Very cool shop, lots of hidden gems as well as a boat load of practical nautical items for sale and or possibly barter? Very kind and good crew runs tight ship.
Captain Jim's store is a toy shop for people who like boats. It is full to the brim with everything you would ever need to build an armada of vessels. I work restoring vessels to Captain Jim has been my savior many times and the best part is the prices. He is very reasonable and willing the cut deals. If you are not into boats but enjoy going to flea markets and antique shops I would also highly recommend. His place is just full of cool things. My only complaint is that there is too much stuff to see in one visit, so you head back every weekend.
I too had high hopes for Captain Jim’s but no such luck. I can down from Belfast mostly just to look for a set of interior cushions for my sailboat. They have so many sets of used cushions, I was sure to find what I need. Unfortunately, for some ridiculous reason, they are slow stores on top of very high shelving units and impossible to reach without a ladder. I was told by a mildly helpful employee that if I wanted to see any, they would get someone with a ladder to pull them down to examine. This makes it impossible to sort through them to find the right size and shape. After waiting almost 20 minutes for an employee to unenthusiastically get a set down (wasn’t the right fit) I realized I could be there for hours and hours. I spoke to Jim and he was uninterested in helping me. All in all, this was a total waste of my time. I won’t be back.
Interesting store, but I had an awful experience with an aggressive female employee which the owner Jim was apologetic for, but ultimately disinterested in taking any action on. Seemed like he condoned the behavior which wasn't cool in my book.
This was my first trip to Captain Jim's, and I arrived with high hopes and all the appropriate PPE plus freshly sanitized hands as per usual. I perused the selection of salvaged parts inside the building, and when asked what I was looking for, I said boat windshields, center consoles, and bow railing. The owner Jim quickly connected me with an employee to take me out of the building into the off limits yard area to show me what they had. There were several items of interest, and when I asked the employee (who was great by the way!) about the price, we ventured back into the building to ask Jim. That's when a female employee entered the building from outside and accosted me for being in her work space.
The work space she was referring to is a 20' x 20' blocked off area inside the building with two access points - an oversized garage door from the outside or a small path into the rest of the building blocked by yellow caution tape.
This is the area that we went through to get to the yard, and it is also the area we were in to get a price from Jim. We'd ventured back in to get a price from Jim who was on the shop side of the yellow tape with the helpful employee on the yard side, with me 6' behind while they talked.
That's when an older female employee stepped into the garage door opening and started loudly demanding that I get out of her space. Surprised, I informed her that I had permission by both gentleman next to me to be there, and she continued to aggressively demand that I remove myself. Blocked from entering further into the building by Jim and the other guy, I made an attempt to move out of the garage door with as wide a berth as possible to appease her demands while Jim made decisions about the parts I was interested in purchasing. When I tried to leave the building, however, she further advanced on me posturing that I somehow go through the blocked passageway instead. Mind you, I had all the appropriate PPE and had zero interest in crowding her work space. She was irate and I was stuck.
Ultimately both the employee and Jim moved and were apologetic about the ladies behavior, but when I said that I absolutely was not interested in being accosted by an employee despite following all the rules and regulations, Jim told me to "not make a big deal of it." Surprised that anyone would accept employee behavior like that, I inquired if she was part of the business like an owner or investor. I was informed that she was simply an employee.
Jim asked me if there was anything he could do, and I said sure, give me a great deal on a boat jack, to which he cited the same price as he had prior to the incident $90 bucks. I got the feeling that that sort of behavior towards customers was not unusual by her.
I had high hopes for this place, but I vote with my money - an owner allowing or condoning aggressive behavior towards customers despite them following the rules shouldn't happen in my opinion. There are better and safer options out there.
