The Triton hosts a networking event on the first Wednesday of every month from 6-8 p.m. In March, that’s March 4, and we’re meeting at the new showroom of Nautical Ventures, a water toys retail shop in Ft. Lauderdale (1880 Griffin Road, on the northeast corner of I-95 and Griffin Road.)

This month’s networking is sponsored by Nautical Ventures, a new Triton advertiser. The boys from YES (Yacht Entertainment Systems) will be there, of course, with the tunes.

Everyone who reads The Triton and wants to network with professionals in the industry is welcome to attend.

In the meantime, learn a little more about Nautical Ventures from company owner Josh Schwartz.

Q. So tell us about Nautical Ventures.

Nautical Ventures is a retail store specializing in all types of water sports such as kayaks, sailboats (Hobie, Laser, Sunfish), wakeboards and water skies, windsurfing, kite surfing, inflatable products, etc. Really, we have anything you can imagine that you could have fun with on the water.

We’ve been in business for 24 years, primarily catering to resorts, hotels and concessions throughout the United States, Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico, and just recently we sent a big order to Qatar.

A few months ago we expanded and moved to a more visible location next to I-95 at Griffin Road. With this new location in the heart of the boating world, we are already seeing an increase in business.

Q. It’s a hard time to expand a business, even in yachting.

We have always marketed our products to the yachting industry, so we have a lot of contacts in that world. Our new facility has the room, and our business license gives us the opportunity to get into the brokerage end of things so we are going to experiment to see how it goes. The former tenant in our building had been doing that so we still get people coming here looking for the used boats they sold, the 25-40-foot vessel. As the economy makes buying new boats less attractive, the used side of things is still relatively strong.

Q. What can yacht captains or crew get from your company that they can’t get anywhere else?

Service, service, and more service. Also, expertise, inventory and location.

Since we’re been doing this for so long, we have the expertise to know what works and what doesn’t. We give our customers the straight scoop, so to speak, and we’ll advise them on what product best fits their need.

Because we’re a stocking dealer for almost all of our brands, we keep product on the shelf for immediate delivery. Captains and owners are here all the time choosing everything they need, and telling us how easy we make things for them.

Q. Nautical Ventures was the top Hobie Cat dealer in the United States last year. How’d that happen?

We work hard. Seriously, I think it’s because of that, but also because we do a good job servicing our existing customers so that they recommend us to their associates. Internally, we know how to control our inventory to keep the right products on hand for immediate delivery, and that’s key to many of our yachting customers. When an owner wants something, often he or she wants it now. The same thing goes for a regular guy who’s been shopping for a kayak. Plus, we’re nice guys.

Q. Where does the experience of your staff come from?

All of our staff take part in most of the sports we sell. Collectively, we kayak, windsurf, kite surf, race Hobie Cats, row, and use all the toys we sell. Some of us here have been doing these sports all our lives, and have worked in this business for 20 years or more.

Our prerequisite for hiring is an interest in the sports we carry. And we’re always trying new things. The new craze is stand-up paddleboards so we’re getting more into that. We just got in a jet-powered surfboard that yachties are excited about.

Come meet Josh Schwartz at our networking event March 4, call him at +1-954-926-5250 or visit www.nauticalventures.com  for more information about Nautical Ventures.