, offering hull waxing, bottom painting, varnishing, rigging, diesel heating, fiberglass repairs, and electrical installations – see www.essentialshipyard.com for more details. Essential Shipyard Industries is run by husband-wife team Jason and Emily Knott, a delightful couple.
