New business offers convenience to local boaters

Shannon Keith
BUSINESS EDITOR

April 11, 2008 10:12 am

— Although the calendar says it is officially springtime, the thermometer disagrees.
However, Jimmy Laughter of Tarboro, owner of Jimmy’s Marina at 2205 Austin St. in Tarboro, said that local boat owners are sticking to what the calendar says.
“It’s still cold out and I’m already busy,” said Laughter, who, with wife Rhonda, opened for business on March 1. “Business has been pretty good so far.”
Jimmy’s Marina offers full engine service for outboard boat engines. Laughter backs this with more than 26 years of experience working on boating engines, 15 of them with Webb’s Fiberglass and Sports in Rocky Mount.
“I work on two-stoke and four-stroke engines,” said Laughter. “And I can work on Johnson, Mercury and Suzuki engines.
Laughter has also traveled around the United States receiving certification training on many of the engine brands like Mercury, Yamaha and Johnson.
“I can fix just about anything but a heartbeat,”said Laughter, “and if you give me a few minutes I might be able to something with that.”
Laughter said that boat engines, much like car engines, need regular oil changes and tune-ups, something he does not recommend owners do without proper training.
“They are real easy to blow up if not set right,” said Laughter.
Laughter said that the location of his shop will add convenience as well as quality service to his customers.
“We wanted to bring the business to Tarboro to make it more convenient and affordable to service their boats,” said Laughter. ”So you don’t have to haul your boat to Rocky Mount to get it serviced.”
Laughter said the business may expand in the future to include boat sales as well.
“We want to wait and find out what the customers here in Tarboro want,” said Rhonda. “Then we can expand into sales.”
“But we are just getting statred,” said Laughter. “We have to crawl before we can walk.”

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