Sint Maarten – Budget Marine recently hosted a group of 3rd year students from Milton Peters College, who are building a sailboat as part of a school project. Project coordinator Rodger Stringa said the objective for the field trip was to get the students familiar with the industry and show them the many career options available in the marine environment. “This group is very dedicated and this field trip to Budget Marine was a reward for the work they have put in,” Mr. Stringa said.
The students were given a short history of Budget Marine followed by a tour through the Budget Marine building, which included showing the large warehouse and its operations. The teens were very impressed with the huge assortment of products as well as the logistics involved in running the business and this resulted in a barrage of questions from the students.
Next stop on the tour was the retail store with extra emphasis placed on the plywood station, the large rolls of fiberglass cloth, and the epoxy and resins in the boat building section, as these are products the students are used to handling in their building project.
After the tour the group relaxed during a cruise of Simpson Bay Lagoon aboard Jukkels Stukkels, a 21ft launch owned by Sir Robbie Ferron, founder and director of Budget Marine. Ferron provided a running commentary describing the marinas, megayachts and nautical activities to be found in the lagoon. The tour ended with lots of smiles and gifts to take home.
